TeaMarrr, Issa Rae’s first Raedio artist as part of her partnership with Atlantic Records, follows up her splashy debut single “Kinda Love” with another new single taking on a heavier topic: Racial inequality. Recruiting Wale for an energized and socially-conscious verse, TeaMarrr shared “Colors” today, speaking on the way people allow something as simple as skin color divide us.
Meanwhile, Wale’s verse cleverly uses colors associated with with various groups to call out police brutality, the topic of conversation in the public discourse for the past several months. “The Black hate the blue because the blue shoot whatever,” he chants. “Which mostly is the Blacks because the blue acting yellow.” It’s familiar territory for Wale, who released his “Sue Me” video earlier this year addressing similar topics.
In May, TeaMarrr also released her debut EP, saying at the time, “I want people to heal themselves with my sound. I hope they walk away thinking, ‘TeaMarrr is my new musical pharmacist.’ My catalog will heal whatever mood you’re in; if you’re in a lovey-dovey vibe put on ‘Kinda Love.’ If you’re angry at your ex and don’t understand why he couldn’t have done the one thing you asked him to, I definitely have a song for that too. Think of me as the sonic doctor prescribing music as medicine to help you heal.” That mission is on clear display with her latest as she seeks to heal racial divides as well as emotional wounds.
Listen to TeaMarrr’s “Colors” featuring Wale above.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. .
