At the end of Keira Smith's cover of Jill Scott's Watching Me, the Atlanta-based singer throws up a fist in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and stares directly into the camera for a few moments of silence. Considering the song's message, in both Scott's and Smith's versions, revolves around the idea of intrusive surveillance, her choice to end the video that way is a powerful image, given how her closing line, And they keep saying that I'm free, speaks to the frustration and anger that has welled up within the black community in America for centuries.
Smith, a fifth semester music therapy major, covered the song as part of her showcase for Berklee Anywhere, a video series curated by Berklee's social media channels that highlights the creativity and connectivity of our students and alumni, even though the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic had displaced the campus community to their homes around the world.
When you sing, rap, recite poetry, you should expose your true feelings so that people will hear you and feel your story.
-Keira Smith
Below, Smith tells the story of how she came to write her take on Scott's original, sharing her own story in the process, and how, as she says, Music is most powerful when you don't worry about if everyone is going to like it When you're confident, brave, and stand your ground.
Perhaps the most moving part of the end of Smith's video is her inversion of the song's title. After singing the line watching me for almost two minutes, she stops to watch us. In those final moments, this song of struggle becomes a call to action.
The following is an edited version of our interview with Keira Smith:
What led you to write your own personal version of Jill Scotts Watching Me? Smith: What led me to writing Watching Me is a culmination of emotion and frustration that has been brought to the forefront by the Black Lives Matter movement. In the midst of dealing with a pandemic, we as a nation are still dealing with police brutality and injustice. When I write, I tend to write about topics that I see with my own eyes. I've had my own personal experience with the police. About a year ago, I was driving home one night with some friends, when unfortunately, I got pulled over by the police. Being that this was my first time getting pulled over, I was scared out of my mind! Keep both hands on the wheel; don't make any sudden movements I was thinking the worst things. Questions were bombarding my mind like: (1) are my friends and I going to die tonight?; (2) am I going to get arrested?; (3) should I record a video just in case?; and (4) will I be able to speak to my family? The police officer told me I did not have my lights on, then instructed me to get out of my vehicle. In my mind, I questioned why I had to get out of the car because I didn't have my lights on. In that moment, I just knew I was going to be another black woman killed by the police or arrested. I was made to stand outside while the officer's partner checked me out. I felt blessed to be allowed to leave despite having to stand outside for over an hour. What to do when stopped by the police is a conversation my brother and I have had with my parents throughout our childhood. I put all of these feelings and experiences into the song.
Watch Smiths interpretation of Watching Me:
Video of Jill Scott - Watching Me (BerkleeAnywhere Featuring Keira)
What was it that made you choose this particular song? Smith: My mom is a day-one Jill Scott fan. I grew up listening to [Scotts debut album] Who Is Jill Scott? at least once a week. Jill Scott is one of my biggest inspirations. She has taught me to speak through your music. When you sing, rap, recite poetry, you should expose your true feelings so that people will hear you and feel your story. Watching Me is one of my favorite Jill Scott songs. The song made me think about what is going on in this world. It feels unreal. Jill Scott's phrase and they keep saying that I'm free speaks to me. When I heard that line, I knew I had to write.
How did you approach your interpretation? What about your writing process in general? Smith: My writing process is different. Instead of writing while listening to the beat, I just start writing. I don't worry about whether things are going to flow or if this word matches that word. I just write all of my feelings in my journal-I try to convey my truth in that moment first. I knew that I wanted the song to be strong, powerful, and honest. When I started writing the first two lines of the song, I asked myself, Keira, how do you feel about what is happening today? What triggers you? After answering those questions in my mind, I wrote the line Mmm, it's really sad what this world is turning into. The song flowed from there.
What role can music play in raising cultural awareness and action? Smith: The vast majority of people love some form of music. The use of the internet and social media gives musicians access to a larger platform to convey a powerful message to a large group of people at once. The same song has the ability to touch someone regardless of the person's race, sex, background, or sexual orientation. I think that a song has a larger impact if it's organic, and if you are speaking from the heart. Music is most powerful when you don't worry about if everyone is going to like it. When you don't worry about how many views or likes your video or song will get. When you just speak your opinion. When you're confident, brave, and stand your ground.
Related categories:
News
Related Reading
Keira Smiths Songs to Fuel a Movement
Heartbreak Is a Team Effort in The BreakUp An emotional two-part dance film from songwriter Luis Gamarra and choreographer Holly Wilder shows what can happen whe
Most recent headlines
09/11/2025
Dalet today announced a transformative leap forward for media operations: Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) that unifies the Dalet ecosystem under one natura...
28/10/2025
ESPN Announces Monsters Funday Football', Its Latest Real-Time Animated Bro...
28/10/2025
SVG All-Stars: Catherine Chalfant, Manager, Remote Operations, ESPNThe Ole Miss alum is an operational force behind ESPN's extensive college-football catalo...
28/10/2025
Elevating the experience: AI and data take Ryder Cup to the next level By Joe OHalloran
Tuesday, October 28, 2025 - 10:25
Print This Story
NBC produced th...
28/10/2025
Conquering the Air (waves): Taking a close up look at the IBC Accelerator Priva...
28/10/2025
World Series 2025: Spectrum SportsNet LA Brings Dodgers Fans Closer to the Actio...
28/10/2025
Dylan Southern and Benedict Cumberbatch at the premiere of The Thing with Feathers (photo by George Pimentel / Shutterstock for Sundance Film Festival)...
28/10/2025
For three weeks in Lagos, Spotify's Greasy Tunes Caf pop-up brought the cit...
28/10/2025
Once a niche subculture, German rap has evolved into an influential cultural movement. Now, Spotify is giving the genre a new home with OFFCULT, a playlist dedi...
28/10/2025
Shane Delia's Malta serves up the Mediterranean this summer
28 October, 2025
Media releases
Feast on 9,000 years of culinary history Mondays from 24 No...
28/10/2025
SBS's global sporting festival continues with the FIVB Beach Volleyball Worl...
28/10/2025
Bilbao, October 28, 2025 - AgileTV, a leading technology solutions company for t...
28/10/2025
Disney, NBCUniversal, FOX, Paramount Each Achieve Double-Digit Monthly Growth
...
28/10/2025
CINCINNATI The E.W. Scripps Company has announced an agreement to sell WRTV, its local ABC-affiliated station in Indianapolis, to Circle City Broadcasting for $...
28/10/2025
Berklee College of Music and Berklee Valencia Named to Billboards 2025 Top Music...
28/10/2025
NEW YORK As AI usage continues to spike, a new study from IAB delves into an important aspect of how AI is transforming the advertising business with new data s...
28/10/2025
Charlie Jablonski, a broadcast tech pioneer who helped shape the modern era of Olympics television coverage, died Oct. 25 at his home in Lake George N.Y., the N...
28/10/2025
VIENNA, Austria Bitmovin has launched Bitmovin Observability, a new stand-alone video data solution that delivers real-time insights into video playback. The so...
28/10/2025
LOS ANGELES LucidLink, the file streaming platform, has announced a Frame.io integration and expanded mobile capabilities at Adobe Max....
28/10/2025
Mediagenix, a global leader in smart content solutions to profitably connect the right content to the right audience, today announced that it has joined the Ama...
28/10/2025
Lightware, an industry leader in connectivity and signal management solutions, has announced a major update to its Taurus
platform, which now delivers flawless...
28/10/2025
Following a successful mid-September International Broadcasting Convention in Amsterdam, Hiltron Communications will promote its full range of satellite communi...
28/10/2025
Open Broadcast Systems has chosen MC&S (Media Consulting & Services) as a reseller to help strengthen its presence in France.
With over twenty years of experi...
28/10/2025
Bitmovin, leading provider of video streaming solutions, has launched Bitmovin Observability, a new stand-alone video data solution that delivers real-time insi...
28/10/2025
Ease Live, the leader in interactive TV technology, today announced the successful launch of interactive graphical overlays for UEFA Champions League matches fo...
28/10/2025
LucidLink, the file streaming platform, today at Adobe MAX announced a Frame.io integration and expanded mobile capabilities, streamlining collaboration and hel...
28/10/2025
ATLANTA Gray Media has promoted Nick Hasenecz to general manager of WNDU, its NBC affiliate in the South Bend-Elkhart, Ind., market....
28/10/2025
Applications Open for Berklee Fenway Neighborhood Improvement Grant Boston nonprofits can apply by December 12 for funding to support community projects that ...
28/10/2025
28 Oct 2025
VEON's JazzCash Wins Silver Award for Innovation in Lending at ...
28/10/2025
Guests include Wayne Rooney, Maya Jama, Dame Laura Kenny, Chloe Kelly, Chris McC...
28/10/2025
The two-hour special, recorded live from the iconic Dolby Theatre in LA, will ai...
28/10/2025
Eutelsat upgrades teleports with Rohde & Schwarz satellite uplink amplifiers High efficiency and resilient Ku-band amplifiers for excellent RF performance
...
28/10/2025
These appointments come at a pivotal time for ABC, as the organisation continues to evolve to meet the changing needs of a digital-first media ecosystem. The ne...
28/10/2025
Scripps Research awarded $4 million to advance platform for neurodevelopmental disorders The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) grant support...
27/10/2025
You can touch this: Haptics becoming central to the virtual live experience By Adrian Pennington
Friday, October 24, 2025 - 09:12
Print This Story
The vid...
27/10/2025
A tale of two trailers: France's Stop & Go doubles up with its new hybrid tr...
27/10/2025
Pro Padel League Stages City's Cup Finals Inside NYC's Hammerstein Ballr...
27/10/2025
World Series 2025: Sportsnet Delivers Made-in-Canada' Moment for a Nation U...
27/10/2025
ESPN Extends Partnership With Sony's Beyond Sports To Expand Animated Altern...
27/10/2025
Reid Davenport attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Life After at The Ray Theatre on January 27, 2025, in Park City, UT. (Photo by Robin Marsha...
27/10/2025
As the days grow shorter and the nights get darker, there's nothing like getting swept up in a story that sends shivers down your spine. In honor of spooky ...
27/10/2025
UPDATE: Both parties have reached a new carriage agreement....
27/10/2025
LONDON As Hollywood jumps into the production of mini-dramas, a new study from Ampere Analysis finds that more than one in 10 internet users have watched drama ...
27/10/2025
LONDON Yealink, a provider of unified communication and collaboration solutions, has joined the NDI ecosystem with the availability of its SmartVision 80 premiu...
27/10/2025
ATLANTA Gray Media has named Chris Conroy as general manager of its stations in Cleveland, leading WOIO, a CBS affiliate, The CW station WUAB and Telemundo outl...
27/10/2025
ESPOO, Finland European connectivity leaders Nokia and Ericsson, have partnered with Berlin's Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute (HHI), to shape and drive ...
27/10/2025
PHILADELPHIA Comcast has expanded NOW TV Latino, its Spanish-language live TV and streaming offering, adding five more channels from Univision, ViX Premium with...
27/10/2025
Test & measurement innovator, Leader Electronics, will present its latest products and solutions at InterBEE 2025 (Hall 5, Booth 5218) Makuhari Messe in Chiba, ...
27/10/2025
Back to All News
City of Shadows, the New Netflix Thriller Arrives on December 12
Entertainment
27 October 2025
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard
Downl...
At the end of Keira Smith's cover of Jill Scott's Watching Me, the Atlanta-based singer throws up a fist in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and stares directly into the camera for a few moments of silence. Considering the song's message, in both Scott's and Smith's versions, revolves around the idea of intrusive surveillance, her choice to end the video that way is a powerful image, given how her closing line, And they keep saying that I'm free, speaks to the frustration and anger that has welled up within the black community in America for centuries.
