Significant Moments  in Black History: Zhané makes sure we don’t say their name wrong with their 1994 debut album, ‘Pronounced Jah-Nay’

OPINION: The duo of Renée and Jean dropped a smooth and jamtastic album but MOSTLY just wanted us to say their name right.

Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.

It’s February in African America, which means it’s Black History Month. That means your entire month is going to be inundated with alternate facts, fake quotes and improperly attributed historical happenings. If you stand still enough you can smell the joy and shenanigans afoot. With that said, one of my favorite pastimes — and not just in February — is locating and then acknowledging significant moments in Black history. Which brings us to today’s discussion. 

Ya know, I really do appreciate when people make perhaps difficult things easier for the masses. Changing the channel was a physical activity until the remote control came along, and I would argue we’re all better off. Similarly (though not at all), one of my favorite albums is the debut album from magnificent singers (and former duo)  Jean Norris-Baylor and Renée Neufville, better known as Zhané. If you dipped one toe into the ’90s or are even slightly a fan of the best musical decade of all time — again, the 1990s — then you have heard “Hey Mr. DJ,” their first single and a song that is as emblematic of the era as any. If you went to melanated ’90s parties, you would hear this song. It’s a given. It’s noticeable if you don’t. Well, their album, “Pronounced Jah-Nay” is as good of an album as any. It was released on Feb. 15, 1994, making it 30 years old. Egads. 

While I’d happily celebrate the magnificence of this album — it is literally good from start to finish — the most significant thing about this album was that the women understood the assignment and realized that being Black means a lot of things to a lot of people. It also means that while we love to allege that white people are the only people who butcher Black people’s names, the truth is we, the Black people, ALSO heavily butcher the names of other Black people. Listen, I’m an adjunct professor at Howard University right now. I absolutely have to ask people how to say their names. I’m respectful like that. 

But Zhané realized that everybody wasn’t like me. They knew that putting their names together — Jean and Renée — to form a kinda sorta French portmanteau of their names as Zhané, while creative, was also as Black a thing as you could do. And knowing Black people they also knew that whether they did white press or Black press, NOBODY was going to get their name right. 

Smartly, they did the only thing that made sense: They titled their debut album, “Pronounced Jah-Nay,” thereby ensuring that if you said their name wrong, you did it because you are either a bad person or cannot read or maybe both. (Because they know many of you don’t read, there is also a skit on the album ABOUT mispronouncing their name.) The realization that having a cool and creative group name is both awesome and could come with unintended consequences proves that everybody involved with this album title was a visionary. There might not be a prize for cultural awareness and peace of mind, but Zhané surely should be who the award is named after. The Zhané Cultural Awareness and Peace of Mind Award needs to be a thing — somebody needs to make that happen. 

The day they decided to name their album “Pronounced Jah-Nay” isn’t a day that we celebrate but it should be. That day marked the point where the group decided to make the conversation around their music NOT about how to properly pronounce their name (I’m sure it was still a point of confusion for many; I can only imagine the women going through various stages of annoyance as they reminded interviewers that the pronunciation was RIGHT THERE). 

To Zhané, you not only created beautiful music and sang beautifully (seriously), but you are early arbiters of Black excellence. Your vision and foresight should be recognized for eons. 

Panama Jackson is a columnist at theGrio. He writes very Black things, drinks very brown liquors, and is pretty fly for a light guy. His biggest accomplishment to date coincides with his Blackest accomplishment to date in that he received a phone call from Oprah Winfrey after she read one of his pieces (biggest), but he didn’t answer the phone because the caller ID said: “Unknown” (Blackest).

Make sure you check out the Dear Culture podcast every Thursday on theGrio’s Black Podcast Network, where I’ll be hosting some of the Blackest conversations known to humankind. You might not leave the convo with an afro, but you’ll definitely be looking for your Afro Sheen! Listen to Dear Culture on TheGrio’s app; download it here.

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