American singer-songwriter Beyonce surprise-dropped a new song, ‘Black Parade,’ at the tail end of the Juneteenth holiday.
According to Variety, ‘Black Parade,’ written by the 38-year-old singer and co-produced by Derek Dixie, the song also features her husband Jay-Z as co-writer along with Dixie (the Emmy-nominated music director of ‘HOMECOMING: A Film by Beyonce Knowles’), Kaydence, Denisia, Andrews and Brittany Coney for NOVAWAV, among others.
The track about empowerment and resilience focuses on the recent Black Lives Matter protests in the wake of the death of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer.
In the four-minute-forty-two seconds song, Beyonce sings, “Rubber bullets bouncin’ off me / Made a picket sign off your picket fence.”
The ‘Beautiful Liar’ singer has long referenced her roots as a Texan, the state just south of Oklahoma, and once again takes the listener on a trip to the world she knows, as she sings at the top of the track. “I’m goin’ back to the South … Back where my roots ain’t watered down.”
As the song progresses, the songstress points to the pride of the community as the world is awakened to the plight of Black Americans: “We got rhythm / We got pride / We birth kings / We birth tribes.”
Earlier in the day, Beyonce honoured Juneteenth on Instagram, writing: “Happy Juneteenth Weekend! I hope we continue to share the joy and celebrate each other, even in the midst of struggle. Please continue to remember our beauty, strength and power.”
She also posted a directory of Black-owned businesses on her website, writing: “Happy Juneteenth. Being Black is your activism. Black excellence is a form of protest. Black joy is your right.” She continued, “Black Parade” benefits BeyGOOD’s Black Business Impact Fund, administered by the National Urban League, to support Black-owned small businesses in need.”