Janelle Monae Silenced By NBC Show When She Said The Black Won't Be Silenced

Janelle Monáe began to perform her new protest anthem 'Hell You Talmbout' on TODAY, yet, even before her voice could finish her message, she was cut off by anchor Savannah Guthrie, according to consequenceofsound.

"God bless. God bless all the lives lost to police brutality," she sang through the performance. "We want white America to know that we stand tall today. We want black America to know we stand tall today. We will not be silenced!"

However, her message was certainly muffed, even as she started talking. It moved to the anchor who said: "We'll have much more from Janelle Monáe ... coming up."

Was the cut-off intentional? It is not clear, but the show's website features her other songs: 'Tightrope' and 'Yoga', but not 'Hell you Talmbout'.

Just as she started to talk about police brutality: "God bless all the lives lost to police brutality. We want white America to know that we stand tall today. We want black America to know we stand tall today. We will not be silenced..." it was clear that the camera moved away and the anchor took over. The show moved to some commercial moments , ironically, after she said "silenced."

Her song mentioned the names of many of those who had been killed by the police, including Eric Garner, Walter Scott, John Crawford, Freddie Gray, Sandra Bland and Michael Brown, even as she kept repeating: "Say his name" or "Say her name", according to theguardian.

Other inclusions were Trayvon Martin, who was shot dead by George Zimmerman in 2012, and Emmett Till, a 14-year-old whose brutal murder by white racists in Mississippi in 1955, which sparked a protest song by Bob Dylan.