Anderson .Paak has shared a new single entitled “Lockdown”, which hears the talented drummer/singer/rapper/bandleader harnessing his anger and raw emotions towards the racial injustices which have led to civil unrest in cities across the United States over the past few weeks. The resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement is also a main focus of the song’s equally-engaging video, which features cameos from Jay Rock, Syd (The Internet), Sir, Dominic Fike, Andra Day, and Jonathan “Dumbfoundead” Park.
On the new single, an energized .Paak unapologetically delivers the evocative lyrics, “We was tryna protest and the fires broke out/Lookout for the secret agents they be planted in the crowd/Said it’s civil unrest but you sleep so sound/Like you don’t hear the screams when we catchin beat downs.”
Released specifically on Friday in honor of Juneteenth, the holiday which celebrates the anniversary of the emancipation of Black slaves in the U.S., the Dave Meyers-directed video for “Lockdown” doesn’t hold back on portraying .Paak’s lyrical rhetoric on the social climate in America at the moment. The storyline follows a small group of protestors played by the above-mentioned guest musicians who end up at a diner after attending a Black Lives Matter event, but not without having to patch up some wounds which were implied to have been inflicted during the protest.
Watch the video for the latest single from Anderson .Paak below.
Anderson .Paak – “Lockdown” [Official Video]
[Video: Anderson .Paak]
Salaries for the video’s cast and crew were donated to the Black Emotional And Mental Health Collective, Dream Defenders, and Color of Change.
Earlier this year .Paak launched an online coloring club to help occupy kids stuck inside under quarantine.