Nigerian rapper, Lawyer and Activist, Folarin Falana (Falz theBahdGuy) has dropped a new video in honor of all the slain Nigerian youths who were victims of police brutality. Announcing the inspiration behind the video on his Instagram account on Tuesday, he wrote, ‘‘We will never forget the heroes that have been unlawfully slain. This is for them. For every single Nigerian life snatched away unlawfully, we must make sure we get justice.” The 30-year-old award-winning musician wrote.
”Almost two years since I released the audio. Even more disturbing to think that as time passed, the message became more relevant.’’ He further disclosed.
The video is a tribute to the victims of police brutality and victims of the #EndSARS protests and the Lekki shootings. The video was shot in Lagos and directed by Oluthewave.
‘Johnny’ which was the first single in Falz’s last album ‘Moral Instruction’ was originally released on January 15, 2019. The singer sampled Fela Kuti’s 1997 hit ‘J.J.D Johnny Just Drop’ in the song.
In his lyrics, he painted the scenario most Nigerian Youths face from the hands of security personnel especially in Nigeria. As he depicts the situations, he included videos and pictures of both the protests and the massacre that followed. He himself laid dead as he rapped and sang away.
Falz in an interview with Christiane Amanpour of CNN, had boldly stated, “I’m not afraid for my safety, I’m not afraid for my life because where we are right now, I feel like I could easily die by anything else anyways.”
This not only shows the horror but the gravity of insecurity faced by the Nigerian youth. Falz ended the song/Tribute with the statement “If Johnny continue to drop eyan melo lo ma ku!” which in Yoruba means;
How many people will die?
Though the protests are far from what it was 1 month ago, at the end of the video, the Afro Hip Hop star wrote a message as the epilogue of the video and we love how inspiring it is!
Every single person responsible for these gruesome acts must be brought to book. It’s time to get our PVC’s Ready. The power of the people is greater than the people in power.