Up-and-coming singer Dominic Fike launched his career in music when he gained a fanbase following an EP of demos released in 2018. The EP caught the attention of many major labels and the singer eventually signed a multi-million dollar deal with Columbia Records. Fike has been working on his debut album since and was supposed to release its lead single this week. However, in light of the protests happening across the country in response to Minneapolis police’s murder of George Floyd, Fike has opted to delay his release. Instead, the singer shared his own story of experiencing police violence.
Fike made the announcement in a typed letter on social media. “It doesn’t feel right to release music today but it does feel right to continue this conversation,” Fike wrote. The singer added that much of his family has been targeted by police:
“My life has felt cursed since I was a little kid. I’ve watched police, the supposed good guys, beat my mom and take her away. I’ve watched my brothers taken away. Aunts, Uncles. Sh*t, my dad just got 20. It’s like they had a problem with my family. I’ve since realized the real curse is the system we live in is designed fun us to lose, again and again.
After what I witnessed in my upbringing, I’ve made it a point to not be an aggressor with police. Yet somehow, I caught a felony battery on law enforcement charge and did eight months. This was not the reality of what happened. I tried to defuse a situation with the police and my younger brother, I interfered and the cop made up a story to fit his actions. The judge thought I was better off with this sh*t on my record. I’m lucky I could do music, since no one will ever hire me. I can’t tour in the UK. I can’t go to so many places, because of a decision this asshole made out of spite. None of these decisions were based on trying to help us, they wanted us to disappear.”
Fike continued to dispel the narrative that police violence happens because of a few “bad” officers: “Systemic racism and brute, abusive power are issues engrained into this country but things can change.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CBLq9DAlleT/
Read Fike’s full statement above.
