Singer Ciara surprise-released a song entitled ‘Melanin’ on Thursday (21. 11. 19) featuring Oscar award-winning actress Lupita Nyong’o.
The mother of two is celebrating black beauty and culture in her new jam and even enlisted other talented stars that included award-winning Kenyan actress and author Lupita Nyong’o, ‘Power’ actress La La Anthony and ‘Twerk’ hitmaker City Girls for the black girls anthem.
In the song, the ‘Black Panther’ actress pays homage to her place of birth Mexico and heritage as Kenyan as well as top Kenyan marathoner Eliud Kipchoge who recently became the first man to run a marathon in under two hours. “I’m Mexican born, but a Kenyan queen, like Kipchoge pushing the limits one hour and fifty-nine minutes,” Lupita raps in her verse.
Giving a shout-out to every black girl in the whole world, Ciara sings, “My girls in every shape/ We put the ‘S’ in slay/ I’m lifting up my queens/ Fixing crowns, that’s my thing,” while Ester Dean provides the hook. , as Yung Miami of City Girls gives shouts out to the likes of Cardi B, Megan Thee Stallion and Rihanna.
Speaking about the song in an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Ciara expressed how proud she is of the work. “My girl Lupita Nyong’o, she drops bars. This is the first time that troublemaker made her appearance, so it’s crazy,” she said. “I’m just starting off with that and then my good friend La La. She’s never dropped bars on a track before either, so there’s a lot of first times on this.”
“Then also, I have my other friends The City Girls drop some fire on this record. So it is girl power, melanin queen power happening on this record and I’m so honoured and so proud of it,” Ciara continued saying. “The energy is crazy, it’s energy, tempo, that good old 808, Miami base songs. It’s just so good. I’m excited.”
The ‘Level Up’ hitmaker is set to host the 2019 American Music Awards. However, when asked whether or not she will perform the new song at the awards, Ciara remained coy.
The 2019 American Music Awards is set to be broadcast live from Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on Sunday, November 24th 2019.
