Maino Pens a Powerfully Moving Tribute with ‘The Ghost of Kalief Browder’ [LISTEN]

Kalief Browder's story has been told visually through the Jay Z-produced documentary series Time: The Kalief Browder Story; and now Maino's new song "The Ghost of Kalief Browder" perfectly captures the late Bronx man's story through music.

It's evident that Browder's story touched Maino — as it did many people — and he accurately described what happened to him. In 2010, Browder was falsely accused of stealing a backpack, sent to Rikers Island without being convicted where he spent three years being beaten and locked in solitary confinement. Browder was eventually released and charges were dropped, but he hanged himself afterwards in 2015.

In "The Ghost of Kalief Browder," Maino writes in the voice of the late young man and paints some extremely vivid pictures.

"They told me freeze I can't run far / So now I'm stuck here cuffed inside the cop car / Told me I'm wanted in connection with a robbery / The witness said he wasn't sure but it was probably me / At the precinct I said I'm innocent it wasn't me / The cop laughed and kept on fingerprinting me," he spit.

Maino talks about Browder's time on Rikers Island, New York City's worst jail, where he was routinely jumped by several other inmates. Plus, the correction officers were accused of standing aside and letting it happen.

"The four-building they took me I heard stories 'bout / Where adolescents chew rocks and spit razors out / Just a boy but they forcing me to be a man / In my Patakis in the day room throwing hands / They trying to jump me and I'm fighting back with all my might / Dirty COs just watching let them beat me twice," Maino raps.

The song is powerful, indeed. You can hear it below.

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