After a week of violent protests following several high-profile deaths of Black people at the hands of police — and ex-cops — YG crystalizes the mood of the moment with his latest song, “FTP.” Following in the vein of his Compton predecessors NWA and his own protest of Donald Trump, YG chants “f*ck the police” over a sparse, piano driven, G Funk beat.
YG, who previously responded to criticisms of the ongoing protests with his typical blunt approach, gets straight to the point on the new track as well, advocating for self-defense in the face of a violent oppressor. “Fuck the police, that’s how I feel / Buy a Glock, break down the block, that’s how I feel,” he snarls, “Murder after murder after all these years / Buy a strap, bust back after all these tears.”
While the Compton-bred rapper may be primarily known as the heir to the torch of gangsta rap, he’s been known to address social issues in similar fashion in the past as well. On his 2016 album, Still Brazy, he spoke again on police brutality with “Police Get Away Wit Murder,” stressed the need for solidarity among minorities on “Blacks & Browns,” and famously expressed the feelings of many toward Donald Trump’s racist rhetoric on “FDT.”
Listen to YG’s “FTP” above.