Canadian rapper Jonathan Emile has shared a politically charged new track titled "Heaven Help Dem," featuring a guest appearance by Kendrick Lamar, which you can check out below. The track finds Emile and Lamar rapping about the overwhelming violence against black men in the United States, with Lamar opening his verse with recollections of his own horrifying experiences: "The average black man only live to 25/Pac died at 25/How many kids you know dead at 20? 5?/ Nah, that's light/I know 10 that's crumblin' in coffins." It's powerful stuff, accompanied by a video featuring images of Trayvon Martin, Mike Brown, Eric Garner, and many others.
According to Pitchfork, Lamar's verse was recorded all the way back in 2011, before he even released his breakthrough album good kid, M.A.A.D city, though the song was just completed this past December and released a few days ago. The track will appear on Jonathan Emile's upcoming debut album, which is expected at some point in 2015.
You can check out Jonathan Emile's "Heaven Help Dem" featuring Kendrick Lamar right here:
The release of "Heaven Help Dem" comes at a strange (and depending how you look at it, either convenient or inconvenient) time for Kendrick Lamar, as he's recently come under fire from the hip-hop community for his comments about the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. "What happened to [Michael Brown] should've never happened," he told Billboard in a recent interview, "But when we don't have respect for ourselves, how do we expect them to respect us? It starts from within. Don't start with just a rally, don't start from looting — it starts from within." Azealia Banks criticized Lamar's comments as "the dumbest thing I've ever heard a black man say."
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