Some thoughts on the Daniel Penny trial and Jordan Neely.
Tag: Mos Def Umi Says
Throwback: Mos Def’s “Umi Says”/Ralph Yarl/Black Lives Matter
Some thoughts on Ralph Yarl – and action steps for y’all.
Throwback: Mos Def’s “Umi Says”/Black Lives Matter
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms with some brief thoughts on Tyre Nichols’ killing at the hand of Memphis police.
New Audio: St. Louis’ Concept Releases a Soulful and Conscious Plea for Empathy
Concept is a St. Louis-based singer/songwriter, emcee and lyrical storyteller, who tells stories through a hip hop and R&B — sometimes through a slick synthesis of the two. Thematically, his works focusers on pain, perseverance and pride while being based in his personal experience.
The St, Louis-based artist’s latest single “Butterflies” is centered around a warm and unfussy, neo-soul inspired production featuring twinkling Rhodes, stuttering boom-bap beats and a hook with heavily distorted vocals. Interestingly, the production is roomy enough for the emerging St. Louis-based artist to coolly unfurl his laid back and self-assured flow. Lyrically, the song finds Concept meditating on Black folks’ painful struggle for equality, our beauty, our hopes and our perseverance and pride. Much like Mos Def’s “Umi Says,” “Butterflies” manages to be soulful and empathetic reminder of our humanity and decency.
Throwback: Mos Def “Umi Says”/Black Lives Always Matter
I’m going to make a confession here that will seem rather obvious: the last few months I’ve felt especially angry, exhausted and demoralized. I saw another brother gunned down out by the police on TV. There were replays and commentary as if it were like a key play of a big ballgame. Some of the brilliant commentary included demonizing an imperfect human, who may have done stupid and illegal things when he was younger — or asking why he didn’t comply with the cops and a bunch of other insanely dumb things,
People in the poor bastard’s town protested. Racist lunatics from his state and elsewhere came into town with assault rifles to “protect property and lives” but they were actually fueling more discord and chaos. Worst yet, one of these racist idiots, shot and wounded protestors and the cops let him walk on by, get into his car and leave the state. I’ve seen articles sympathizing with this guy who hurt and killed people instead of empathizing with the poor bastard’s kids who saw their daddy get shot in the back seven times.
I’m proud of the NBA teams that refused to play games last night. I personally hope that they just shut down the rest of the season. We all need to focus on social justice and getting these people to stop killing us.
Yet again, it’s necessary to post one of my favorite Mos Def songs, off an album I turn to whenever racism and injustice seems to hurt me to my very core — “Umi Says,” off Black on Both Sides. As the song says in its refrain “I want my Black people to be free. . .”
All black live smatter. All the time. Every single day.
Throwback: Mos Def “Umi Says”/Black Lives Matter
With yet another senseless, televised police murder of a black person, I’ve felt angry and exhausted, demoralized and depressed. When will this nightmare end of unnecessary death end? When will we be free of this?
It just felt necessary to post one of my favorite Mos Def songs, off an album I turn to whenever racism and injustice seems to hurt me to my very core — “Umi Says,” off Black on Both Sides.
Simply put, I want all my black people to be free. Black lives matter. All the time. Every single day.
My man Rene Lopez has been working hard on new material for the follow-up to his previous album, which landed on this site’s Best of 2011 list, E.L.S. (short for Electric Latin Soul, a coin he termed […]