“I Am George Floyd” by Lil B

“I Am George Floyd” is a song against injustice, which was dropped in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd and the subsequent mass uprisings which have followed.

On this particular track, Lil B is identifying directly with the late Floyd by in fact adopting his persona. Moreover a good part of the lyrics feature the rapper likewise associating himself with a number of fellow African-American victims of police brutality, such as Eric Garner (1970-2014) and Michael Brown (1996-2014). He also namedrops some individuals by first name only. And these are likely people he personally knows who were mistreated by the authorities, as such incidents are actually quite common in the ‘hood.

And in-between the innumerable shoutouts he gives on this song, he also reveals a few other sentiments. For instance, he calls upon law enforcement to actually behave rightfully instead of victimizing people. He also alludes to the idea that the aforementioned victims may be received favorably in the afterlife. But more to the point, we can say the primary purpose of this tune is to serve as a memorial of various individuals, some of whom time has forgotten, who actually suffered in a similar manner to Floyd. 

And its overall implication is that police brutality against African-Americans is more pervasive than can be quantified.

“We gotta stop the police brutality against unarmed black people”

Facts about “I’m George Floyd”

Lil B penned the track’s lyrics. The production was done by a producer named Uptown Greg. Both B and Greg have a long collaboration history.

There is a 1976 Marvin Gaye classic sampled in this song. Said classic is entitled “All the Way Around”.

On June 4th, just days after Floyd was murdered, Lil B dropped this protest song.