Eric Garner, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, George Floyd, are just very few names of the many lives we’ve lost. Today ladies and gentlemen, we invite you through Constant L. Burts’ new song, Am I Next, into the uncomfortable zone where you can’t turn a blind eye anymore to the violation of black people’s human rights. Their rights are everyone’s rights. Their pain is everyone’s pain.
The music video is not for the faint of heart. You might have a hard time even pressing play as the thumbnail speaks volumes: a black man with a noose around his neck and blood on his sweater. And I understand you. But at the same time, do you understand THEM? It’s hard to stomach for you but how much more devastating you think it is to those actually losing their brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers? Your emotional pain can not and does not compare to the people directly involved in this historical movement. One that has been long due and that thanks to artists like Constant L. Burts, keeps touching irreversibly thousands and thousands of people continuously.
“Wake up every day like Am I Next?/ Is my heart gonna stop beating in my chest?/ When I walk up out the door, R.I.P/ Obituary, use a picture of my son and me” goes the 1st part of the hook sung by Constant L. Burts, who does a terrific job at acting the condemned part. A bit too well actually. They should include a new category at the Oscars for Best Acting In A Music Video. Constant L. Burts would be first in line to get it. He also does this thing with his voice where his rapping actually blends into a pleading tone, rendering the song that much realer, with the second part of the hook showcasing even further the biased societal agenda against black people: “They gon’ try and ruin the image of me/ They gon’ say I was a thug in these streets/ Wake up every day like Am I Next?/ Is my heart gonna stop beating in my chest?”
The first verse cuts deep and unapologetically compares the double-faced bigots with the conveniently modified history of black Americans: “How can I love the skin that I’m in/ When society says that my skin is a sin/ Always been a rebel deep down and within/ Funny how the dark angels became the demon/ Y’all twisted like our history”, here I would like to point out something that I found most dumbfounding when moving to the US. In Europe, they tell you in history class that KKK is a thing of the past and that there was the civil rights leader, Martin Luther King. And some other generic historical dates. But when you go to America, you discover they are still alive, still active, still racist and that you were told NONE of this reality. This is why BLM movement is monumental in the ENTIRE WORLD! Now all nations across the planet have found out how things truly are in 2020.
Constant L. Burts speeds up the flow, now aiming the narrative directly at the police force through the not-so-subliminal doughnut reference: “Y’all shootin’ like y’all pistol Pete/ You trying to put holes in our bodies like the doughnuts that you eat/ This gun on my hip is the only thing serve and protecting me/ Lil ni**a I cannot breathe/ I say Lord knows I pray that I stay on my feet.” The rhyming is perfect and the message is smartly packed in just the right amount of details and metaphors. Constant L. Burts has a most distinguished skill of portraying the grim reality in a cohesive song that abides the music industry standards in regards to both production and lyrics formatting.
Sambo Rambo, the collaborating artist, hits just as hard calling things by name in a straightforward rap manner: “Rape our women kill our children/ Wipe out half the natives/ Enslave all our ancestors/ And ask us why we angry/ ‘Cause they never gave no f*ck about our kind/ They kill us in the streets” This right here, is the entire explanation behind many ignorant’s big question: WHY. Then Sambo Rambo proceeds with more facts and choosing to end his verse with the focus on the future generation that is supposed to carry our legacy forward: “Got me thinking about my little man/ Hoping that we can change the plan/ So they ain’t ever gotta go through it again”
Regardless of YOUR skin color, you need to pay attention to the Black Lives Matter movement because at the very essence, these people are fighting for the same things YOU want and deserve. Constant L. Burts brought to you a 2 minutes and 46 seconds song that simplifies the whole matter and puts the issue in black and white, making it crystal clear for anyone uninformed and unconvinced of the pivotal role this movement is playing in our days and time.
Support this amazing artist by adding Am I next to your playlists on Apple Music HERE, on Amazon HERE, on Google Play HERE, on Deezer HERE, and on Spotify below:
Written by Mariana Berdianu
Blue Rhymez Entertainment ©2020
Blue Rhymez Entertainment 