Ava Max‘s empowerment anthem “Kings & Queens” is currently on top 10 on Billboard’s Pop Songs airplay chart, but the music video really drives the song’s point home: Ava’s shown sitting on a throne with a huge sword, presiding over a banquet, and dancing with other strong women. But while filming the clip, Ava says she was having a hard time feeling as empowered as she looked.

“I was going back and forth whether or not to wear this nude suit or not, because I felt very, like, clothes-less,” Ava laughs, describing the outfit she wears in the clip when she’s sitting on the throne.

“So I was just, like, you know, ‘Being a queen, I should be confident!’ So I tried to be really confident in it and it turned out O.K., thank God!,” she tells ABC Audio. “But I think in general, I wanted the music video to resemble the song. So in my head, there’s only one way this music video could be: with a lot of queens.”

The video also contains a number of birds: There’s a big parrot on a perch, plus several cockatiels who sit on Ava’s arm throughout the clip.  So what’s up with that?

“Oh, my God, the birds! I totally forgot the birds!” she laughs. “O.K., so I grew up with birds and I had to have birds in this video. And the really big parrot in the back, I couldn’t hold that one because it was just — it was very wild that day! But the cockatiels, they’re very sweet. I grew up with cockatiels and I had no problem with them.”

The “Kings and Queens” video has scored more than 114 million views on YouTube.  The song is from Ava’s debut album Heaven & Hell.

By Andrea Dresdale
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