Local rapper Trap House isn't afraid to tackle current events in his music. Three days ago, he penned a song called "Imagine (Mike Brown Tribute)," and now, the rapper is teaming up with a group of locals to shoot a video for the song.
See also: Meet The Black Family, Trap House's New Hip-Hop Collective
The rapper created a Facebook event with the following description:
I am shooting a video for the song that I did for Michael Brown tomorrow at 7pm. We are recreating the *Hands up don't shoot* protest as a visual for the song. We need as many people there with signs and candles as possible. KIDS INCLUDED. We won't take much of your time and it would mean so much to me to see you all there. Everybody can come. The address is below. Thank you!10409 N 21st Ave Suite 3 Phx AZ 85021 United States
In 2012, Trap wrote "Jhessye," about the disappearance of 5-year-old Jhessye Shockley.
"Imagine" brims over with feelings of rage and frustration over social injustice.
There are cries for action ("We had a Martin Luther King in our time before / he said 'I had a dream' but it's time for war"), anger at seeing the same narrative of targeted blackness repeat ("It ain't safe to go outside no more, can't trust the police already tried before, seen the black man fall so many times to know, bang bang, been here and died before"), and helplessness to change anything ("They say all cops ain't bad / just all the ones in the hood I've passed / so if you go to reach in the dash / your future becomes a thing of the past").
His lyrics echo the same feelings of resentment and weariness expressed by the black community in the wake of the shooting, recalling this popular image that circulated on social media in the wake of the shooting:
I don't know her, but I love her. pic.twitter.com/kHCsX2LpRb
— ᴅᴏʟʟᴀʀ (@callmedollar) August 15, 2014
Trap lets loose his most stinging barbs in the second verse:
"Blood flowin' through the cracks in the pavement / the black man still sittin' on the slave ship / the black man under attack it's the same shit / the fact is, killing a black will get you famous."
Later, he expresses, "I ain't been the same since Trayvon / the band's playing music it's the same song."
Check out the song here:
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