What better place was there for YG to film the video for his street anthem “FTP” than at a massive rally in Los Angeles last week in support of Black Lives Matter?
The epic black-and-white clip dropped on Friday morning (June 12), and was filmed during a rally in Hollywood on Sunday (June 7) honoring the victims of police brutality and demanding the defunding of police — causes that fit perfectly with the vibe of the hard-hitting track.
The video opens with the song’s title superimposed over the image of a burning police car before cutting to now-too-familiar scenes from recent protest of riot gear-fitted police using strong-arm tactics to subdue protesters, as well as some of the images of destruction that accompanied the largely peaceful marches in all 50 states.
“For anyone out there talking I don’t question your advocacy and don’t think you should question mine. See you gotta understand that a lot of people out there they see me as a N—a. They don’t see the black proud man,” YG wrote in an Instagram post alongside footage from the protest earlier this week.
“They see a kid from Bompton and they expect violence. They hear FTP and they think I’m gonna come and burn my city. So we showed up and did it right. We proved them wrong. The real story here is me and Black Lives Matter brought out 50,000 people today to peacefully protest and unite for change. I wanted to document that so when they hear this song and think we are reckless and violent they see a peaceful protest of all different people coming together for a common cause.”
In between the footage of the nationwide protests, YG, wearing a sweatshirt emblazoned with the words “Color Blind” dances in front of a wall with graffiti honoring George Floyd, raps about decades of police killing black and brown men and women before hitting the chorus, which simply states, “F–k the police, f– the police.”
The visual also features the now-iconic fly-over of 100,000-strong crowd filling the streets of Hollywood, as well as footage of YG rapping the track in the midst of the massive gathering, a poster of late MC Nipsey Hussle visible just over his shoulder; in 2016, YG partnered with Hussle for their controversial single “FDT,” which was a scathing diss record aimed at President Trump.
It ends with the message, “On June 7, 2020, in protest of the police brutality against his community, YG alongside Black Lives Matter Los Angeles and BLD PWR successfully organized a peaceful protest for 100,00 people. One which is now being touted as the largest anti-racism march in Los Angeles city history. The footage contained in this video captures a portion of a historical day to demand an end to police brutality.”
Watch the video and see YG’s post below.