by As the country's anger flares up about the shooting death of 18-year-old unarmed teenager Michael Brown by Missouri police, J. Cole records his feelings of the ordeal into the poignant song “Be Free.”
On the track, what sounds like a sobbing, grieving Cole repeats on the hook, “All we wanna do is take the chains off / All we wanna do is be free.” A recording of the voice from one of the witnesses of the crime telling his account of events can be heard throughout the track.
The message is made even clearer with the song’s cover art; it’s the graphic image of Brown as he lays lifeless in the street. The cover also features a quote from Cole:
"Rest in Peace to Michael Brown and to every young black man murdered in America, whether by the hands of white or black,” said Cole. “I pray that one day the world will be filled with peace and rid of injustice. Only then will we all Be Free.”
Listen to J. Cole's sorrowful pleas…
