Mary J. Blige Explains Her Singing Moment With Hillary Clinton (Watch the Full Interview)

Nationwide — During a recent interview with Democratic Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton on her new Apple Music show called The 411, R&B singer Mary J. Blige discussed womanhood, police brutality against, gun violence and Clinton’s plans for making change in the White House. She also sang a capella for about a minute.

The song she sang was “American Skin (41 Shots),” which was originally recorded by Bruce Springsteen in 2000 as a reaction to the tragic 1999 killing of Amadou Diallo at the hands of the NYPD. But social went ablaze with people wondering why she chose to sing that particular song.

Blige explains, “The lyrics resonated with me so deeply and so heavily, because of all of the shootings and the police brutality, and I never got a chance to say anything. So I got an opportunity to do an interview with Hillary Clinton, and somebody like me don’t ever get an opportunity like that, ever.”

She continues, “I’m a singer first before I’m a journalist. This journalist stuff is brand new, so that’s the only way I can express myself. The lyrics impacted me so heavily and so deeply – it made me cry, it’s like a prayer – that I needed Mrs. Clinton to be impacted the same way. So the only way I can get that reaction from her is to sing it.”

When asked whether or not she would sing again in upcoming interviews, she comments, “That was just for Hillary Clinton, with that specific song, ‘American Skin.’ That won’t ever happen again. That was just for her. Come on, you have Hillary Clinton in the room, you’re gonna be the best of whatever you’re gonna be. You’re gonna try to make her feel the times that we’re in. She needed to feel that this whole police brutality mess is a nightmare. Are you with me on this?”

Watch the full interview below: