Snowchild By The Weeknd Is A Black Anime Exclusive

The Weeknd’s newest music video, Snowchild, is brought to you by the Japan’s first and only Black-owned animation studio.

D’art Shtajio is an American-created company in Tokyo, and founded by Arthell and Darnell Isom in 2016,. The studio prides itself with the ability to bridge the gap between Japanese animation and Western storytelling.

Arthell Isom

The name of the company is a great play on words. D’art is a combination of the two brothers/founders.  Shtajio consists the phrase Shtaji ga daiji (The Foundation Is Important) and Sutajio (studio).

While most are just learning about D’art Shatjio, their acclaim is not new.  Their handiwork can be seen in many famous anime like Overlord, One Piece, Gintama, Tokyo Ghoul:re , and more. They also are behind the animation for the Netflix-exclusive visual anime album from Sturgull Simpson, Sound & Fury.

You’ll see elements of that very foundation in Snowchild. It is a visual representation of the various stages of The Weeknd’s career. The video is oozing with creativity.  You’re even getting characters morphing into black panthers (an ode to his work on the Black Panther soundtrack). 

#snowchild
Snowchild mv is soo nostalgic pic.twitter.com/fg5VWHrK0y— Milica (@micilyxo) July 22, 2020

You wouldn’t be wrong if you caught a flashback of The Boondocks while watching, as the animation gives a similar vibe.

Check out the video below.