WE’RE IN A CRISIS, NOT A “LOCKDOWN” WITH ANDERSON .PAAK’S PROTEST HIP HOP

The lockdown has turned from an essential way to flatten the curve to pure ideological bullshit.

Anderson .Paak knows this all too well and he’s graciously hopped on the mic in order to educate everyone as to why we need to be out in the streets protesting as part of the Black Lives Matter movement despite the governmental ‘lockdowns.’

.Paak’s new track, “Lockdown,” released quite intentionally on Juneteenth (in celebration of the end of slavery for those who somehow missed last week’s messaging), is a protest song for those who keep making excuses about not joining in on the protest due to COVID-19 concerns (or even worse just because the Government tells you to), failing in the process to help uplift the voices of Black communities.

ANDERSON .PAAK - LOCKDOWN

With the list of those who’ve died at the hands of police brutality on the cover art for the single, Anderson .Paak is not messing around with some half-considered sentiment. “Lockdown” is no longer an option, but rather an excuse. When the powers that be seem to “throw away black lives like paper towels,” the people MUST rise, with .Paak (and you?) as part of the solution.

The song isn’t too conspiratorial (even though .Paak does call the lockdown a lie), and we’re not here to get overly political on our posts, so we’ll stop going deeper on the lyrical content. But this is a protest song after all and with any good protest song (and protest!) there is a message that must be heard. Coming from one of the most important young voices in hip hop, this release is calm, collected, and for what we consider a good cause. .Paak lays it all on the line, explaining as simply as he can the situation as he sees it to his millions of listeners.  While many are already going to be on board with what .Paak has to say, there are some who will likely have their mind changed by the messaging in this tune. If we can get one more person out in the streets, .Paak’s work here will be done.

Wear your mask and protest. Fuck a lockdown. There’s just too much at stake.

From deep within the murky depths of the Los Angeles River emerged a creature: 50% raver, 50% comedian, 10% Robotcop. Kurt Kroeber doesn’t own a dog, operates Soundbleed (the world’s only dance party comedy talk show rave), and is down to party with you. Come up some time and say “Hey dude!” But definitely make sure to casually drop the secret Illuminati password.