A country on the verge of civil war is nothing compared to the insurmountable injustice that has paved the way here. America, through systemic racism imposed by the government and social encouragement in the home, has always been divided, despite the strides in the Civil Rights and Black Lives Matter movements. For every time a stride forward is made, another black man loses his life or is, at very least, treated inhumanely by a uniformed officer of this country.
It’s time to revolutionize the United States through the extreme upheaval of the status quo.
Banding together across the nation are protest groups, leading demonstrations on behalf of George Floyd and the long list of others who have lost their lives at the hands of cops simply due to the color of their skin. Black Lives Matter. Period. Musicians, who are among those with the greatest ability to spread messages of peace and unity at this time, are taking to the studio in support of this ongoing battle for justice. One band in particular already had something cued up.
Iya Terra, a southern California reggae rock band, is primarily Caucasian. They are well-respected in the reggae rock scene for not only honoring roots reggae musical origins, but further, the overall Rastafarian belief system. Now that the Black Lives Matter movement has hit a critical peak in our history, the band has unveiled a previously withheld single to show their unrelenting support entitled “Streets Run Red”.
Being white players, this single is much more than a response: it’s a promise that ‘the other’ can (and will) stand by ‘the oppressed’.
Written two years ago, Iya Terra frontman Nathan Feinstein comments on the track’s waitlist off the band’s latest album Coming To Light: “It ultimately didn’t make it onto the record for sonic reasons. Honestly, I was hoping there would never be a need to release it but that was naive to say the least.”
With a haunting militant timbre and an overt call to action, “Streets Run Red” spells out what everyone’s been feeling for a long, long time. It’s time to “police the police”… who’s really the ones “disturbing the peace”? The drum kick following the chorus raps like gun fire as Feinstein chants “welcome to America, this is how we live”. The broken system was installed long before any of us were born and, as a result, we’ve “become accustomed to the way things go”. Well, complacency is no a longer valid option. No more passively watching “from your homes”, Iya Terra says, it’s time to “stand up and fight”!
Iya Terra’s powerful response to the death of George Floyd and the state of the nation should not go unnoticed. This is the reason music, especially reggae music, exists. The single is now available via the streaming platforms below and 100% of Bandcamp donations will go towards providing micro-grants to black musicians. For more information on the band, to donate or to learn how to join the Black Lives Matter fight, visit the links below.
Stream “Streets Run Red” single:
Join the fight:
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