If there was ever a day to release a track despairing race relations in the US, it’s today.
Jay Z has released spiritual, the first track featuring Hova as the lead artist since 2013’s Magna Carta Holy Grail, and it’s a shot straight to the heart of police brutality in the States.
It’s not an easy listen. The words he invokes – “I got my hands in the air in despair, don’t shoot, I just wanna do good” – are more given emotional weight by the outright fear in his voice. Even the most powerful people in popular culture are scared for their black children.
In a statement accompanying the track’s release on TIDAL, the rapper says the track was finished a year ago, but he held off on its release; after all, needless deaths at the hands of police were unlikely to stop.
The release also comes after Beyonce used her gig to display an all-too-large list of the victims of police brutality.
Listen to the track below.
Source: TIDAL.
Photo: Neil Lupin / Getty.
