CHRIS WEBBY / JON CONNOR & I PREVAIL / JOYNER LUCAS
The recent events pertaining to police brutality and social injustice for people of color has created a call to arms for the frustrated masses. Blacks, whites and latinos have banded together to demand immediate change. The streets of every major city have become battlegrounds for reform.
With the recent murders of George Floyd, Rayshard Brooks and Breonna Taylor, racism is squarely in the spotlight. We still have not learned from our nation’s disturbing past. Racism still runs rampant. Change is only possible with the screams and actions of an united front.
Throughout history musical artists have been a reflective of the moment. During the the Vietnam War era groups like Crosby Stills and Nash and Country Joe and the Fish used their platform to raise awareness of the turbulent times. In later years we had Public Enemy decrying “Fight The Power” and Rage Against The Machine’s “Killing In The Name”.
The BLM movement has also awaken the souls of today’s musical artists. The music industry as a whole consolidated with days of dissent and a strong alignment with protesters. Once again musical artist and groups have written songs of objection and defiance.
Chris Webby/Jon Conner and I Prevail/Joyner Lucas are two powerful collaborations that resonates perfectly with the mood of the country. These artists have composed gripping songs that captures the frustrations prevalent in today’s social inequality.
The Webby/Connor song “Wild In the Streets” is a magnification of the resentments of the young black man. “Wild in the Streets” is a somber piece with a concrete down beat created by JP on da Track. The intro tells it all:
Every human has a voice
Every human has a choice
We all was meant to share this planet
But it all starts with understanding
I wish it could all be so easy
Wake me up from the nightmare on the TV
All the pain, the anxiety and hurt
For the world to change, we have to change first
The first verse belongs to Jon Connor. Connor emphasizes the disgruntlement he feels with the world today. His rap is one of anger yet there is a sense of hope. He can see a future where things can be different.
Every day, feel like I’m suppressing my feelings
Like I’ve been sentenced to pay a penance to people who for some reason hate my existence
They put us in ghettos and we embrace it
Makin’ the most out of a fucked up situation
And you got the nerve to be a racist? It’s funny
Controlling my education, religion and money
Later in the verse he eludes to the repetition of the discrimination and brutality the black man has endured throughout our country’s history.
And now there’s screaming in the streets
No, don’t give me no brick to throw ’cause what we out here screaming for is peace
I wasn’t even a teen when I seen what happened to Rodney King
My niece, Navaya, just turned eleven and now she’s seeing the same thing
We just tryin’ to break the cycle by addressing what we seeing
And me and Webby just an example that we are on the same team
Webby‘s second verse is equally damning of the corrupt system. He’s in total solidarity with Connor on the state of the union. Both Webby and Connor understand that the only way to change is to unite and stay strong. Power is with the people of vision and today’s youth see the universe in a different light.
Unity’s louder than troops and gunpowder
The shroud institution has proven they’re cowards
They losin’ their power, the future is ours
Change goin’ to come, revolution has flowered
And grown through the the cracks of the concrete streets
Later in the verse he states:
We’re a country built off crime and white lies
And I can see through my white eyes
If you don’t see the problem, you are the problem
And they all exposed
When our true colors get shown, woah
“Wild in the Streets” carries a forceful message. Webby and Connor damn the world but leave room for a better day.
Metalcore’s I Prevail has collaborated with Joyner Lucas to create another compelling ode against racism and atrocity. “DOA” is a commanding single that illustrates the horrors we see transpiring in our cities. The music is dynamic and the messaging potent. The song’s lyrics carry a punch. The angst felt by I Prevail and Lucas translate well throughout “DOA”.
Lucas raps in the first verse:
I’m mentally locked in a prison, and I need bail
And the internet will kill me quicker than the streets will
And if that shit doesn’t kill me, then the police will
The I Prevail second verse is a hard hitting bullet.
I can’t breathe
Got my head in a guillotine
Slipknot around my neck, come and take a seat
Watch ’em bury me down till I’m six feet deep in the underground
Dead in the land of the free
I Prevail and Lucas’s “DOA” is a steamroller that magnifies the disgust righteous people have for the racist behavior in America past and present.
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