Freedom - Beyoncé featuring Kendrick Lamar
4:49
Lemonade, 2016
Written by Jonathan Coffer, Beyoncé, Carla Williams, Arrow Benjamin, Kendrick Lamar, Frank Tirado, Alan Lomax, John Lomax, Sr.
Let's celebrate Juneteenth
Hey, how did folklorist and ethno-musicologist Alan Lomax get in there? Well, the song incorporates three samples, including elements of "Stewball," a traditional recording (performed by a prisoner) collected by the Lomaxes, though as usual I'm not sure this deserves writing credit, Anyhoo, this song was used as Kamal Harris' official campaign song, and was an unofficial anthem of the George Floyd protests. "I'ma riot through your borders / Call me bulletproof / Lord, forgive me, I've been runnin' / Runnin' blind in truth." The song is one of the most powerful statements in Beyoncé's catalog, which I am admittedly not very familiar with. Built around pounding drums, distorted organ textures, and a relentless groove, it's a pounding anthem and a declaration, not a pop song. The lyric is both a declaration of resilience and a refusal to accept limits imposed by others. Lamar's verse is an equally urgent protest. "Eight blocks left, death is around the corner / Seven misleadin' statements 'bout my persona" — a rejection of mainstream demonization of black victims of police violence. Abolish ICE!
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