Meljoann Mocks Bosses in the Video for Her Anti-Capitalist R’n’B Track ‘O Supervisor’

Wonky R’n’B artist Meljoann has released the music video for her latest office-themed single, ‘O Supervisor.’

Despite its bouncy synths and Janet Jackson-esque vocals, there is something compellingly off-kilter about the new song from Meljoann’s upcoming LP, HR.

The track’s thick 80s-style beat is sometimes discordant, and its funny lyrics have a dark edge—"sucking all the surplus value a little less kawaii,” Meljoann belts, mixing the terminology of Japanese anime with that of Marxism.

The video for the track has the same dark sense of humour. In it, copies of Meljoann dance in front of a green screen, wearing both business and hazmat suits. Behind them, chunky animations and neon patterns evocative of 2010s Vaporwave aesthetics flash.

Like the song it accompanies, the video has a peppy, fluorescent surface and a deep underlying eeriness—a combination which reflects the void Meljoann sees at the heart of corporate life and capitalism itself.

Meljoann says she’s interested in ‘office politics.’ But the critique she makes in these three singles runs deeper than water cooler gossip.

“‘O Supervisor’ imagines impossible ways to escape the claws of Bosses,” Meljoann said in a press release. “This song uses video game tropes and post-colonial, post-Marxist arguments to win the level.”

She summed up the track’s revolutionary intent in a Tweet earlier this week: ‘'O Supervisor' is a hopeful song about smashing crappy power structures.”

Before ‘O Supervisor,’ Meljoann released two other songs with a similar sound and corporate themes: ‘Company Retreat’ and ‘Personal Assistant.’

The inspiration for these tracks off HR comes from the Brighton-based producer and vocalist’s personal experience. She told Nialler9 that she once held a job at a call centre, “during which I unfortunately got to observe a creepy corporate scene from way too close up.”

R’n’B fans should keep an eye out for the rest of HR, which is set to come out this autumn. For now, watch the ‘O Supervisor’ music video below.