Kanye West released the protest song Donda on Sunday on the birthday of his mother Donda West (1949-2007) , he reports on Twitter on Monday . On the song, the rapper’s mother recites the lyrics to rapper KRS-One’s 1994 protest song Sound of da Police .
In Donda, West raps that he releases the song for his fans to “stop racism once and for all”. The artist further speaks of “justified outrage over unfair treatment” in the United States.
In loving memory of my incredible mother on her birthday 🕊 My mom reciting KRS1 lyrics This song is called DONDA pic.twitter.com/YWKhqYYu2E
— ye (@kanyewest) July 13, 2020
In Sound of da Police, KRS-One compares the behavior of the police with that of the slave masters during slavery. For example, the rapper points to the word officer used for American police officers , which he says resembles the word overseer used on slave plantations .
Sound of da Police , which features footage of police acts against black Americans in the music video, reached the 89th position on the US Billboard chart in 1994. The song has been used in the soundtrack of multiple films and series, including The Angry Birds Movie and the Brooklyn Nine-Nine police series .