“And we’re used to how crackers treat us, now that’s the scary thing.”
“As a juvenile, police pulled their guns like they scared of me,” he raps. The song keeps its chorus of “Brand-new Lamborghini, fuck a cop car,” but adds a new opening verse on police brutality from DaBaby. 1 hit, DaBaby released a Black Lives Matter remix to his song “Rockstar,” featuring Roddy Ricch.
“I wrote this the day they killed George Floyd / We won’t forget your story.”ĭaBaby and Roddy Ricch, “Rockstar (BLM Remix)” “But in this life some wars we can’t avoid,” D Smoke raps. Rhythm & Flow season one winner D Smoke teamed up with his brother, Top Dawg–signed singer SiR, for the song “Let Go,” written the day of George Floyd’s killing on May 25 and released on May 29. And it’s like, ‘Damn, things are supposed to get better.’” “Now, they’re just straight up killing you on tape. “It’s wild, because I can remember growing up and in the beatings captured on tape, the people survived,” Dre told HipHopDX of the song. The song samples a news report and audio from the video of George Floyd’s police killing. “Get this dance! You about to lose yo job ’cause you are detaining me for nothing!” The producers posted their remix on June 9, while Charles’ sister Andrea raised $50,000 for her sister - who is currently homeless and working to get royalties from the song - in a since-closed GoFundMe.ĭre, one half of production duo Cool & Dre, released his song “Captured on a iPhone” on May 30, dedicated to the black people whose police killings weren’t documented. “You about to lose yo job,” she told officers in a video she posted to Instagram. She also references the coronavirus pandemic, rapping, “Legs ‘bout to spread like corona.”ĭJ Suede the Remix God and DJ iMarkkeyz, “Lose Yo Job”Īn already-viral video turned to an internet-ready protest song when DJ Suede the Remix God and DJ iMarkkeyz (responsible for Cardi B’s “Coronavirus” remix) remixed a clip of Johnniqua Charles talking to a South Carolina security guard who detained her in February. The song is another classic raunchy cupcakKe track - “I need some lemon pepper and mild sauce on that dick,” she raps in the chorus.
and benefiting important fundraisers.Īfter she quit music last year, Chicago rapper cupcakKe has returned with her second new song of 2020, called “Lemon Pepper.” Half the proceeds from the song will go to the Minnesota Freedom Fund, which is raising bail money for Minneapolis protesters and other Minnesotans in custody. (Additionally, Bandcamp will donate all of its profits on June 19 to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, as well as $30,000 every year to various orgs that “fight for racial justice and create opportunities for people of color.”) Here’s a current list of songs, albums, and performances protesting police brutality in the U.S. Others have used the moment to fundraise, dropping new releases and directing proceeds toward various memorial and bail funds while also encouraging fans to donate directly. While the nation continues to protest the police killings of unarmed black people - including George Floyd in Minneapolis, who formerly rapped with Houston’s DJ Screw in the ’90s, along with Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, and countless others - musicians have turned to their form to express grief and rage. Throughout American history, protest has been channeled through music, from the folk of the ’60s to the hip-hop of the ’80s and ’90s. Photo-Illustration: Vulture,YouTube and Getty Images