As protests persist in all 50 states in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, many musicians have been outspoken about their support of the demonstrators. J. Cole is among several musicians, like Kanye West and even Ariana Grande, who showed up to stand alongside protesters in their home city. Now, J. Cole has given the green light to release a touching protest track from 2014 on streaming services.
Following the death of Michael Brown in 2014, J. Cole penned the track “Be Free.” The rapper shared the anthem on SoundCloud, but the track never saw a release on other streaming platforms. Now, amid a resurgence of Black Lives Matter protests, J. Cole has allowed his manager and Dreamville Records co-founder Ibrahim Hamad to share the song everywhere.
As Hamad explained on Twitter: “I’ve def seen a bunch of y’all tweets and got a bunch of texts asking for “Be Free” on streaming services.” Hamad got the go-ahead from J. Cole, so the track will likely appear on streaming services in the near future.
I’ve def seen a bunch of y’all tweets and got a bunch of texts asking for “Be Free” on streaming services. I spoke to Cole today though had to let him know about that and he with so let me work on getting up this week. https://t.co/8FgtcPB1RF
— Ibrahim H. (@KingOfQueenz) June 8, 2020
At the time of the song’s release, J. Cole added a heartfelt message alongside the track: “Rest in Peace to Michael Brown and to every young black man murdered in America, whether by the hands of white or black. I pray that one day the world will be filled with peace and rid of injustice. Only then will we all Be Free.”
In other J. Cole news, the rapper recently commended the Minneapolis mayor and city council members for voting to disband the Minneapolis Police Department following the murder of George Floyd. In just his third tweet of the year, J. Cole shared the news, writing: “Powerful powerful.”
Listen to “Be Free” on SoundCloud here.
