Happy Independence Day! Two Black Music Artists Give Glimmers of Hope

Killer Mike, and Victory Boyd are opposite ends of the spectrum musically, but what unifies them is their commitment to embody and defend Freedom.

Happy Independence Day! This has been one of the best Fourth of July weekends I have had in a long time. In July of 2010 we lost our home and had to move into a small apartment. Then my husband fell ill, which started a many-years battle to keep him alive and maintain his health. We’ve had some good July 4th celebrations in the past 12 years, but this one has been the most joy-filled and peaceful one we’ve experienced since before 2010.

I am proud to be an American, and thankful for the benefits I experience as a citizen of this still-great nation. The securitization of our liberties continues to be an ongoing battle, and we still have many things to correct; but, as I said in my piece over at RedState:

America and its founding are inherently good and have given me and my family much to be grateful for.

My celebration of freedom always involves music, and if you peeped the RedState article, I talked about the patriotic music that I got to sing this weekend and included videos of Black music artists and their arrangements of those songs.

In crafting that article, it also presented an opportunity to explore song origins and how that particular artist interpreted the song. In the Millennium, patriotism and patriotic music is taking on new forms and expression. That’s a good thing. While we hold on to the traditional music, different voices articulate their patriotism in different ways. Think about the musicals 1776 and Hamilton, George M. Cohan (“Grand Old Flag”), John Phillip Souza (“Stars and Stripes Forever”), or Lee Greenwood (“God Bless The USA”) to get the gist of what I mean.

Which brings me to an artist that may not be on your Spotify playlists: Killer Mike.

Killer Mike (aka Michael Render) is an Atlanta rapper and social activist. In terms of his politics, many would lump him into the progressive category, especially with his staunch support of Bernie Sanders in 2016 and 2020.

However, there is more to Killer Mike (than meets the eye. In a recent Guardian interview, he had this to say:

“All my heroes and villains were based on character, not colour, as everyone looked like me in my home town,” he says. “I grew up with a real sense of confidence that I could do well, that even if there’s a few more speed bumps for me, I cannot and will not be denied what’s due to me.”

This is certainly not the CRT-indoctrination blather that foments from many Blacks, especially those corn-fed on CNN and MSNBC. Though Killer Mike is quite vocal about gun violence and police brutality, he does not truck with the knee-jerk response on gun control or defund the police. After the Parkland mass shooting, Killer Mike did an interview with the NRA:

[Killer Mike] gave an interview to the National Rifle Association supporting the second amendment right to bear arms. “You’re a lackey of the progressive movement,” he told leftwingers in favour of gun control, “because you’ve never disagreed with the people who tell you what to do.” He later apologised for the interview’s timing, but his stance on gun ownership remains unchanged. “I will never be against the second amendment,” he says. “There’s no way that someone who represents a community that are only 60-odd years out of an apartheid should be willing to give a weapon back to the government, as the police choke you to death in the street and people just watch and film.”

Mike is also the son of a police officer, so his views on police reform are nuanced compared to his contemporaries:

The son of a policeman and a florist, Render is not without sympathy for the police. He has said his father told him and his five sisters not to follow in his footsteps because the job was “too dangerous”. Still, Render believes police reform is necessary and possible. “I have not seen a will to get rid of police as much as I’ve seen a want for police to be from the communities they’re policing and to be fair, rather than abusers of power,” he says. “We should be supporting the Police Athletic Leagues that deal with our young boys in particular before any trouble happens, more than we should be giving the police more rifles and bulletproof vests. The connection with the community is key.”

He’s not far from conservative thought on this. I also said in my RedState article that I admire those who look into the founding texts of our nation and say, “this is for me,” then work to see it fulfilled. Mike talks much about the Bill of Rights, and even though we would disagree about how much progress Blacks have made, we do agree on this:

What progress there is has come “only because we push to get the rights and freedoms we deserve, or that have already been promised to us in the Bill of Rights or the United States constitution. If I work hard in making sure fairness and equity are given to my community and the communities that are like mine, only then can things get better. But the work doesn’t stop.”

No, it doesn’t. Now many other Americans are coming to this realization as our Constitutional freedoms come under attack from the very people who are supposed to be protecting them.

Killer Mike’s homage to freedom, and the Black race’s contribution in securing and promoting it, is a new single called “Run.” It may not be your cup of tea, and the language is definitely of the streets and reflective of the rap culture where Killer Mike and his following resides. But as I said above, different voices articulate freedom in different ways, and Mike is definitely articulating freedom—not bondage, victimhood, or the usual paternalistic claptrap found on the Left.

For me the song is reminiscent of this quote attributed to Harriet Tubman:

“If you hear the dogs, keep going. If you see the torches in the woods, keep going. If there’s shouting after you, keep going. Don’t ever stop. Keep going. If you want a taste of freedom, keep going.”

– Harriet Tubman

From Killer Mike’s press release:

Killer Mike has released his first solo music in over ten years with “RUN”; a song and video that reframes American history to include Black history as a part of the nation's history. The song, which features a verse from Young Thug and an iconic production by NO I.D., arrives paired with a stunning visual, portraying the fight for freedom in a captivating, visceral context, augmented by an intro monologue from Dave Chappelle inspired by the song’s themes. Directed by Adrian Villagomez, “RUN” represents the Just against the tyrannical, Black people and allied people up in arms together rising against the Nazi-esque secessionists that want to take the country back into the confederacy.

On this release, Killer Mike declared:

“I say that ‘the race for freedom ain’t won / you gotta run’,” he tells me, “because as Black people in America we have to be resilient. We have overcome and we shall continue to do so.”

Another find which may be more your cup of tea is an artist named Victory Boyd. Boyd was the toast of the music scene five years ago, when she was discovered by Jay-Z and signed to Roc Nation for her first album, The Broken Instrument. She worked with Kanye “Ye” West on his 2019 album Jesus Is King and won a Grammy for her contribution.

In an interview with Bevy Smith on her Bevealtions radio show, Smith wanted to get Boyd’s opinion on Kanye’s support of Donald Trump. Boyd dropped some inconvenient truth that Smith wasn’t expecting.

Notice how Boyd neither trashes Ye or Trump, but manages to make a strong statement: that as Black Americans we need to defend and champion our freedoms, and think about who we are choosing to partner with; because sadly, no matter what the political leaning, there has been too much partnership with people who want to restrict and destroy those freedoms. Boyd did a great job of diplomacy, threading a fine needle, but proving her point at the same time.

In 2021, Boyd found herself at the center of another political temblor. Boyd was contracted to sing the National Anthem at the opening game of the National Football League in September, but the NFL rescinded the contract because she refused to take the COVID vaccine.

Boyd posted this statement on Facebook:

America from its inception was a dream. A dream of a place that champions equality, liberty and justice for ALL people. A dream of a place that honors each individual and our God given right to life, liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

There has always been a fight to make this dream into a reality. From the revolutionary war, to the civil war, to the civil rights movement, to the prison reform movement and beyond. Freedom has never been won without conflict.

Boyd is sympatico with Killer Mike. A quieter roar, but no less powerful.

We’re in a pretty scary time right now where discrimination and segregation is becoming socially acceptable and few are doing anything to resist. People are losing jobs, being denied service at restaurants, concert venues, and airports here in America all because of their convictions to not be vaccinated. From New York to California, and even in states such as Florida where I lost this opportunity of a lifetime.

Boyd is awake, where the NFL is just WOKE. Singing before an NFL audience of millions would have probably taken her career into the stratosphere. But she made a stand for her own beliefs, body autonomy, and for others who are losing their freedoms through tyranny and overreach.

I’ve made peace with not being able to sing the National Anthem tomorrow for the Tampa Buccaneers. But I have not and will not make peace with the re-emergence of segregation and discrimination. This is not okay and it’s about time that we say so.

Did I tell you that Victory Boyd is only 27-years old? There is great hope for this generation.

Boyd decided to sing The National Anthem for herself, and for all those who love freedom and take a stand to defend it.

I hope you have a wonderful rest of your Independence Day, and remember that Freedom isn’t free.