Janelle Monáe has released a powerful rallying cry to honor the lives of Black women slain by police with her new song “Say Her Name (Hell You Talmbout).”
Released to coincide with International Daughter’s Day this Sunday, the 17-minute track finds the star enlisting an army of fellow female artists — including Beyoncé, Chloe x Halle, Alicia Keys, Zoë Kravitz, MJ Rodriguez, and more — for a chilling roll call of the more than 60 Black women killed at the hands of police brutality around the United States.
“Rekia Boyd, say her name/ Rekia Boyd, say her name/ Rekia Boyd, say her name/ Rekia Boyd, won’t you say her name?” Monáe chants, citing the 22-year-old Chicago native’s death in 2012 before turning the spotlight to the killings of Latasha Walton and Atatiana Jefferson, who were both murdered in 2019.
The track also serves as a follow-up to the Grammy nominee’s 2015 release “Hell You Talmbout,” which sought to bring awareness to the Black men around the country who’ve also had their lives cut short by police brutality.
Proceeds from “Say Her Name (Hell You Talmbout)” will be donated to African American Policy Forum. Stream the song after the jump.
In July, Monáe released another new single, “Stronger” — which is set to be featured in Barack and Michelle Obama’s upcoming Netflix series We the People — just days before dropping out of her planned set at Bonnaroo. As for her next film role, the multi-hyphenate has joined the much-hyped sequel to 2019’s Knives Out alongside returning star Daniel Craig, Dave Bautista, and Edward Norton.
