On Thursday, Mandy Groves dropped the video for her summer dance track, “BLOW”, produced by and featuring her go-to favorite, Shinu. “I wanted to make a fun video that was wholesome AND sexy. Something that was about the pure fun of hanging out with friends but still had a glamorous vibe and a story.”
The video seems to pay tribute to the Beyonce song and video by the same name. “When I first played the song for my best friend who is a HUGE Beyonce fan, she sent me a gif of Beyonce in a neon outfit and roller skates,” she told us. “I actually had no clue that the gif was from [Beyonce’s] ‘Blow’. I started designing the layout for my video and I just so happened to choose Roller City West as the location.”
Merely hours after the video dropped, a friend messaged Mandy to congratulate her on the video. “A friend of mine reached out to me right after she watched it and said that she loved the tribute to Beyonce. I had no clue what she was talking about so I finally looked up Beyonce’s video and it turns out that I AM paying homage to Beyonce!” she laughed. Beyonce shot the video from her self-titled album at Roller City USA in the Houston Funplex, so the coincidence is pretty staggering.
In the video, Mandy and Shinu break into a roller rink after hours. Shinu climbs into the DJ booth and a few more friends arrive. The group takes full advantage of the empty facility and throw a party. Mandy and a couple of the other girls play matchmaker for the video’s two love interests. The singer revealed that the pair are actually engaged in real life. The carefree vibe of the video reiterates the chill tones of the four-on-floor House inspired track.
“It’s no secret that as a team, Shinu and I work quickly,” Mandy shared. The singer/producer duo wrote, produced, and recorded the song shortly after releasing their last work, “C7osure”. The R&B cover of Lil Nas X’s original also featuring crooner, Adiel Mitchell currently holds a spot as one of the highest ranking covers of the song on YouTube.
Back in May, Mandy released her second EP, BLAME, also produced by Shinu. From concept to completion, the five song project took 30 days to develop. “BLOW” was no different. “As soon as we realized what a bop we had, we wanted to get it out there ASAP,” she said. “Time is usually our only obstacle.”
“Dance and House are near and dear to my heart so this song feels very natural for me,” she continued. “We still incorporated the familiar hip-hop, R&B and trap feel that motivates my music and I hope to combine the genres in a new way moving forward. We also wanted to make a track to dance and have fun to for the summer.”
“I haven’t talked much about this,” she began. “…but I dislocated my knee during the very first shot of the day at Roller City West. I wanted to get the choreography shots out of the way but during the first run through I spun around and the lower half of my leg stayed. My rubber sole gripped the rink floor. Everyone was so caring and helpful.”
The incident pushed back production for the video. Thankfully, the team still finished the project in time for its pending release. Surprisingly, every shot of Mandy in and around the rink is after the injury. “Except for the choreography scene,” she said. “Some of that is cut from the same shot where I dislocated my knee!” Click below to watch “BLOW”, and stream the song here!
