Meshell Ndegeocello on Queen Sugar, Social Media, and Ephemeral Politics

Twenty years ago, making records was a different experience.

"It was like you were aware that someone was trying to make you, and you just had a choice whether to participate in that remaking of yourself — or not," said neo-soul singer Meshell Ndegeocello, reflecting on what it felt like to be an emerging artist in a market-driven industry 20 years ago. Ndegeocello has since released a dozen studio albums, and has collaborated with artists like John Mellencamp, Madonna and Chaka Khan. But the landscape has changed, and the German-born, Washington, D.C.-raised singer-songwriter is not shy about struggling to adjust, mainly in regard to the sudden exposure and ubiquitous nature of social media.   

"I just played a show, and someone didn't have enjoyment from it," she told WNYC's cultural critic Rebecca Carroll. "And I'm able to see their thoughts, and then I have to remember what an older person taught me — take a compliment like a critique, and a critique like a compliment." 

Easier to navigate, Ndegeocello said, is her recent work composing the score for Queen Sugar, Ava DuVernay's television series on the OWN Network. DuVernay, a fan of Ndegeocello's critically acclaimed 2000 album, "Bitter," approached her about working together, and the two came up with a sound for the show through a series of conversations about color.

"The first season she shot seemed to be like a large tapestry, very wide shots of the land that had a sort of green melancholy," said Ndegeocello. 

A longtime political activist and an openly queer black woman, Ndegeocello said she's not especially hopeful about the current political backdrop, but is committed to staying active. "I don't think I believe in politics anymore," she said. "I understand how it works. I have to participate, but I want to prepare people...it's not an easy fix. Let me address the things that people see as ephemeral instead."

As part of that preparation, Ndegeocello will play for four nights at the Blue Note — July 25 through July 28 — performing music from her latest album, Ventriloquism, as well as music from a collaborative project inspired by the writing of James Baldwin.

"It's just a vehicle for people to come together and talk," she said. "It just allows people to create space — not ranting and raving, but we can sit with each other and use ritual to deal with these questions and discomfort."