J. Period Enlists Black Thought, Posdnuos and Pharoahe Monch for Protest Song ‘Rise Up!’

In the age of President Donald Trump, we need more protest music to give us some clarity on what we need to do to circumvent the idiocy that’s been happening at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Enter J. Period. The DJ and producer just released a politically-charged track called “Rise Up!” featuring some of the top spitters in the game.

Over a crashing beat, downing piano licks and Joss Stone’s yearning vocals, rappers Pharoahe Monch, Posdnuos (of De La Soul) and Black Thought (of The Roots) rap about the state of affairs in America where poverty, racism and dissonance are at an all-time high.

"Seems like Dr. King's dreams were not for the squeamish / Children of lesser God / Oppression gets repeated with less / Slide up out of the chains and get deleted / America is like black and white, dice tumblin'," raps Monch, adding, "So while our culture is crumblin' / I will enunciate every line clearly, so you can hear what the f--- I'm sayin' no mumblin', Let's rise."

Meanwhile, Pos delivers pointed remarks at America, rapping,"The irony of a nation claiming to be the United States but never in a state of unification." Finally, Black Thought closes out the song with his motivational call for unity and compassion.

"As a people, we could rise like the tides do / To tower over evil as a nation under god," he spits. "We could rise to a brilliance / Rise to a balance / Rise to a way to co-exist without violence."

Overall, J. Period has created a protest song that calls for justice, unity, diversity and empathy that is very much needed in today's society.

Raise your fists in the air!