T.I. debuted his new single “War Zone” on Tidal.
On the powerful track, T.I. raps, “left his body hanging down in Piedmont, had a Klan rally the day before, but that ain’t mean nothing/They said suicide I said genocide what you got a gun for you boy you ain’t ride/They run up on you like Baton Rouge, bet you finnahide/That’s the difference between us I’ll die to save a million lives/Appointed leader when nobody couldn’t think of shit/I’ll be a martyr if my great benefit.”
The video matches the politically charged lyrics of the track, opening up with a viewer discretion warning before opening up on a smalltown white family as a young boy tells his mother goodbye and heads out the door. Pretty soon, the boy and T.I. run into each other at the park where the young boy shows off his toy gun. It doesn’t take long for the Atlanta police to show up and shoot down the boy who seems to have no warning as to what’s going on. T.I. then launches into the powerful “Hands Up/Can’t Breathe” chorus, which are both strong words of Black Lives Matter movement,with the stark image of the boy on the ground in the background, which is eerily similar to the way one young boy was shot. From there, a series of fatal events go down as the video recreates Eric Garner’s death and Philando Castile’s death. The credits roll with a long list of names of people killed by law enforcement.
“War Zone” follows in line with T.I.’s increasing involvement in a number of social issues, as he’s been outspoken against the candidacy of Donald Trump, rapping “Fuck Trump all day” on his recent single “Dope” featuring Marsha Ambrosius. He also came out in support of Colin Kaepernick, in light of the controversy surrounding the NFL quarterback not standing during the National Anthem before a preseason game last week.
The new song will appear on T.I.’s upcoming EP, Us or Else. His previously released single “We Will Not” will also be included. You can stream T.I.’s “War Zone” on Tidal here and watch the intense video above.
