Mannequin rap duo FEMM caught the attention of influencers in the United States, Europe and around the world with their breakout anthem Fxxk Boyz Get Money. Their debut album Femm-Inisation hit the Top 10 in Billboard’s World Albums chart in the US, while in Britain the Huffington Post highlighted FEMM in its ‘6 Acts to Watch in 2016’ list and HMV included the duo in its Best Indie Albums section across the United Kingdom.
Yet, having carved out a reputation in the rap scene as formidable female rhymesters, FEMM disappeared in mysterious circumstances – or so the world thought. Last month, the entire contents of FEMM’s Instagram and YouTube accounts were deleted, replaced with only a video titled Goodbye to ……., visiting FEMM’s official website returned only a 404 Not Found error, leading fans around the world to fear the worst: did FEMM suddenly stopped with activities?
It seems that this is not the case, as a new teaser video was released today that breaks the silence of the past few weeks. The video was uncovered yesterday by passionate FEMM fans (known as agents), who pieced together nine segments of a QR code that were posted to FEMM’s official Instagram account, one per hour over a total of eight hours. Following the QR code led agents to ‘leak’ the video ahead of its release today.
The video shows imagery that would shock any true FEMM fan to the core: The two mannequin members moving as smoothly as real human beings. In fact, the seven periods in the title Goodbye to ……. were a clue, standing for the seven-character code ‘FEMM1.0’ – FEMM were saying goodbye to their first incarnation, and the pair’s new smooth moves are a result of an update to version 2.0. Who knows what other new abilities they have gained with their firmware upgrade? Sounds interesting, right?
This was not everything announced by the duo. The music in the teaser video is an excerpt from a single that will be released on November 6, with the somewhat fitting title Level Up feat. Duke of Harajuku. This will be a double A-side in collaboration with tokyovitamin, a Tokyo-based independent label that draws on the international backgrounds of its various members for a borderless approach, and which has long fostered a close relationship with FEMM. Trap musician Duke of Harajuku features as part of the collaboration.
