J.I.D knows “Black History is every month,” but decided to celebrate on Wednesday (Feb. 24) with an emotionally driven new single, “Skegee.”
“Skegee,” short for Tuskegee, Alabama, dives deep into the city and its HBCU, tackling the mistreatment of Black people in the United States and recalling his experience getting recruited for Tuskegee University.
“From hands that tied ropes on necks in red states / Another dead black-a– man, I need a damn break,” he raps in the final verse. “They never gave us a chance, I had to take it / I need all the payments, for every day we suffered all the hatred / I want my granny to shoot the hands with Nancy Reagan / I want emancipation.”
On an empowering note, the lyrics are weaved with insightful excerpts from an elderly man, who provides a glimmer of hope. “From high school I went to college here, then Tuskegee Institute,” he says at one point. “While in college I had a professor that I really impressed with. He got me interested into politics. He was the first Black councilman in the city of Tuskegee.”
Watch the “Skegee” video, filmed in Tuskegee, below.
