Today show cuts off singer in middle of her police brutality rant

dang @TODAYshow, just couldn’t let her finish, huh? love ya @JanelleMonae! #BlackLivesMatter cc: @deray @Nettaaaaaaaa pic.twitter.com/QeGhY5lQGJ

— marla york. (@theseMYtweetz) August 14, 2015

Janelle Monae was wrapping up a performance on the Today show when she started airing her thoughts on police brutality, views which are echoed in her newly released “protest” song ‘Hell You Talmbout.’

Salon.com reported that on Instagram Thursday, Monae introduced the new track from Wonderland Records– an anthem for the Black Lives Matter movement – which calls on people to keep speaking the names of black men and women killed by police officers.

According to RTT News, “On the track, the singers shout out the names of those fallen including Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin, Sean Bell, Freddie Gray, Sandra Bland and Emmett Till.”

As one of her other songs started winding down on the morning news show, Monae started telling the crowd outside 30 Rock:

“God bless America. 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 that we stand tall today. We will not be silenced!”

But that’s exactly when the singer-songwriter was cut off, with the camera pulling back and NBC anchor Savannah Guthrie promising, “We’ll have much more from Janelle Monáe… but first, this is ‘Today.’” The network then broke for commercials and viewers didn’t get to hear the rest of the performer’s thoughts on police brutality.

Janelle Monae new soung: Hell You Talmbout:

Last week, Monae explained the inspiration for her new song:  “This song is a vessel. It carries the unbearable anguish of millions,” the singer explained in a post on social media. “We recorded it to channel the pain, fear, and trauma caused by the ongoing slaughter of our brothers and sisters…. Sound is our weapon. They say a question lives forever until it gets the answer it deserves… Won’t you say their names?”