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ABC/ Lou RoccoMary J. Blige has a good explanation for singing Bruce Springsteen‘s “American Skin (41 Shots)” toHillary Clinton.
The Queen of Hip-Hop Soul recently caught a lot of flack for her interview with the Democratic nominee, featured in a one-minute promotional clip for her upcoming show The 411 with Mary J. Blige, showing the artist serenading Clinton with Springsteen’s single.
The song was written about the 1999 police shooting death of Guinean immigrant Amadou Diallo.
“I wanted to incorporate the song in the show because the lyrics resonated with me so deeply and so heavily because of all the shootings and police brutality and I never got a chance to say anything,” said Blige, as reported by the New York Daily News.
“I’m a singer first…so that’s the only way I can express myself and…the only way I can get that reaction from [Hillary] is to sing it,” she added.
The vocalist hit back at critics and social media users who denounced Blige after witnessing the video clip in a now deleted tweet that was captured by the Daily News.
The 411 with Mary J. Blige is set to debut on September 30.
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