Over the past week, protests have ensued across the country to call for an end to police brutality and to mourn the murder of George Floyd. Many cities issued curfews as a way to quell looters and destruction of property, with some cities like Seattle issuing curfews as early as 5:30 pm. But many protesters who showed up to peacefully demonstrate found police were installing barriers that made it difficult for some to navigate home. But protesters in New York found a way to convey their frustrations over police barricades by reciting choice lyrics from Ludacris.
A video captured of a recent New York protest depicts a line of police officers forming a barricade against a compact wall of demonstrators. In order to try to get the police to allow them space, protesters began chanting a line from Ludacris’ 2001 Word Of Mouf track “Move B*tch.” As armed police officers faced the large crowd, protesters began chanting in unison. “Move b*tch / Get out the way / Get out the way, b*tch / Get out the way,” they loudly chanted.
This isn’t the first time protesters used music to support their cause. Over the weekend, reports flooded in that the activist hacker group Anonymous had taken over Chicago police radios and began broadcasting N.W.A.’s track “F*ck Tha Police.” In 2017, “Move” was used as a chant by anti-Trump protesters.
Watch protesters chant Ludacris’ ‘Move B*tch’ above.