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Anderson .Paak has released his new single ‘Lockdown’, and an accompanying music video today (June 19).
Both releases arrived on June 19, the unofficial US holiday known as Juneteenth, which commemorates the end of slavery in the US.
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Read more: Anderson .Paak live in Birmingham: a performance masterclass and a moving tribute to Mac Miller
On the song, .Paak reflects on the ongoing global protests against police brutality, sparked by the death of George Floyd in the custody of Minneapolis police.
“Oh, won’t you tell me ’bout the lootin’ what’s that really all about?” he raps. “‘Cause they throw away black lives like paper towels / Plus unemployment rate, what, 40 million now? / Killed a man in broad day, might never see a trial / We just wanna break chains like slaves in the South.”
Stream the song below.
The song also arrived with a music video, directed by Dave Meyers. In the clip, .Paak and other musician friends Jay Rock, Syd of The Internet, SiR, Dominic Fike and Dumbfoundead go to a diner after a protest. .Paak ends the video at home, crafting ‘Lockdown’ at his piano, which wakes his son up. The video concludes with them both on the couch, .Paak in tears.
The video also features Jay Rock spitting a verse that’s not included on the studio version of ‘Lockdown’. It ends with the Black Lives Matter logo of a fist, created from the names of those who have lost their lives to police brutality, and a collection of signatures from various musicians and celebrities sending “love”.
A message also notes that .Paak’s foundation .Paak House has made donations to bail funds in Los Angeles, Atlanta and Albany, and that the salaries of the cast and crew were donated to different charitable organisations.
Watch it below:
Earlier this year, Anderson .Paak launched a new colouring club for children self-isolating due to coronavirus.
Hosted through the @paakhouse Instagram account, a new black-and-white image of the rapper will land every Friday, which will be available to download and then coloured in as “something else to keep the little ones occupied”.
Meanwhile, Justin Timberlake and .Paak have teamed up for a new song ‘Don’t Slack’.
The collaboration features in the new Trolls World Tour animated movie, in which Timberlake both stars and serves as executive producer of the soundtrack.
Speaking to Zane Lowe on his Apple Music Beats 1 show, Timberlake said of the collaboration: “I hope he doesn’t mind that I’m gonna say this right now, but we talked about a possible joint project. We talked about it, but yeah, he’s a busy man, too.”
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