King Molasses Performing "United in Grief" (Kendrick Lamar)

King Molasses Performing "United in Grief" (Kendrick Lamar)

Lip synchronization, is the act of physically matching spoken word and is a common form of live performance widely used by contemporary drag artists. For King Molasses, this practice is a transformational vessel that extends beyond the mimicking of speech or song and makes room for complete physical embodiment. The resulting movement is a physical surrender, lifted by vulnerability and grounded in control.     

In their performance of Kendrick Lamar’s United in Grief, Molasses interprets a narrative of loss with swings and poses that illustrate images of Black dance in a context that emphasizes their abstraction and allegory.

Medium: Single-channel video (color, sound), in USB thumb drive