The joyful songs on the project serve as a love offering to Black girls across multiple decades and generations, Mitchell says. The first track on the EP, which comprises a type of folklore you would hear or read in a children’s book, is a reflection of this.
“The EP starts with ‘The Legend of Black Girl Magic,’ which is me narrating a mythical, fairy tale-esque story that references this princess, ‘Peg,’ who is named after my eight-time great-grandmother. She was an incredible woman who was emancipated from slavery on April 12, 1800, in Greenwich, Connecticut,” explains Mitchell. “And just like my great-grandmother was able to gain back her freedom, the tale’s heroine-princess ultimately ends up freeing herself and inspiring countless children.”
Mitchell says the concept for “The Legend of Black Girl Magic,” which was written in a day, came to her effortlessly while she was meditating. “I was thinking about my ancestors and the sacrifices they made, and I started concentrating on the word ‘generations.’ I thought it would be cool to tell a fairy tale about my history, and the phrase ‘Once upon a time in the magical world of black girlhood' came to me,” she says.
The Magical World of Black Girlhood EP and the video for "The Legend of Black Girl Magic" both dropped today.
Color Coded Media Group
The 25-year-old R&B/pop singer-songwriter says there are other cuts on The Magical World of Black Girlhood that celebrate “black girl magic,” like “Top-Down," which "rejoices in black women, black sisterhood, friendship, and the love we have for one another.”
Mitchell released the single for “Sunshine Lovin,” the EP's fourth track, and its accompanying video on April 1. The song is a fun doo-wop ditty, and the whimsical video nods playfully to the ’60s while delivering a message that Black girls are worthy of love and should be honored.
At first, Mitchell was inclined to write an upbeat love song inspired by the sound of 1960s female vocal groups, such as Martha and the Vandellas and the Supremes.
"Around two years ago, I was happily in love and wanted to write something that celebrated a healthy love and romantic relationship," she says. "So I started writing the song, and then left it alone for a while." When she began to work on it again, "Sunshine Lovin'" took on different iterations, without the man as the focal point. "I started to see it as more than a relationship song," she says. "Lyrically and sonically, it was also a love letter to all the Black women and artists who have shaped me. ... It was my way of celebrating the beautiful stories of strength and courage of the Black girls and women in my life."
The release date also holds a special significance for the singer. “I wanted to honor my paternal grandmother, whose birthday is on April 22," she says. "She was an extraordinary woman who died from complications while having my dad.” The vocalist recalls sitting at her desk one day, pondering possible dates to release her music and glancing over her shoulder to look at her inspiration wall. “I have some pictures of female ancestors, and I saw her face, and it was like something just hit me. It made sense to release my EP on the same day she was born."
The seeds for her EP, she says, were planted long ago.
In 2018, Mitchell became the first Black woman to graduate with a degree in music from the Colorado College campus in Colorado Springs. Looking back, she can see how the time she spent in and outside of the classroom would inform the creation of The Magical World of Black Girlhood.
She says she was inspired by classes she took, "coupled with incredible professors who really pushed my mind; reading Why Do All the Black Kids Sit Together in the Cafeteria? in school; performing with my a cappella group and a student band called ‘Promiscuous Stepsister’; standing outside in the rain my freshman year, protesting the erasure of Black women from the Black Lives Matter narrative; and singing the Black National Anthem into a bullhorn at the Colorado State Capitol building after the 2016 election.”
She also released a short documentary that aired on PBS several years ago, which chronicles her life as a singer and dancer.
Mitchell was always passionate about music, and got her start singing and dancing in church. "Since I was four, I knew I wanted to be a singer. I had an unhealthy obsession with Shirley Temple as a little kid,” she recalls, laughing. “I would replay her tapes over and over and try to mimic her.” To date, the lyricist has written over a thousand songs, which include co-writes with her older brother and popular Denver-based R&B/pop singer Adiel, who is also the sound engineer on her EP.
“The more we worked, the more the concept for the whole EP started to realize itself,” she says. “I want to make people feel that they are good enough. I want a little Black girl somewhere to see me sing and think, ‘I fit in, too.’”
Mitchell will debut songs from The Magical World of Black Girlhood at her EP-release party tonight at GVM Studios in Denver. Entrance to the show is free with an RSVP.
Jaiel Mitchell's Magical World of Black Girlhood EP Release Party, 8 p.m. Friday, April 22, GVM Studios, 4970 East Colfax Avenue; free with RSVP. Follow Jaiel Mitchell on her Instagram.
