JT Is Looking at you Sideways
The cover art and music video for "Sideways" show JT in lowrise jeans with a giant belt buckle spelling out her full first name, JaTavia, and an iridescent halter top that reveals itself to be body paint upon a closer look. She is paying homage to Miami rapper Jacki-O, who helped put Miami on the hip-hop map in the early aughts and once wore an unforgettable “Jacki-O” belt to a Billboard hip-hop event in 2003. Stylist Miso Dam nailed Jacki-O’s look down to the vintage Casadei yellow velvet heeled boots, and to recreate Jacki-O’s body painted top, JT enlisted the FX airbrush makeup professional and multidisciplinary artist known as Mab.
The older rapper has served as a longtime source of inspiration for JT, who used to call herself “Jacki-O Junior” growing up. The City Girls interpolated one of Jacki-O’s flows on their very first mixtape, and on the opening track of their last album R.A.W., they set the tone for the project with a shoutout: “Jacki-O but we back on the block, jumpin’ out on these hoes like a Jack-in-the-Box surprise.”
Coming off the heels of campaigns with Poster Girl and Mowalola and too many break-the-internet photoshoots to count, the imagery for “Sideways” cements JT’s commitment to challenging herself visually and earning a legacy as a style icon. Every real fashion diva knows her references, and "Sideways" is proof that JT is doing her homework just as much as she's charting her own lane. Being the “hood bitch dressed like a weirdo” (“No Bars”) in the room doesn’t come without its share of criticism and detractions, but JT also knows that the only tried and true path to superstardom is individuality. Even when she’s paying homage, she isn’t trying to look or sound like anyone but herself — and what makes her so refreshing is that no one else looks or sounds quite like JT. And if you don't get it... she's looking at you sideways.
Watch the music video for “Sideways” below.
