Jac Ross may not be a household name, but her voice is being heard in living rooms across America as the soundtrack of NBA’s Black Lives Matter PSA commercial. The Live Oak, Florida singer’s proud anthem “It’s Ok To Be Black” speaks to the movement’s core sentiment. Now, she gets support from two more advocates of the Black experience in South Los Angeles rappers Buddy (from Compton) and D Smoke (from Inglewood) for a remix titled “It’s OK To Be Black 2.0.”
Of working with the two burgeoning Southern California stars, Ross said in a statement, “Working with D Smoke and Buddy was amazing. It was actually a dream come true, as I’m a fan of both their work and appreciate their music. I wish we could have worked together under better circumstances and actually got to be in the studio together to vibe, but I’m really thankful we were able to get this done regardless. This song is so important to me and I can’t wait for people to hear this reimagined version.”
Both Buddy and D Smoke have recently commented on current events in their music, with Buddy crafting “Black 2.0” and D Smoke debuting with Black Habits and performing a spirited 2020 BET Awards rendition of the title track earlier this year.
Listen to Jac Ross’ “It’s OK To Be Black 2.0” featuring Buddy and D Smoke above.