Back in 2014, many throughout the United States were mourning the death of Michael Brown who was unjustly killed by police. His death sparked protests much like those that occurred following the death of George Floyd at the end of May. During the Brown protests, J. Cole released a track called "Be Free" which was originally only found on SoundCloud. Today, the track came out on all of the streaming platforms and as you can imagine, the song is still as relevant as ever.
When Cole dropped this song, he penned some emotional words on his SoundCloud, saying "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."
It's clear that the re-issuing of this song is symbolic of just how little things have changed.
Quotable Lyrics:
Are we all alone, fighting on our own
Please give me a chance, I don't wanna dance
Somethings got me down, I will stand my ground
Don't just stand around, don't just stand around