Enemy- Imagine Dragons x JID
While the names Imagine Dragons and League of Legends(LoL) both hold world renowned popularity you might not necessarily see a connection between the two, as one is a pop rock band and the other is a moba (multiplayer online battle arena). But the two have partnered together in the past to create a song for the 2014 LoL World Championship and have been working in secrecy the past few years working on a song for an animated series called Arcane. Now to understand the song we need to take a quick look into what Arcane is. Arcane is the story of Piltover and Zaun which are two districts within the league universe. We primarily follow the story of Vi and Jinx who are sisters who live in Zaun which is the dingy undercity of the rich, lush, utopia of Piltover. Throughout the series we meet other league characters and see their daily life and how their paths will cross with Vi and Jinx throughout the series. This is only a spoiler if you have never heard of league of legends but after Vi and Jinx grow up they become enemies even though they are siblings due to an event that happened in the past. When they go separate, Vi stays on a path of good, trying to protect people in Zaun; while Jinx goes on a path of destruction and continues to tinker with her d.i.y. explosives.
So how does this connect to the song? Well the song Enemy by Imagine Dragons x JID is the introduction to the series and is played at the beginning of every episode; and with the series being such an instant hit the song hit the charts and has held 5th place on the Billboards 100’s for almost 5 months. The song, the music video, and the series all connect to the idea of dealing with issues of the past and trying to resolve them, the song also focuses on inner conflicts that people feel. This connects to how Vi and Jinx go down different paths in life and how coming into contact with each other again as young adults is causing conflict in both Zaun and Piltover. The energy of the song perfectly matches the theme of the series with different pitch changes, drops, a rap break, and soft to growl like vocals add raw emotion to the song which reflects the show perfectly. The song is very hype and makes you want to play it over and over again.
This song connects to media literacy because the song represents viral media which is when media uses different tactics to engage viewers and try to reach a larger audience. The song also connects to semiotics because the music video uses imagery like symbols to reflect the demons Jinx is dealing with. Enemy and Arcane fit perfectly within the concepts of chapter 6 as we see the concept of the song and its video connecting to the show Arcane is transmedia storytelling, we can feel a narrative arc for both Jinx and Vi within the power of the chorus within the song.
While Arcane might not interest you I would recommend checking out the music video or live performances of Enemy because it is a powerful song that can’t help but make you want to bob your head to its catchy chorus. The music video for Enemy tells a sad but beautiful story and it goes along perfectly with the story being told in the song.
