Lil B has long been considered something of a hip-hop folk hero for both his contributions to the art form and his endlessly entertaining antics. Today, he put that status to work, using his platform to speak for victims of police brutality on “I Am George Floyd.” Using a pair of soulful sampled beats to list the names of the Black people who have been killed by police. For just about seven minutes, he name-checks Eric Garner, Mike Brown, Laquan McDonald, and many — too many — more.
The Bay Area rapper, who in 2018 worked on a cooking show and said he was developing a video game to improve diversity in the gaming industry, hasn’t made the news in a while, but he’s never stopped releasing his stream of self-produced, self-released, no-limits music. Earlier this year, he boasted of giving a lecture at Princeton University, as well as releasing a pair of mixtapes, Trap Oz and Gutta Dealership, which pushed the boundaries of album length at two and half hours and nearly seven hours, respectively.
“I Am George Floyd” is just one track paying homage to the late rapper and activist, who was killed by Minnesota police last month, sparking a week a protests and public outcry for police reform.
Listen to Lil B’s “I Am George Floyd” above.
