James Baldwin was one of the preeminent voices of his time, but he had his blind spots. It’s something that Meshell Ndegeocello noticed as she was creating her upcoming Baldwin tribute album No More Water: The Gospel Of James Baldwin.
“There’s a YouTube video of Baldwin with Nikki Giovanni. Watching that, I could see that Baldwin had to work a little bit on his feminism,” she said during an interview on NPR’s All Things Considered. “So within the project, we wanted to add another voice. And I think Audre Lorde just fits within that continuum of information and knowledge.”
She pays homage to Lorde with the set’s newly released single “Thus Sayeth The Lorde.” With gently strummed guitar and drums (with an emphasis on hi-hat) as a base, the track offers a vocal arrangement that acts almost as a chorus calling us to open our eyes while waiting for the light to guide us out of the shadows. The arrangement switches to one heavy on kick and snare as poet Staceyann Chin offers some words from Lorde to consider.
“Audre Lorde said we were never meant to survive / Lorde said ‘If I didn’t define myself for myself / I would be crunched into other people’s fantasies for me and be eaten alive,’” Chin offers. “The Lorde tells us that there is no thing as a single-issue struggle / Because we do not live single-issue lives.” She offers even more food for thought that, sadly, still rings true to our current climate.
“Thus Sayeth The Lorde” is meant to spark thoughts about modern-day feminism and what that means to Blackness. But it also sparks thoughts about the revolution that is still desperately needed in order for all of us to be free. We’re pretty sure, however, that it won’t be the only song on No More Water to do so.
We’re just weeks away from the Friday, August 2nd release of the latest project from Meshell Ndegeocello, and we can’t wait to hear the journey that it will take us on. Prepare your heart and mind for what’s sure to be a thought-provoking listen when you stream “Thus Sayeth The Lorde” right here.
