Hip hop continues to fight against police brutality and racism via new, salient releases. The latest artist to deliver a powerful statement with music is Lil Baby, who delivers his new single “The Bigger Picture.” The roughly four-minute track sees the Atlanta star blacking out on important issues over production from Noah. and Section 8:
“I find it crazy the police’ll shoot you and know that you dead, but still tell you to freeze, f***ed up, I seen what I seen/
I guess that mean hold him down if he say he can’t breathe, it’s too many mothers that’s grieving, they killing us for no reason/
Been going on for too long to get even, throw us in cages like dogs and hyenas, I went to court and they sent me to prison/
My mama was crushed when they said I can’t leave, first I was drunk, then I sobered up quick, when I heard all that time that they gave to Taleeb/
He got a life sentence plus, we just some products of our environment. how the f*** they gon’ blame us?/”
While not normally as politically conscious, Lil Baby isn’t really new to addressing issues that matter to his community — both on wax and in real life, as can be seen in the accompanying visual. Back in February, he did just that with his second studio album My Turn, which boasts tracks like “Emotionally Scarred” and “Hurtin,” songs that convey a vulnerability not normally seen in leading artists of Lil Baby’s generation. That album in turn become one of the most successful of the year thus far, earning the Quality Control signed artist a number one of the Billboard 200 thanks to 197,000 album equivalent units sold.
Hit the protest with Lil Baby below. Hopefully, this release will inspire many of the other young hip hop leaders to push more music bearing this kind of subject matter.