Commencing with a scene that makes it look like she’s in an AI version of Rodin’s “The Gates of Hell,” Grimes ramps up her “metaverse” visuals for her latest single, “Shinigami Eyes,” slated to be on an EP called Fairies Cum First (itself a precursor to her sixth album, Book 1). While “Player of Games” might have been “futuristically medieval” (a.k.a. a dweebo wet dream—and yes, light sabers show up again in this narrative), the backdrops of this particular video, directed by BRTHR, are aimed to take us into a world that is entirely “in the matrix” (where we’ll have to “reside” after climate dystopia).
Because Grimes is of that “precious” and waifish white girl variety, she’s “allowed” to embrace her Asian fetishism throughout the video with aesthetics that range from dragons to manga/anime tropes to wielding Jennie from Blackpink (what further vote of confidence could she need to justify these appropriative aesthetics?). In a skin-tight body suit and short, cropped blue wig for some scenes and an “elfin Game of Thrones” look for others, Grimes takes us on a journey through worlds that don’t really exist, but that are meant to somehow comfort us with their “controllability.” Not everything is controllable though, as there’s a moment when she gets shot in the stomach with an arrow (kind of like what happens to FKA Twigs in the video for “meta angel”). No matter, this is the metaverse—where nothing can hurt you (and not just because you’re emotionally dead already by being in it). In point of fact, maybe Mark Zuckerberg paid her to make this little advertisement for such a philosophy.
And yet, the notion of “Shinigami” takes us back to a more old school concept rather than a “visionary” one like the metaverse. For those unfamiliar with the word, its Japanese translation is “death god” or “sky weapon.” Grimes appears to want to embody both terms as she blazes through a neon-lit tunnel atop something like a car with Jennie or holds a sword up above her head ready to cut a bitch. As for Jennie’s seemingly non sequitur appearance, rumors of a collaboration either between just the two of them or all of Blackpink arose in mid-2021 when Grimes gave Jennie a tour of SpaceX… you know, back when she was still with d-bag extraordinaire and not yet reading The Communist Manifesto. Evidently, Grimes must not feel Jennie is “ready” for a full-on collab, therefore merely “allows” her to dip her toe in with a visual cameo.
Grimes, of course, is no stranger to alluding to the “metaverse” with backdrops like the ones in 2020’s “Delete Forever,” during which she wields a space-like setting to punctuate the throne she sits upon. A throne that also seems to exist in an “avant-garde” Roman ruin (or a Greek one, if you prefer). The idea that a Shinigami-type presence could infiltrate the metaverse, however, doesn’t really make it seem all that more appealing. Grimes, in all her nerd glory, is referencing the manga series Death Note, in which those with “Shinigami eyes” are able to see how long everyone around them has left to live (which would be rather jarring in pandemic times). The catch for enjoying this “gift”? It means that the person with the Shinigami eyes has to sacrifice half of their own lifespan, to be donated to the Shinigami demon. This is something Grimes would perhaps be willing to do in order to see when Elon will kick the bucket, if ever (for the rich don’t die). After all, just as it was in “Player of Games,” it feels like there’s quite a bit of Elon-centric shade in lyrics such as, “And young men’s love doth lie/Never in their hearts/Only in their eyes/And I’m so fucking high/Rent-free in your head/Missing from your bed/I know your secrets/Everything, oh.” And we all know Azealia Banks does too.
Then again, “Shinigami” in this instance could also be a metaphor for humans essentially killing their real selves in favor of allowing their digital selves to take over by retreating from the tangible world. There’s no denying the suicide could be more literal as well. In some versions of Shinigami “folklore,” it is a demon that possesses humans and makes them want to kill themselves. Granted, there’s not much need to be possessed by a demon in order to make one feel that way these days. In any case, that’s why Grimes keeps chanting, “Are you ready to die?”
A question the reaper seems to keep asking with more regularity every day. And yes, one could classify “Shinigami” as being a manifestation of death in the same spirit as the Grim Reaper. A far scarier one than what Ingmar Bergman presented in The Seventh Seal. Because this one is AI-oriented in Grimes’ metaverse. Thus, she remarked, “It’s a metaphor for when the AI [are] invading the simulation to amuse themselves the way Shinigami invade the human world.”
Incorporating the chess visuals from “Player of Games” into the lyrics, Grimes sings, “But you like me the most/You follow me the most/I’m the queen upon the chessboard/And the red upon the rose…/I’m the queen on every chessboard/I’m the setting that you export.” Speaking seemingly from the perspective of one of those Shinigami AI infiltrators, the computer-worshipping slant here is reminiscent of “We Appreciate Power” and its sentiment, “Come on, you’re not even alive/If you’re not backed up on a drive.”
The video for “Shinigami Eyes” makes that clear with its metaverse setting, the implication being that we’re all enduring a form of death in order to go full-stop virtual. That is, until Roko’s Basilisk (the very “thought experiment” that brought Grimes and Elon together) comes to fruition and AI kills us off completely like Grimes vaguely forewarns in this song… Then again, maybe it’s as simple as what she told Zane Lowe, and Nino Angelo just wanted to do something to pay homage to Death Note.
