In the wake of the shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, the Game has enlisted a formidable force of 10 rappers and four R&B crooners, banding together in protest on musical molotov “Don’t Shoot.” On the track, the Game is joined by Diddy, Rick Ross, 2 Chainz, Diddy, Fabolous, Wale, DJ Khaled, Swizz Beatz, Yo Gotti, Curren$y, Problem, King Pharaoh and the R&B super-group TGT (Tyrese, Ginuwine and Tank).
“The issues in Ferguson really hit home for me, and I feel compelled to use my musical platform to address this,” the Game tells Rolling Stone. “I am a black man with kids of my own that I love more than anything, and I cannot fathom a horrific tragedy like Michael Brown’s happening to them. This possibility has shaken me to my core. That is why this song must be made and why it was so easy for so many of my friends to come together and unite against the injustice.”
The song is in the grand tradition of politically active, consciousness raising all-star posse cuts like the New York rap community’s “Self Destruction” 12-inch in 1989 and the West Coast’s 1990 single “We’re All in the Same Gang.” However, in a show of solidarity (and possibly a sign of the times), the rappers on this track are a pan-American show of solidarity, with voices coming from New York (Diddy, Fabolous, Swizz Beatz), Los Angeles (the Game, Problem), Atlanta (2 Chainz), D.C. (Wale), Miami (Rick Ross, DJ Khaled), New Orleans (Curren$y), and Memphis (Yo Gotti)
“I managed to get everyone on board fairly easy, simply because we have the hearts,” says the Game. “We care and are inclined to take a positive approach to resolving an issue that has existed since the beginning of mankind and that is racism and hatred towards one another as human beings.”
Listen to the song below, and purchase it here. The money raised from its iTunes sales will go the Justice for Mike Brown GoFundMe account.