On Sunday, June 28th, over 50 artists and tens of thousands of fans came together for Justice Comes Alive, a one-day, virtual festival harnessing the power of music to bring about collective change in response to racial inequality. The donation-based streaming event generated $55,000 and counting in funds for the participating artists, who remain out of work as the pandemic continues, as well as a number of social justice-oriented causes via PLUS1 For Black Lives Fund.
The 12-hour live-stream marathon featured new contributions by an array of amazing artists from around the world including mesmerizing bassist MonoNeon, a former Prince collaborator who has most recently lent his talents to funk fusion outfit Ghost-Note. While MonoNeon is known primarily for his mystifying bass work—and even for using his bass to interpret spoken word as music—it’s the vocals that take center stage on this solo rendition of “Women, Water & Weed” from his 2018 album, I Don’t Care Today (Angels & Demons in Lo-Fi).
Related: Did You Know: MonoNeon Played Bass On New Nas & Anderson .Paak Collab “All Bad” [Listen]
The track wears its message on its sleeve—as Mono croons, “Women, water, and weed / Those are the three things / That you need / In your life / Gone head and get you all three / They may bring a little peace.” Wise words, as always, from the one they call MonoNeon.
Relive the MonoNeon performance from Justice Comes Alive below. If you enjoyed the Justice Comes Alive performances and have the means, consider making a donation to Plus1 For Black Lives Fund via www.JusticeComesAlive.com.
MonoNeon – “Women, Water & Weed” – Justice Comes Alive
Presented by Live For Live Music in partnership with PLUS1 and Nugs.TV, Justice Comes Alive was conceived as a way to harness the power of music to bring about collective change in response to racial inequality. All funds raised from Justice Comes Alive will be split evenly between the artists on the bill and the PLUS1 For Black Lives Fund, which was developed to address and continue the fight against anti-Black racism and violence in the U.S.
Directly supporting organizations like Equal Justice Initiative, Impact Justice, and The Bail Project, the PLUS1 For Black Lives Fund focuses on empowering Black communities, movement building, keeping people out of the criminal justice system while dismantling it more broadly, and a collective, international narrative change toward the equitable treatment of Black people. 30% of the PLUS1 for Black Lives Fund is also committed to small grants for Black and Indigenous-led grassroots efforts combating racism. For more information on Justice Comes Alive, head here.