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Alicia Keys has shared a powerful new video for her recent track ‘Perfect Way To Die’.
The video doubled up as her performance at this week’s virtual BET Awards – watch it below.
The new video, directed by Chris Robinson, sees Keys sat at the piano while images of people killed as a result of police brutality, including George Floyd, are projected onto buildings.
Revealing the reasons behind the song on its release last month, Keys said: “Of course there is no perfect way to die. This phrase doesn’t even make sense but that’s what makes the title so powerful and heartbreaking because so many have died unjustly.
“It’s written from the point of view of the mother whose child has been murdered because of the system of racism that looks at Black life as unworthy. We all know none of these innocent lives should have been taken due to the culture of police violence.”
During the song, Keys discusses deaths at the hands of the police, singing: “Simple walk to the corner store/Mama never thought she would be/Getting a call from the coroner/Said her sons been gunned down/Been gunned down.”
Discussing this year’s BET Awards, which come as Black Lives Matter protests are continuing to be held across the globe, NME wrote: “Everyone knows that the BET awards is one of the biggest platforms in the world, and in its 20th year, the show is still as political as ever.
“The BET channel was created to give unheard black communities a voice – and that was deemed political. And now, with the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement and the assurance that black voices cannot be silent any longer, the channel has leant its platform once again.”
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