Thirty years after Sinéad O’Connor wrote “Black Boys On Mopeds,” her words are as relevant as ever. Shea Rose has given new life to those words with a version of the song that reflects all the emotion and turmoil of recent world events. Her voice, barely more than a whisper at times, echoes the pain felt over the recent horrific death of George Floyd.
In her 1990 album, I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got, Sinéad O’Connor sang about police brutality in the UK. The album was a tribute to Colin Roach, an innocent 21-year-old black man who was shot and killed by the British police. “Black Boys On Mopeds” was written about an incident in O’Connor’s neighborhood where the police assumed that two black teenage boys had stolen a moped, which was actually borrowed, and chased them until they crashed and died.

Though the lyrics reference England in the 1990s, Shea feels that this song serves as a universal statement on the social and political climate of the world today. The song came to mind after the shooting and unrest in Ferguson. As more and more stories of police brutality came out, Shea was hesitant to release her recording, fearing it could be taken the wrong way. As the song goes, “To say what you feel is to dig your own grave.” But now, with an election on the horizon, Shea has chosen to use her platform to join the conversation about the disquieting conditions across the world.

Vocalist: Shea Rose
Music Production and Arrangement: Simone Scazzocchio
Mixed and Mastered: Will Holland at Chillhouse Studios
Choreography and Concept:
Shea Rose and Simone Scazzocchio
Director of Photography and Co-Director: Ernesto Galan
Co-Director: Emir Cerman

Shea Rose has possessed numerous titles over the course of her career: singer, songwriter, fashion icon and curator are just a few. Her music is influenced by R&B, soul, hip-hop, and rock. Her 2017 D.T.M.A. (Dance This Mess Around) EP describes her personal and creative evolution through receiving an offer from a major record label and turning it down, discovering and defining her own identity and voice as an artist. Rose is a featured songwriter and performer on two Grammy award-winning jazz albums—The Mosaic Project (2011) and Money Jungle: Provocative in Blue (2012), both produced by legendary drummer Terri Lyne Carrington. Shea was chosen as a speaker for TEDx Beacon Street in 2014. Her topic «Somebody Stole My Voice» chronicled her evolution from a vocal cord surgery to a more mindful and embodied vocalist and speaker. Her research and process for the talk was the catalyst for her current exploration of mind-body practices and teachings that heals the voice. She feels deeply called to help others find their voice from the inside, out. Shea Rose is a 200 Hour RYT certified yoga instructor, incorporating sound healing (music, spoken-word and singing) into her yoga practice and classes. In addition to performing and writing, Rose curated the successful Rise Music Series at The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and is currently a professor at Berklee College of Music.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

Black Boys On Mopeds | Shea Rose | TEDxBeaconStreet