Police Get Away Wit Murder
by YG

Album: Still Brazy (2016)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This Hit-Boy helmed cut finds YG calling out the law enforcement officers who are involved in what many consider the murder of innocent people. Asked by Billboard magazine why he decided to tackle police brutality on this track, YG replied: "Oh, man, it was just how I feel. It was just me knowing what's going on in the culture and me being a human and really feeling some type of way. Being in the rap game and the rap community, that's where it started at. Motherf--kers rapping about what was going in the communities and culture. I feel like, 'Damn, ain't nobody doing nothing, saying nothing big about none of this s--t.' The friggin' rap game is watered down so I decided to speak up on the album."
  • It was the killings of Michael Brown and Eric Garner in 2014 that first inspired YG to record the track. "Then when I did the record, [police brutality] just kept going, seeing all type of s--t like the s--t that happened in Baltimore then in Chicago," he said. "It's just so many people who got murdered by the police. I went online and I Googled the people murdered by the police. Man, that s--t happen every day... Every day. Motherf--kers don't even know it."
  • YG said that he'd had the track filed away since March 2016. "I could gave been put it out to capitalize [on the moment] but it was really like me feeling some type of way about what's going on," he explained. "I did the record, was like I'mma put it on my album and then s--t kept happening. I'm like damn this s--t really crazy."
  • The song ends with YG running off the names of three unarmed black teens gunned down by the police. "The list goes on," he concludes, "And they wonder why I live life looking over my shoulder."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Jon Anderson

Jon AndersonSongwriter Interviews

Jon Anderson breaks down the Yes classic "Seen All Good People" and talks about his 1000 Hands album, which features Chick Corea, Rick Derringer, Ian Anderson, and many other luminaries.

Stephen Christian of Anberlin

Stephen Christian of AnberlinSongwriter Interviews

The lead singer/lyricist for Anberlin breaks down "Impossible" and covers some tracks from their 2012 album Vital.

Dean Friedman - "Ariel"

Dean Friedman - "Ariel"They're Playing My Song

Dean's saga began with "Ariel," a song about falling in love with a Jewish girl from New Jersey.

Lou Gramm - "Waiting For A Girl Like You"

Lou Gramm - "Waiting For A Girl Like You"They're Playing My Song

Gramm co-wrote this gorgeous ballad and delivered an inspired vocal, but the song was the beginning of the end of his time with Foreigner.

How "A Rolling Stone Gathers No Moss" Became Rock's Top Proverb

How "A Rolling Stone Gathers No Moss" Became Rock's Top ProverbSong Writing

How a country weeper and a blues number made "rolling stone" the most popular phrase in rock.

Amy Grant

Amy GrantSongwriter Interviews

The top Contemporary Christian artist of all time on song inspirations and what she learned from Johnny Carson.