As the all-too-familiar story goes: an unarmed Black man was murdered by police today. How many more times do we have to read this headline, before there’s justice in America?
This is a question that Torae asks himself over and over again. The Brooklyn bred emcee released the politically charged visuals — which speaks to police brutality — for auspicious track dubbed, “Crown,” featuring New Orleans O.G. 3D Na’tee.
Here, the two emcees trade verses about the royalty that comes with Black and proud, despite what racists whites say. The Julio Morales and Mike Cruz video finds Torae among a group Blacks protesting police brutality, and Na’Tee being arrested.
“I was really on the fence about dropping this video today. We shot “Crown” last month with plans to release it this week, then #TerenceCrutcher happened,” Torae said via press release. “Immediately I thought we can’t drop the video now, it’s in poor taste. However the more I mulled it over, the more I felt it was the perfect time to release this visual. These are the harsh realities we are facing as black men & women in this country every single day. The fact of the matter is today “Crown” is a music video I willingly filmed, tomorrow I could end up the same way in a video shot by a bystander.”
This comes after video was released on Terence Crutcher, 40, being killed by Tulsa police officer Betty Shelby, after she received reports of an abandoned vehicle on the highway.
“Crown” comes from Rae’s Entitled album, which you purchase here.