Virginia-based emcee Rick Lee, aka Lyricks, just dropped this raw, powerful music video for "Can't Breathe." Shot in Staten Island, the track commemorates the one-year anniversary of the death of Eric Garner, who died after being placed in an illegal choke hold by a New York City police officer. It's a lament for those who have died, but it's also a call for all to stand up in solidarity against injustice, brutality and police violence.
Check it out:
Here are the lyrics:
when i was walking through the bush of the african jungles
the people, the tribes: they called me bruce lee.
not mocking! they're just not used to my face, the shape of my eyes
so they just chose the name that just suits me.
as i walked around, they like hwaaaaa~
ask me 'do a high kick!' making noises like it's kung fu.
they just know what they see, if i don't show em any different, then to them that generalization is true. feel me?
shit~ i guess i'm a kung fu master right?
squinty eyes means they punch dudes faster huh?
people are simple, they just carry the plight.
the message of this song is in life there are stereotypes.
so...
mr officer, i'm speaking on behalf of my people.
who view the cops as a power hungry and evil,
gang, mafia type force corrupted and bad.
roughing, fucking us up behind the cuffs and the badge but...
i'm not rapping this to say 'fuck the police!'
my uncle is a cop, he keeps integrity on top but
if one of y'all are wrong, that blemishes the whole team
and good men become pigs that's hated on the block you see?
i know you're here to protect and to serve but
why is that when you just checking for herb,
you got your gortex boots bruising my neck on the curb.
i wanna fight u but i cant when disrespecting occurs.
you tell me "shut the fuck up!" when i tell you it hurts.
my friend's trying to capture it, you got to her first.
took the cam, broke the tape and ransacked thru her purse.
cops like that MAKE YOU WANNA A COP A GAT AND JUST...
-
i could see the trouble in your eyes.
how many more? how many more have to die?
if justice is blind to my kind~
why can't i? why can't i change your mind?
i can't breathe.
-
look, this be important. people getting pissed
cuz they see the system distorted.
madd videos of brutality getting recorded.
a father crying in the car while they kicking his daughter
mentally ill people getting punched in the grill.
rarely do the cops get caught, shit... they get rewarded.
i mean it's fucked up! captain sits in the corner.
switch the story LIL bit then he flips the report up.
only a matter of time before a christopher dorner
good cops exist, but the bad ones keep bringing them down.
i mean: the whole band could be playing on the perfect pitch right?
but one off key could just fuck up the sound.
fight the corrupt.
-
i could see the trouble in your eyes.
how many more? how many more have to die?
if justice is blind to my kind~
why can't i? why can't i change your mind?
i could see the trouble in your eyes.
how many more? how many more have to die?
if justice is blind to my kind~
why can't i? why can't i change your mind?
Lyricks acknowledges he's just one guy -- an Asian American emcee -- and doesn't have all the answers, but he's trying to do his part to spread awareness. "I didn't write this song to act like I know the struggle or to claim that I can change the world," he says. "But if not us, then who?"
For more information on Lyricks and his music, follow updates on Facebook and Twitter.