Def Jam artist Mikhala Jené is helping to bring back old R&B with her southern belle roots and soulful sound. The singer, songwriter, artist, and creative began singing at a young age and wishes for fans to find healing through her latest EP The Missing Peace. “Black Love” is one of the songs on her project that shows glowing positive images of Black love.
During the music video, there are scenes of a Black mother having a water birth with her husband at her side, an older Black couple still in love after a lifetime together, and even a young Black man chasing after his love interest which we later find out is Jené. The visual is sure to get viewers emotional and hopeful about the love story in their own lives.
Jené spoke with rolling out about the inspiration behind the project.
What inspired the name of the project and what can fans expect?
A few things inspired the name of this project, I was definitely on a [mission] and still am. It’s not complete, but [I experienced] a healing journey when creating this project. It means a few things to me.
First, I was on a search to find peace, make peace, and keep peace once I find it. There were a lot of things I wasn’t happy with. Particularly a relationship that I was in, but also it was unearthing just where I was as a woman. Especially when you are pursuing the career that I’m in, obviously nothing is guaranteed. So, to feel an uncertain journey in that and also being in a relationship of love that felt just as uncertain. Girl, I was like falling apart.
Which song do you especially want fans to listen to and why?
That’s so hard. I’ll go off of how I’m feeling today. So how I’m feeling today I would say “My Rock.” Of course, I would love for them to listen to “Black Love,” especially the conversation concerning it, but I would say “My Rock” because it’s such a beautiful song of faith. In that song, I’m just telling God that he’s my rock in a hard place when my back is against the wall.
I just feel like we are bombarded by so much violence and tragedy from the moment we open our phones. Then we are sent off into the world to carry on in our day as if those things don’t affect us. We aren’t just carrying our anxieties; I’m carrying the anxiety of people I’ve never met in my life that I can see through my phone [along with] the issues that they’re facing and the deaths that are happening. We are carrying all of that with us every single day. I would encourage them to listen to that song because it would open their hearts and spirits up to listen to every song.
