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When you talk to Darrell Kelley, the successful musical artist and producer whose hits include “The Coronavirus,” “Vote Him Out,” and “Because of You,” the first thing you notice is that he is passionate about his beliefs. He believes strongly in fair treatment and respect no matter who you are or what your place in the world may be. He also loves people and their life stories, so he was deeply interested in the recent Oprah Winfrey interview with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry. He listened closely to the allegations of racism against the Royal Family, in particular Queen Elizabeth, and was so disturbed by what he heard that he immediately wrong his new song, “Why Lie on the Queen.”
“I wrote the song to express my feelings over Meghan’s accusation that the Queen had concerns over how dark Archie’s skin might be,” Darrell says. “After everything the Queen had done for her, I thought it was inappropriate to say this. I also did not think it was true. It was basically gossip. Where was the evidence that the Queen was racist? There was none, which is why I was so upset. My feelings were so strong about this that I had to get them out in my music.”
Darrell says that he has watched the Royal Family for years and has always been deeply impressed by the Queen’s treatment of people of color. “One of the lines of the song is ‘My heart knows you’re not a racist,’” he says. “How could she be? Over the years, she has invited many African Americans to Buckingham Palace and Windsor. First and foremost, the Obamas. She also invited Michael Jackson and James Brown. She would never have done this if she really were a racist.”
As Darrell discusses Queen Elizabeth and her treatment of African Americans, his conviction comes out. “Racists do not sit down with those people they are prejudiced against,” he states. “They won’t invite you to be a guest or talk to you. Queen Elizabeth is the opposite of this. She is the epitome of grace and beauty, and I just find it impossible to believe she would have said anything racist about Meghan and Harry’s baby. If there is proof of it, let me see it. I go by what I see, not by what people say.”
Darrell knows that a person’s image and who they really are can be different. “However, even though the queen does have a PR staff, it doesn’t overlook the fact that Meghan and Harry provided no proof of their allegations.”
Darrell is always open to hearing things about people that he might not like. “In this case, though, in order to believe that the Queen made such crass comments about Archie’s skin color, I need more than an alleged conversation. I need proof. Someone needs to show me the hard-core evidence that she said this, and then I will believe it.”
In the song, Darrell takes aim at why the couple chose to leave the UK for America. “They say that they wanted to avoid the paparazzi, but as my song points out, people in America are just as nosy here as they are there,” Darrell says. “The paparazzi is here, as we all know. If they really wanted their privacy, getting on Oprah in front of millions of people was a strange way to achieve it.”
As much as Darrell respects the Royal Family and feels passionate about helping them overcome unfair treatment, he has a bigger goal for his new song. He wants to remind people to not automatically believe what they tell you even if they are very important role models. “Instead, you need to do your own due diligence and your own studies so that you can clearly see people and world leaders and have your own views on them. If you do, there will be less gossip, and you’ll be standing up as a good person who has excellent character. You’ll be a person of love, acceptance, unity, and love.”
Darrell wants his song’s larger message to really reach people. “It definitely gets out the idea that abuse should not be allowed, especially when there’s no proof of it. We have to stand up for each other. The world is so divided, and we keep attacking each other for no reason. We go to war every day, but we don’t know why.”
What Darrell would love to see happen is an end to hate and an embrace of unity and acceptance. “We know what we have to do,” he says. “We have to set aside gossip and envy and focus on helping people who really need our energy and attention: the hungry, the sick, the homeless. The real victims of racism. Let’s come together and use our talents to help these people. Then you’ll see amazing things happen across the world.”
