The latest release from singer-songwriter Lauren Milne, titled ‘Crown’ is a song that is overdue for Black women. It vocalises the struggle they face to love the skin they’re in and the hair they have – the latter a prominent issue many Black women face.
‘Crown’ is a call to empowerment and the chorus ‘You can’t take this crown from me,’ a reminder that Black women’s hair, which is often politicised and demonised, belongs to no one other than Black women. As the chorus affirms Black hair is ‘Glorious, made by the glorious One’ – and therefore should be celebrated.
The song is inspired by negro-spirituals, a genre born out of the struggles of African American slaves. The thunderous claps and soulful harmonies of ‘Crown’ take after the emotions of pain and frustration by which every Black person, Black women especially, are saying enough is enough.
Taking strong influence from the likes of jazz great Louis Armstrong, Milne carries a cadence of power in this track. Having written ‘Crown’ originally to express the racial struggle of a friend, Milne speaks to Black women and encourages them to know their worth in a world that often overlooks them.
However, ‘Crown’ also draws on Milne’s faith: that what God has given to her in Jesus is something that can never be taken away. In that sense, it’s also a song of hope for the hopeless, a fire-igniting ballad pointing people to the God-given beauty and power they possess.
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