Please help me chop this tree down. This is the powerful message behind the controversial and daring song/video released by Cobi: A white Artist with a voice full of power & soul who dared to use his platform to bring awareness to a topic that is boiling in the black community. In a time where the #BlackLivesMatter movement is constantly being diminished by #AllLivesMatter protesters while the black man is theoretically hanged by systematic injustice, it is a breath of fresh air to see a visual demonstration of what is happening in this country: a literal and explosive depiction that many black artists are afraid to portray.
So what gives Cobi the balls to have a black man hanging in his new music video?
Let’s start with the creation of the song “Don’t You Cry For Me.” Cobi says that he often writes music based off what he’s feeling. “My friend Michael Raymo and I began writing the song around the time when Michael Brown was killed, Baltimore was uprising, and people around the country were protesting. The song can really be interpreted in many ways, to meet any struggle. A story of a person hanging by their own fear.”
Cobi says he was scared to cover the topic, unsure if he had the “right” or the “place” to talk about an issue that is so important in the black community: “Should I have a voice in this world? Is it okay for me to say how I feel about it? My mentor Zaid of Peace4Kids told me that my fear meant that it was a topic worth discussing. He said that it doesn’t matter how people respond, what matters is that we welcome opportunities for discovery.”
Cobi’s video isn’t about him, in fact the main character is a black man (his friend) who is involved in an accidental shooting of a police officer and hanged for it while his white friend is let off the hook. We’ve seen this story before and yet very few music videos shed light on it.
Cobi is getting resistance because of this daring move and many are afraid to touch the video because of fear of backlash. Cobi can’t foresee the future, but is content with being an artist “with a message” and invites dialogue around the issue plaguing so many black Americans.
But still, why depict a black man hanging?
Cobi says the video is a mash up of time periods and it feels as though this sort of injustice is still possible. The initial concept was to have both men hanging, but Cobi quickly realized that even in this day and time the black man would be the one hanged for the same crime while the white man would be dealt an easier card. He’s right, black men are the largest population in prison and it has been proven that they are more likely to receive harsher punishments for similar crimes committed by white men.
Cobi, whose musical journey was inspired by his uncle Byron amongst other black artists, has made a daring move to bring more attention to a topic that is often ignored! We love the video & the message and we hope you do too! Let’s continue the conversation!
@cobimusic
