Don't Shoot by the Game feat. Rick Ross, 2 Chainz, Diddy, Fabolous, Wale, DJ Khaled, Swizz Beatz, Yo Gotti, Currensy, Problem, King Pharaoh and TGT (2014)

From blackwiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Don't Shoot Cover

Dont’s Shoot is a single released on August 27, 2014 in the United States by American rapper The Game featuring All all-star teams of hip-hop artists; Rick Ross, 2 Chainz, Diddy, Fabolous, Wale, DJ Khaled, Swizz Beatz, Yo Gotti, Curren$y, Problem, King Pharoah and recording group TGT performing the chorus. The song is dedicated to Michael Brown. After its release, a number of songs came out over the shooting of Michael Brown and for the similar incident, this song mentions other black men killed: Emmett Till, Ezell Ford, Trayvon Martin, and Sean Bell. [1]

The single was written by Problem, Yo Gotti, DJ Khaled, King Pharaoh, Ginuwine, Tyrese, Tank, Wale, Curren$y, 2 Chainz, Swizz Beatz, The Game, Rick Ross, Diddy & Fabolous. [2]

Black Empowerment

Grammy-nominated rapper, The Game collaborating with all all-star teams of hip hop artists released a song as a tribute to Michael Brown who was fatally shot by a white police officer, Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri. The-18-year-old’s incident happened on August 9, 2014. Protests, marches, and confrontations between citizens and local authorities brought national attention to the story of the song. In an interview with Rolling Stone the Game told that the issues in Ferguson hit the artist personally, "The issues in Ferguson really hit home for me, and I feel compelled to use my musical platform to address this. 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." [3]

The song shows the tradition of being politically active. People's consciousness and awareness raising like 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.” In a show of solidarity, the rappers collaborate to show the solidarity with voices coming from several states. [4]

“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."

Here is the protest in the song's lyrics from the Game's Don't Shoot:

Yo, come on we gotta stick together, we all we got

Police taking shots and I ain't talkin' 'bout Ciroc

I'm talking 'bout Emmett Till, I'm talking bout Ezell Ford

I'm talking 'bout Sean Bell, they never go to jail for Trayvon over Skittles, Mike Brown Cigarillos

History keeps repeating itself, like a Biggie instrumental

America's a glass house and my revenge is mental

Rather use my brain than throw a cocktail through a window. [5]

References