“Fight For You” by H.E.R.

“Fight for YouU” is derived from a film which possesses, shall we say a Black nationalist ideology. But nationalism as defined by African-Americans isn’t about establishing their own independent country. Rather it centers more on the idea of securing “freedom”, as H.E.R. puts it, from their oppressors. 

In other words, as you are likely well aware, the history of African-Americans is one in which they have always dealt with systemic racism and its associated abuses. So what politically-minded members of the group desire, from a political perspective, more so than anything else is the right to live their lives without being discriminated against, abused or dealt with unfairly in other ways.

So as far as the thesis sentiment of this track, such is the fundamental idea which H.E.R., an activist artist herself, is putting forth. But as far as the two verses go, their respective storylines detail some of the issues mentioned above.

Verse 1

The first verse alludes to the afore-referenced movie, “Judas and the Black Messiah” (2021). Said film centers on the events surrounding the assassination of legendary African-American militant Fred Hampton (1948-1969). 

And as far as that matter goes many people believe that Hampton, who was 21 years old at time, was basically assassinated by the police. In fact he was murdered while drugged, sleeping in bed. And it is such a scene which H.E.R. is painting, in a terse sort of way, in this passage. 

And in doing so, she poetically links the Fred Hampton raid to the African-American community at large. Actually, historically speaking, African-Americans have oft found themselves at the mercy of bigoted law enforcement whose “guns don’t play fair”.

Verse 2

Then in the second verse, the vocalist addresses the type of mental anguish which Black people regularly suffer from as a result of living under such conditions as highlighted in the first paragraph.

She uses the analogy of being in a “mental institution”. However, comprehensively speaking this isn’t so much about having clinical psychological issues. Rather it’s like this racist stress and repression African-American have endured in the United States has been so persistent that it has taken a toll, in a number of different avenues, as far as their living is concerned. 

Moreover, there does not appear to be any change to the status quo in sight. So now, H.E.R. is initiating an action akin to a call to arms.

And again, all things considered she probably doesn’t mean so literally. After all, no one would realistically expect a pop singer to lead a revolution. Rather she wants her people to take a stand against the racist aspects of the American system and no longer tolerate its abuse. In her eyes, she feels action has to be taken ASAP. And why? Because it is beyond clear the system isn’t going to repent on its own. But then conclusively, it’s like if such does actually lead to some arm bearing, then so be it.

What “Fight for You” is all about

So in the end, we will say that this is exactly the type of song one would expect to serve a major role in a movie inspired by the Black Panther Party. Those were some serious brothers and sisters, some of whom, like Hampton, literally lost their lives fighting for the Black cause. 

And ultimately, said cause isn’t anything unreasonable. For what individuals such as Hampton and H.E.R. are ‘fighting for’ is their people to be treated fairly and humanely by a system that has never done so.

Facts about “Fight for You”

H.E.R., a singer from California, co-wrote and co-produced “Fight for You” alongside D’Mile, a producer from Brooklyn. And Tiara Thomas, a vocalist/lyricist from Indianapolis, also contributed to the lyrical composition of this song.

Below is what H.E.R. had to say about the collaboration:

“Fight for You” is from the soundtrack of a critically-celebrated, Afrocentric film that came out in early-2021 entitled “Judas and the Black Messiah”. And the song was officially released on 4 February of that year. 

Moreover, its labels as RCA Records, Warner Bros. Picture (the studio behind Black Messiah) and another entity called Six Course Inc.

“Fight for You” proved very successful, in a critical sense. Chart wise it only appeared in Belgium and even then not faring too impressively. But more importantly back in its homeland of the United States, it did win the highly-coveted Best Original Song Academy Award in 2021.

Additional, the track was nominated for quite a few other high-powered movie-related music awards. For example, it was nominated for the Best Original Song at the 2021 Golden Globes also.

The first live rendering of this song occurred on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. And that event transpired on the date of 4 February 2021.

H.E.R. also performed this tune at the aforementioned Academy Awards’ Pre-Show.