Rapper Jay Z released a protest song on his subscription-based music service Tidal in response to the police shootings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile.
Jay Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, told fans on Friday that “Spiritual” has been in the works since the 2014 killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. He completed the project after Mr. Sterling was killed in Baton Rouge on Tuesday and Mr. Castile was killed just outside Minneapolis during a traffic stop on Wednesday.
“Got my hands in the air, in despair, don’t shoot! I just want to do good,” the rapper says during one verse.
A statement accompanying the track says Mr. Carter is “saddened and disappointed in THIS America — we should be further along. WE ARE NOT.”
Beyonce, Jay Z’s wife, released a statement on Thursday that read in part, “We’re going to stand up as a community and fight against anyone who believes that murder or any violent action by those who are sworn to protect us should consistently go unpunished.”
It was only a short time later that five law enforcement officers in Dallas, Texas, were shot and killed during a peaceful Black Lives Matter protest. Micah Xavier Johnson, 25, was killed during an hours-long standoff with police.
“Why do so many whites (not all) enjoy killing and participating in the death of innocent beings,” Mr. Johnson wrote July 2 on a Facebook group called Black Panther Party Mississippi, Reuters reported Friday.
Mr. Johnson, who served in the U.S. Army Reserve from March 2009 to April 2015, lived in Mesquite, a suburb of Dallas.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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