YG has been outspoken about political issues through his music. The rapper has made clear his disdain for the sitting president with the 2016 Nipsey Hussle collaboration “FDT,” short for “F*ck Donald Trump.” In light of recent protests over the police’s murder of George Floyd, YG has shared a similar sentiment through the song “FTP.” Now, YG follows the release of the track with an affecting visual.
Directed by Denied Approval, the “FTP” visual opens with the MLK quote, “Riot is the language of the unheard.” The remainder of the black-and-white video is compiled from clips of recent demonstrations in LA. Images of burning cop cars and violence incited by the police appear across the screen. The rapper also stars in the video, with several snippets of him backed by hundreds of protestors chanting “f*ck the police” alongside him.
Ahead of the visual’s release, Alabama rapper Chika called YG out and condemned him for using a vigil for Breonna Taylor to film a music video. Reacting to the backlash and addressing his now-released “FTP” video, YG said that rather than question each other’s activism, we should be working together to combat police brutality:
“For anyone out there talking I don’t question your advocacy and don’t think you should question mine. See you gotta understand that a lot of people out there they see me as a N***a. They don’t see the black proud man. They see a kid from Bompton and they expect violence. They hear FTP and they think I’m gonna come and burn my city. So we showed up and did it right. We proved them wrong. The real story here is me and Black Lives Matter brought out 50,000 people today to peacefully protest and unite for change. I wanted to document that so when they hear this song and think we are reckless and violent they see a peaceful protest of all different people coming together for a common cause. That is history. That is breaking down these stereotypes on our people and our neighborhoods. All of us protesting are on the same side here..instead of questioning each other’s activism we should be directing that energy at the cops and the government and helping to create the change we want to see. Stay focused and stop that social media judgement without knowing facts and hurting a cause we all a part of. We got a real enemy and it ain’t eachother. On my momma!”
Watch YG’s “FTP” video above.
Chika is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.