The opening scenes of the music video for “Bist du down?” the breakout single from German R&B star Ace Tee, looks like something out of an ’90s hip-hop party: Guys and girls dressed in cool streetwear looks dance against a graffiti-covered landscape. “We’re not really allowed to hang around there,” says Ace Tee, whose real name is Tarin Wilda, of the location—under train tracks in Sternschanze, a trendy Hamburg neighborhood. It’s a raw, unbridled energy and style that harkens back to a different era, one that’s been getting major buzz on YouTube in the weeks since the video dropped.“I was inspired by TLC’s ‘What About Your Friends’ video,” Wilda says. “I wanted to create a new kind of ’90s mood, to inspire people to be happy and to get down with honesty and love.” She adds, “There are a lot of great artists in Germany right now, but the vibe is a bit dark and we are known mainly for Trap music. I want to put R&B on the map here and create my own sound.” Everyone in the music video, Wilda included, brought whatever they wanted to wear to set, with the singer rummaging through the pile of thrift-store jackets and baggy jeans to piece all of the accidentally brilliant looks together.There’s the oversize yellow parka, purple trousers, and gold door-knocker earrings (which Wilda says she stole from her mom who is Ghanaian—“Those earrings are everywhere there.”). In one scene, she’s dressed in a knee-length denim skirt and white mock-neck crop top and in another, a gray Fila sweatshirt. “I’ve always dressed old-school,” the singer says of her everyday street style. “I don’t wear skinny things, which can seem weird to the typically tailored, luxury-obsessed people in this country, but I feel more comfortable in tracksuits and boxy clothes.”
Meet the newest R&B Sensation from Hamburg - Ace Tee
