Do white people know how it feels to be Black?
A new song by chart-topping singer Zeeteah Massiah lays bare the pain of living in a world that judges you on sight. Recorded at home during lockdown, You Don’t Know is sung as if by a Black Woman to a white listener, highlighting the gulf in understanding that exists between them. It has been released free to view on YouTube, to immediate acclaim.
The murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis brought to the surface intense, long-buried emotions for Zeeteah. Arriving in London from the Caribbean as a child, she remembers being shocked by the hostility and abuse directed at her because of the colour of her skin. Half a century later, struggling to express her feelings to her husband and musical partner Paul Caplin, who is white, she blurted out, “You don’t know how it feels”.
Paul took those words and turned them into a song. You Don’t Know is the duo’s powerful message to people who prefer to look the other way when confronted by everyday racism. In these times of conflict and division, their hope is that it will reach enough people to make a difference.
As a dance music diva in the 1990s, Zeeteah shot to success on both sides of the Atlantic, with a No. 1 in the US Billboard dance charts and chart hits in the UK. She has toured with Michael Jackson and Tom Jones, duetted with French legend Johnny Hallyday and sung with stars such as Sting, Phil Collins and Robbie Williams.
Today Zeeteah lives in the countryside near London, and regularly appears in the city’s clubs singing jazz and reggae with her band.
“This song is different from anything I’ve ever done before,” she says. “When I was a kid, I couldn’t understand why people would point at me and call me names. Back then, I didn’t know how to respond. Now I feel I have something to say.”
You Don’t Know is a non-commercial project, available to all at youdontknow.video. “It’s not being monetised on YouTube or anywhere else,” explains Zeeteah, “No one will ever be charged to hear it or to watch the video.”
It is one from the heart, a message to the world.
Zeeteah Massiah website: http://zeeteah.com
Contact: paulcaplin@me.com / +44 (0)7976 259112