Blackstate drops “#FollowMe” music video

For over two decades, Filip Tasevski-Fitz has been a prolific creative figure, operating as a decorated musician, songwriter, performer and designer whose work has always been a collision of sound, vision, rebellion and reflection. Now, under the name Blackstate, he’s channeling that into something darker, moodier and infinitely more experimental; a project that feels as much like a mirror as it does a performance that examines the fractures in modern life while finding strange beauty in its fractures.

Based in Skopje but creatively untethered, Blackstate serves as Tasevski-Fitz’s alter ego, a vessel for the emotions and questions that don’t fit neatly anywhere else. His past in the hardcore and punk scenes, particularly with North Macedonian mainstays The Beginnings, still echoes through the music, but here, it’s filtered through an electronic lens, resulting in a sound that’s powerful yet intricate, synth-heavy but emotionally compelling, cinematic yet personal.

The project’s visual element is just as vital as the sound and as a trained designer and visual artist, Blackstate presents a complete sensory experience, combining haunting electronic textures with impactful imagery to create something closer to an art installation than a traditional performance. Each show becomes a dialogue between performer and audience, sound and image, self and society, with that interplay between mediums earning Blackstate widespread acclaim.

Thematically, Blackstate lives in the spaces most people try to avoid, distilling a 21st-century malaise, the numbing of consumerism and distraction that’s eroded real connection. But instead of moralising, Blackstate dissects these ideas with empathy and humour, exposing the absurdity and loneliness that underpin modern life. His latest single titled “#FollowMe” captures this perfectly, laying down a satirical jab at social media culture that somehow doubles as an infectious synth pop anthem.

The track opens with the stuttering bounce of bright synths and rattle of tapped percussion, building into something that feels part nightclub, part nervous breakdown. Blackstate steps into character as a clout-chasing influencer, chasing likes, views and validation with manic energy, holding up a mirror to a culture more obsessed with looking alive than actually living. The accompanying music video takes that satire even further with a colourful and lighthearted collage of exaggerated influencer tropes, the ring lights, podcast setups, staged “candid” moments, each scene so overblown it feels uncomfortably real.

Blackstate plays the role with full commitment, slipping into the absurd performance of a man “living his best life” while quietly imploding and as he struts around in a leopard print coat, mugging for nonexistent followers, it’s hard to decide whether to laugh or cringe and that’s exactly the point. His critique of modern disconnection isn’t about nostalgia for a better past, it’s about confronting the strange digital present we all share and in doing so, he embarks on a search for meaning in a world addicted to illusion while delivering an enjoyable musical moment along the way.

Watch the music video for #FollowMe below

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