Trey Songz is the latest artist to join the wave of those speaking out about injustice through music. His sardonically-titled “2020 Riots: How Many Times” video addresses the ongoing civil unrest in the wake of police killings of Black citizens like George Floyd and Breonna Taylor with footage of protestors occupying the streets of his hometown, Petersburg, Virginia — peacefully, with very little evidence of “rioting.”
“How many mothers have to cry?” he questions in the gospel-inflected chorus. “How many brothers gotta die? How many more times?” He also takes to task the concept of colorblindness, pointing out the hypocrisy of claiming not to see color when it’s clear that Black Americans have faced incarceration, wrongful death at the hands of the police, and income inequality at a disproportionate rate. “Don’t be colorblind, ’cause when they’re killin’ mine /They’ll try to justify it each and every time.”
“How Many Times” is just one of a spate of protest-themed songs that have come out since May of this year, with other artists like Lil Baby, Denzel Curry, DaBaby, and Anderson .Paak all releasing songs speaking about the current climate.
Watch Trey Songz’s “2020 Riots: How Many Times” video above
Trey Songz is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.