Earlier this week, Christine Hoberg, a.k.a Moss Kwa, dropped the single and music video, “I’ve Seen It All.” Rachel Bearinger gets the scoop on the video, recorded at the North Minneapolis film co-op NanoTako Studios, and how the song was born out of “years of hard work.”
Christine Hoberg, who releases music under the moniker Moss Kwa, has a lot to say about how society’s view of women shifts as they age.
“This song was a culmination of years of hard work. It is a song about change and letting go of control. More specifically how society downgrades you as a woman and artist as you get older and how I, unwittingly, have had to wake up to this new reality, revel in the discomfort and let go of the fact that I can’t control this change, and find my new self in the change.”
“I’ve Seen It All” is written in a genre that Hoberg calls “monster pop,” using dark, heavy percussive sounds paired with hook-filled melodies. The lyrics reflect on Hoberg’s perceived loss of power in the music industry as she forays out of her 20’s and further into motherhood. One need not look hard into music history, or history in general, to see this same pattern of diminishing power play out in the lives of scores of women. The challenge of finding self-worth in areas other than our desirability is undeniably commonplace.
The video shows the artist in pure, undistracted white, her face often the focal point, as if to say, “This is who I am.” A particularly cool sequence depicts her being berated by the many voices inside her own head. By the end, we’re brought to a heady party at which Moss Kwa is choosing to let it go and continue to play the game.
Rachel Bearinger is a singer-songwriter based in Minneapolis. She is also a digital producer for Performance Today from American Public Media.
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