Haga Naasany - Gohary

Director’s Note

It’s a rare gift to see an artist embrace evolution in their sound, and rarer still to take part in it. The Haga Naasany MV with @iamgohary presented such a unique opportunity, and it began with me being nosy.

I had always been curious about the juxtaposition of Gohary’s musicianship: playful production masking a deeper sadness within her lyrics. As we discussed further, she told me about Haga Naasany (Something’s Missing), an upcoming song that talked about the self-love that she realised was missing in a time when everything seemed to go well. I saw it as an opportunity to explore the tension within her, and out came the MV.

In line with its title, I wanted the entire MV to feel like something’s gone amiss. The odd pacing of the MV dances around broad visual metaphors, including using Gohary’s brothers AJ and Jimi as exaggerated reflections of herself: the clown who exists only to make others laugh, and the performer tied down by expectations of her audience and the industry. This was in contrast to Gohary’s true self, grounded literally in soil. Notably, the only verse we see Gohary’s full face is when she recognises that self-love was that titular “something”, and the only line she sings is “elhob elgowany byemlani (the love inside is filling me)” before disappearing from the remainder of the MV.

Throughout the film, there are many references to both Gohary’s inner turmoil and my outside perspective into her career, all of which would not have been possible without our DP @markissafilms and his distinct visual taste, and our art director @myriaml.tea who, when I told her about all my stupid ideas (including filling Gohary’s room up in soil), simply said, “Cool, so this is how I think we should do it.”

Haga Naasany is a song about finding self-love, albeit temporarily, and the MV’s inconclusive end hopes to echo the same sentiment. Or maybe I just needed an excuse to wrap a guy up in cables.