Common and Stevie Wonder’s New “Black America Again” Video Features Alton Sterling Shooting Footage

Common has shared a new song featuring Stevie Wonder called “Black America Again,” via Complex. Produced by Karriem Riggins and Robert Glasper, the song features Esperanza Spalding on bass, J Rock on “scratches,” Patrick Warren on strings, and ad libs from Chuck D and MC Lyte. The song’s music video, which you can watch below, opens with footage of Alton Sterling’s fatal police shooting in Baton Rouge. Common’s lyrics also directly reference Trayvon Martyin (“Trayvon will never get to be an older man/Black children, their childhood stole from them”), Black Lives Matter (“I know that Black Lives Matter/And they matter to us/These are thing we gotta discuss”), and mass incarceration (“The new plantation/Mass incarceration/Instead of educate/They’d rather convict the kids”). 

“Black America Again” is also the title track for Common’s album, according to the video’s YouTube description. Common previously said in an interview with WBUR  that the record would be called A Bigger Picture Called Free. In a new interview with Complex, he revealed that John Legend, Anderson .Paak, The Internet, and Jay Electronica will feature in his upcoming album. Common’s last album was 2014’s Nobody’s Smiling

Earlier this month, Common shared “Lovestar,” featuring Marsha Ambrosius and PJ. In June, Common teamed up with Gregory Porter and Keyon Harold for a song called “Running (Refugee Song)” in honor of World Refugee Day.   

Comments are closed.