The first Black woman to graduate from Colorado College with a degree in Music released her debut EP, which weaves a fantastical tale of the power of girlhood, friendship, and knowledge of self.
Denver, CO (April 22, 2022) – Jaiel, the first Black woman to graduate from Colorado College with a degree in Music released her debut EP, The Magical World of Black Girlhood on all major streaming platforms. The lead track, “The Legend of Black Girl Magic” begins with a familiar, “Once upon a time…” and transports listeners into a mythological short story based in a hard reality. In the video, directed by Lila Schmitz and Anika Kan Grevstad, Peg, the fable’s heroine (played by Jaiel), mimes the analytical rhetoric of the EP’s thesis, highlighting the cerebral ideas behind the 5 songs on the project.
“I released this EP on Friday April 22, 2022 in honor of my paternal grandmother’s birthday,” the singer shared. “She was an incredible woman who died from complications having my dad. I was considering the date 4/22 for a while just because I liked the numbers, and it landed on a Friday. But then one day I was working on some of the songs at my desk and I just happened to glance over my shoulder at my inspo wall, where I have pictures of some of my women ancestors and I saw her face and it was like something hit me and I was reminded that that day is her birthday and from there I knew that had to be the day this work was birthed into the world.”
The true birth of the project arrived while the singer worked as a cast member in a production of Ntozake Shange’s For Colored Girls… directed by Idris Goodwin. It was the same time of year that the infamous “Yik Yak” incident at Colorado College that happened in the midst of a national debate about free speech. In 2015, a student at the prestigious liberal arts private school was suspended as a result of racist comments made on the anonymous smartphone app Yik Yak.
“I couldn’t help, but think about how no one seemed to address how there were actually Black students, particularly Black women who were affected and didn’t feel safe on campus,” Jaiel said. “I remember there was this school wide assembly and we were asked to give statements. I stood and shared and recited a portion of Maya Angelou’s ‘Still I Rise’. That, coupled with pouring my heart out as the Lady in Red during For Colored Girls…, I think really cemented this connection for me that I wanted to be the type of artist that spoke directly to those Black women who felt unheard and unsafe. The Lady in Brown’s whole opening monologue is a staple for me and is one that I visited all the time during those days and still do!”
Something about hearing those words, in the middle of a negative experience, awakened something in her. “It felt like a door or a pathway opening in front of me. I think it was probably a thread from Peg. And I carried this heart and this idea, that I want to create Black Girl songs. Not just songs, but media, experiences, everything! I became obsessed with this idea that I could be the one that created a righteous gospel, in which Black girls could be born and handled warmly,” the songwriter said.
“This EP is truly a work of the heart, of my heart. It in many ways for me is a culmination of my story, my research and just life’s work up until this point. It very much is a love offering that serves as a mosaic of who I am, as a person, as an artist, and as a Black woman. The seeds of this project I believe were planted for me as a little girl who had a love of history, old movies/music, and was surrounded by incredible, powerful, intelligent, resilient, glamorous, women. It is also inspired by and fueled by the many Black girls and women in my life whose stories I’ve gotten to witness and learn from.”
The message found in Jaiel’s research, writing, and music is that the magic of Black girlhood cannot be defined by addons or accomplishments, which are all icing on a cake. “The magic is in our connection to one another and in the truth of who we are,” she said. “That is what allows us to celebrate, and heal and transform firstly our inner worlds and subsequently the world around us.”
“I do this work because the suicide rates among Black girls are terrifyingly high and there’s not enough conversation about it,” Jaiel revealed. “But also as I say in ‘Black Girl Nation’ we live in a world where they don’t want us to be alive. And that shit is wack. Black girls deserve to be loved, and celebrated, and cherished. They need to be reminded of the love that’s already in them and that they are worthy, period. So yeah. I do this for the same reason Ntozake Shange did. For colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf. And I’ll keep doing it until we’re all free.”
The Magical World of Black Girlhood is out now on all digital streaming platforms.