Singer Lauryn Hill has posted her tribute track to Ferguson, Missouri, titled “Black Rage.” She is the second artist in recent days to pay tribute to the situation in the St. Louis suburb, where unarmed black teen Michael Brown was shot and killed by a police officer.
“Black Rage” is a song that dates back to 2012, but she felt it earned a new meaning with the rage felt in Ferguson. According to Rolling Stone, the recording she shared sounds amateurish, with only an acoustic guitar and percussion heard. There is also the sound of children in the background. As for the music, the melody follows the Sound of Music song “My Favorite Things” by Rodgers & Hammerstein.
“An old sketch of Black Rage, done in my living room. Strange, the course of things. Peace for MO,” Hill wrote in a Tweet with the song.
Hill recited the lyrics during a 2012 tour with Nas. “Obviously, this is a song about confrontation, right?” she said about the track during one show.
Last Friday, rapper J. Cole posted a song called “Be Free,” which he dedicated to Brown. He made the song available for free. “All we want to do is break the chains off. All we wanna do is be free,” he signs throughout the track.
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