By Jocelle Koh
In lieu of this year’s True Colors festival, 13 artists from 9 countries come together to perform an empowering rendition of Des’ree’s classic R&B song “You Gotta Be”.
Each of the artists selected have overcome their own personal obstacles to achieve success in their respective fields. Including Filipino artist Aliènette Coldfire, from France’s Got Talent, America’s Raul Midón, a Grammy-nominee who overcame blindness, Japan’s Kenta Kambara who performed in the 2016 Rio 2016 Paralympics closing ceremony and more.
Des’ree, the original artist of You Gotta Be even added her two cents on the new rendition, saying:
“This is a truly powerful video – so invigorating and energizing, elevating the sentiment of the song and its message. The artists’ introductions at the end add even deeper resonance to their already inspiring performances.”
Directed and produced in Singapore by Dr Sydney Tan and Jasper Tan, the music video takes the viewer beyond the artistes’ performances into a variety of “day-in-the-life” moments.
Says Dr Sydney Tan: “All of us, regardless of who and where we are, wake up and start our days and have the opportunity to listen and look up, to participate in choices and be fully human. We have the ability, whatever our circumstances and our geography, to experience and celebrate the ordinary yet wonderful moments that life unfolds.”
In line with the theme of inclusiveness and diversity, the official music video comes with Closed captions for the deaf, audio descriptions for the blind and an accompanying video transcript for the deafblind.
