British lo-fi blues-rocker, BeeMC, expresses his own experience with racism on his new single, “Officer.” Surely, this is the rock mc’s response to the recent demonstrations in the United States sparked by the incident involving George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota. George Floyd was a black man in his forties who was arrested in Minneapolis in May for paying with counterfeit money at a grocery store. He was killed from asphyxiation while a police officer was restraining him. His death was seen as an example of police brutality, and a racist act committed by a white. This caused much anger amongst members of the black community in the United States, which led to people organizing and marching in the streets, demanding justice for Floyd. The incident echoed to other parts of the world including Mexico, the United Kingdom, and France, where similar demonstrations took place.
BeeMC sounds fairly upset here, and it seems like a bit of a departure from his other, more blues-heavy numbers. On “Officer,” BeeMC shows off his true mc skills while maintaining a hard-rock core in the music, drawing a solid parallel with Rage Against the Machine. The guitar riff is good at keeping the energy levels high, while the bass and drums provide a strong backbone for BeeMC’s lyrical assaults. The guitar solo is particularly interesting, built on a series of repeating oscillations, which seem to be mimicking police sirens or perhaps the sounds associated with police radio communications. It’s unique.
BeeMC lays it all down in his lyrics, telling personal stories of encounters with the police and pointing to the classism and racism displayed by officers of the law in the treatment of his family and friends. One of the verses explains how “police shot a man with no trigger in his hand,” and the chorus is pure protest as he claims, “they make light of the situation but we all know the truth.” BeeMC is confrontational on “Officer,” and uses his words as a weapon in the struggle for justice. Hear more after the jump…
