Tsumyoki has been building toward his debut EP Afro Yoki one teaser at a time and each one has come with something to find. Cult films, old television archives, viral moments and a Cambridge choir prank from 2014 - the rollout had become a hunt across decades. Tsumyoki has recreated each one, shot for shot, moment for moment, inserting himself into them and making them feel entirely his own. Here’s everything he has slipped in so far:
“MIA” - Love in Goa (1983)
Tsumyoki opened the Afro Yoki rollout by going all the way back to 1983. The first teaser recreates the dance number from the Bollywood cult classic Love in Goa - specifically with the scene where the young lead dances confidently in front of his love interest’s family, comparing his moves to Raju, a much admired disco dancer of the era, while insisting his style is entirely his own. The family watches on, amused, as his confidence meets gentle teasing. Choosing this moment as the rollout’s entry point sets up a project clearly not interested in doing anything the expected way.
“YAH YAH” - Ninja Man
For “YAH YAH,” Tsumyoki steps into a clip of Dancehall legend Ninja Man being interviewed on Television Jamaica, where Ninja Man delivers the line: “23, 22 baby mothers” and “real bad man.”
“YOU & I” - King’s College Choir
By the third teaser, Tsumyoki has moved from a 1983 Bollywood film to a Jamaican television archive to a 2014 April Fool's prank from the Choir of King's College, Cambridge - recreating the moment countertenor Patrick Dunachie pretends to inhale helium from a balloon before hitting a soaring high note in Gregorio Allegri's Miserere. The helium was a prop and the note was real. The range of references in the rollout is starting to feel less like a pattern and more like a dare.
“LATE NIGHTS” - The Vow (2012)
For "Late Nights," Tsumyoki pulls back into the rom-com world, recreating one of the most iconic scenes from The Vow - the moment Rachel McAdams rolls up the car window on Channing Tatum after he passes gas. It's a small, domestic moment of chaos in an otherwise earnest love story, and the fact that Tsumyoki chose to recreate it rather than something grander says a lot about where "LATE NIGHTS" probably lives emotionally.
“MASTERPIECE” (Bonus) - Apoorva Mukhija
The final teaser gets the most internet-native reference of the lot. Tsumyoki recreates a viral clip of content creator Apoorva Mukhija, known online as The Rebel Kid, saying "bhai bohot oolti aa rahi hai bhai" (“Bro, I feel like throwing up so bad”). It became one of her most widely shared moments, and closing out the rollout with a recreation of it feels like a perfect full stop.
Afro Yoki releases August 7.
Tags:
Tsumyoki
