Brother Ali, who has been producing a socially conscious and inspiring brand of hip-hop for 17 years, and Locksmith, a West Coast artist and producer, released videos this year that may just resonate with Native Americans.
Own Light (What Hearts Are For) on Brother Ali’s “All the Beauty In This Whole Life” album was filmed in Seattle, and features Tlingit and Athabascan actor Martin Sensmeier.
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As Rolling Stone said in its coverage of the video, it’s all about Brother Ali giving praise.
“The video begins with beautiful words from my teacher, Dr. Umar Faruq Abdullah, whose guidance inspired not only this song, but the theme of beauty throughout the album. It was extremely important to [director] Dave Wilson and me to highlight the connections that unite people in all walks of life and spiritual traditions,” Brother Ali told Rolling Stone.
Check out the chorus from the track:
They’ve been trying to shut us down our whole life
I thank God for healing
You ain’t got to get me lit, I got my own light
Thank God for listening, listen
You’ve been trying to build me up my whole life
I thank God for building
You ain’t got to get me lit, I got my own light
I thank God I’m living
Watch the full video below:
If Own Light by Brother Ali touched you, Agenda by Locksmith will speak volumes. The song talks about stolen land, the made up concept of race, classism, separation of church and state, Native mascots, among other topics.
Check out some of the lyrics:
They say we living in a generation that’s full of gentrification
A gender based agenda is a genuine indication
Bicker back and forth about who controls the premises, but it’s all stolen land from the Native people indigenous
The remnants of a reverend is irrelevant
They justify the “why” through cinematic embellishments
Then we let elitists mislead us
The buffer?
Turn working class whites against all people of color
We suffer the same affliction through economic restrictions
Focus on skin tone while their pockets have since grown
It’s known; the black and white concept is just a myth
Until they could profit from it race didn’t exist
From the current face of a felon to the state that we fell in
To the fabrication and bait after Bacon’s Rebellion it was telling
They won’t stop until the spectrum is stretched
Till we see ourselves as one, we can never progress
Imagine if I came to your home as a houseguest
Murdered your whole family before the food could digest
Waited a hundred years to make an unlawful pack then put your grandfather’s face on a baseball hat, helmet or jersey
Watch the video, shot in black and white, below:
