Janelle Monáe just dropped the powerful new music video for her latest single “Turntables”.
The singer’s song, the first since her 2018 album Dirty Computer, features Liz Garbus and Lisa Cortes’ 2020 documentary film “All In: The Fight for Democracy”, which examines the history of voter suppression and the activists who fight for the rights of U.S. citizens.
“This song doesn’t mean that I’m the leader. I am simply watching, examining, and wanting to highlight all of the people who are on the front lines fighting. This song is to keep us motivated.”
Listen to @JanelleMonae's #Turntables on #NewMusicDaily: https://t.co/OmvaaDaIoc pic.twitter.com/8OTpuSMAyH
— Apple Music (@AppleMusic) September 8, 2020
Monáe opens up about the track in an interview with Zane Lowe for Apple Music: “I, like a lot of people just as humans, especially being Black in America, I’ve been experiencing a lot of trauma around seeing Black bodies murdered, like humans murdered. I struggle with talking about it because it is like a wound that we’re reopening. We’ve been screaming Black Lives Matter.”
Tune in live to The @ZaneLowe Show to hear “Turntables” from the Amazon Original Movie “All In: The Fight for Democracy” on @AppleMusic 1 NOW https://t.co/dx6yp28gkw https://t.co/dx6yp28gkw pic.twitter.com/QQScanVHXb
— Janelle Monáe, Cindi Mayweather👽🚆🤖🚀🪐 (@JanelleMonae) September 8, 2020
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She adds: “We’ve been understanding where our ancestors came from and the fact that I’m here not because I asked to be here, but because my ancestors were stolen and we were forced to be here. So there’s a connection between the past the present and what could be the future if we continue.”
“And I say, as humans continue to let Black people suffer,” Monáe continues. “And so I’ve been emotionally debilitated, but I got an opportunity to get back into the studio to talk about or to create lyrics that [doesn’t] keep us reminded of that trauma, but keep us moving forward and remind us that things are changing.”
“We are changing things. The tables are turning. The rooster has come home to roost. So this song is capturing direction. And when you think about a record, when you think about a record spinning, when you think about the revolutions per minute, it’s all connected. And that is what this song means,” the musician goes on.
A song from me to you
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“Turntables”
from the Amazon Original Movie “All In: The Fight for Democracy" is available today at 12 PM EST on all streaming platforms.
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Film directed by @lizgarbus @misscortes pic.twitter.com/AHX6C8GhF9— Janelle Monáe, Cindi Mayweather👽🚆🤖🚀🪐 (@JanelleMonae) September 8, 2020
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“This song doesn’t mean that I’m the leader, that I’m here to tell you what to do, how to fix things. I’m simply watching, examining and wanting to highlight all of the people who are on the front lines, fighting for our democracy, fighting against racial inequalities, fighting against white supremacy, fighting against systemic racism and systemic oppression. So this song is to keep us motivated. This song is to lift up and keep us galvanized when we’re fatigued. And this song is really for the people.”
