‘It’s tough right now’: Jay Z confronts police brutality with new song ‘Spiritual’
Jay Z dropped a new song titled “Spiritual” late Thursday, a work he issued in response to the recent police shootings of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, La., and Philando Castile in the suburbs of St. Paul.
The song is streaming for free on Tidal. The artist said he initially began work on the track “awhile ago.”
Included with the song is a short note from the rapper that explains his decision to wait to drop “Spiritual.” He also shares his condolences for the lives lost to police shootings.
“I trust God and know everything that happens is for our greatest good, but man … it’s tough right now,” he wrote.
“Blessings to all the families that have lost loved ones to police brutality,” he added.
Stream “spiritual” and read the full note
The rapper isn’t the only artist weighing in on recent events. On Thursday, his wife, Beyoncé, issued an open letter in response to the shootings of Sterling and Castile and added a moment of silence to a show overseas.
On Friday morning, rappers the Game and Snoop Dogg led a march in downtown Los Angeles for men of color to the LAPD’s graduation of its newest officers.
About 6:30 a.m., the Game posted on his Instagram account a call for black, Mexican and men of all races to march to the Los Angeles Police Department’s headquarters to “make the Californian government & it’s law branches aware that from today forward, we will be UNIFIED as minorities & we will no longer allow them to hunt us or be hunted by us !!!”
And in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, local R&B singer Miguel released a demo for his song “How Many” on Soundcloud. The artist “promised to update the song every week until it’s finished.”
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