Anderson .Paak Shares New Protest Song "Lockdown"

Anderson .Paak has released his latest track “Lockdown.” The song was initially announced on Thursday afternoon, with the Oxnard native sharing the black-and-white cover artwork, which sees him donning a face mask while holding a “The People Are Rising” sign. The art also features names of Black people unjustly killed; Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Philando Castile, Alton Sterling, Trayvon Martin, and many more are included.

Dropping Juneteenth #LockDown pic.twitter.com/7rlgmJ5UYF

— Anderson .Blacked (@AndersonPaak) June 18, 2020

On “Lockdown,” .Paak ruminates on the current state of the United States, speaking on everything from racial injustice and mass unemployment to police brutality and the coronavirus pandemic:

Said, “It’s civil unrest,” but you sleep so sound/Like you don’t hear the screams when we catchin’ beatdowns/Stayin’ quiet when they killin’ n***as, but you speak loud/When we ride, got opinions comin’ from a place of priv’/Sicker than the COVID, how they did him on the ground/Speakin’ of the COVID, is it still goin’ around?/Oh, won’t you tell me ’bout the lootin’ what’s that really all about?/’Cause they throw away black lives like paper towels/Plus unemployment rate, what, forty million now?/Killed a man in broad day, might never see a trial/We just wanna break chains like slaves in the South

The accompanying music video exemplifies the track’s underpinnings, showcasing Anderson and his friends — SiR, Dominic Fike, Jay Rock, Syd, Dumbfoundead, and Andra Day — eating at a diner following attending a protest. Halfway through the visual, the instrumental cuts for a poignant spoken-word verse from Jay Rock, who amplifies much of the same sentiment that Anderson highlights. Paak can also be seen cruising around the streets of LA and with his loved ones, at the end crying as he clenches his son at home.

Watch the visual for “Lockdown” above.

For more new music, Noname has shared a new song titled “Song 33.”