MNEK's Symbolic 'Paradise' Video Addresses Police Violence

MNEK, who's worked on hits like Beyonce's "Hold Up," released today a video with a message for his new song "Paradise."

The visual sees a person walking down a long, endless road, surrounded on either side by giant, metaphorical imagery, from pyramids to apples and even a large lizard. Their journey reaches a dramatic, blood red-tinted twist when a group of policemen begin violently swinging batons in reference to brutality against people of color.

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"What grabbed me was the underlying idea of the different responses elicited by the chaos of the modern world," explains director Ciaran Lyons. "The desire to escape from the real world into a fantasy paradise vs. the possibility of standing strong and separate from all the madness and cruelty, in the hope of preserving something better."

The queer singer/songwriter/producer's track notably features a sampling of the guitar hook from Ultra Nate's 1997 dance hit, "Free," and gives MNEK a chance to show off his immense vocals over an R&B sonic landscape. Take a look, below: