Police brutality has made the headlines once again this week in the USA following the shootings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile at the hands of police officers and the current shootings and unrest in Dallas.
Now, Jay Z has released a politically-charged new single in response to the tragic daeths of Sterling and Castile. On the track, titled Spiritual, Jay Z specifically addresses police brutality, with powerful lyrics like “Got my hands in the air. In despair, don’t shoot, I just wanna do good,”
Jay Z is just the latest in a number of musicians who’ve made public statements this week, including his wife Beyonce who implored police to “stop killing us,” and Canadian rapper Drake who wrote an open letter addressing the need to stop the “cycle of violence.”
Along with the song, Jay Z also shared a a statement saying that he had written this song over a year go after the police shooting death of Mike Brown but didn’t, because it seems that the issue of police brutality “will always be relevant.”
“I’m hurt that I knew [Mike Brown’s] death wouldn’t be the last,” he said. “I’m saddened and dissapointed in THIS America – we should be further along. WE ARE NOT.”
He went on to re-affirm his belief in God, and give his condolences to loved ones before leaving a quote from African-American social reformer and activist Frederick Douglass.
Listen: Jay Z – Spiritual
