J. Period ft. Dead Prez, Sa-Roc & Maimouna Youssef | SOLDIERS | Music

In the Spring of 1970, armed National Guardsmen fired on Vietnam protesters at Kent State in Ohio, killing four students. The event reverberated across the country, spurring Neil Young to pen “Ohio” for Crosby, Stills & Nash, a folk anthem The Guardian calls “the greatest protest record” in American history.

Days later—forgotten in the shadow of Kent State—police killed two black students at a similar protest at Jackson State in Mississippi. The incident echoed a growing racial divide, and rising tensions between police and inner city youth across the country. Fusing “Ohio” with Jimi Hendrix “Machine Gun,” The Isley Brothers re-framed the narrative of the song around urban unrest, bridging the cultural gap between two songs (and their fans) as a deliberate statement. Music was one of the few forces that could bridge the racial divide and bring people together—cultural connective tissue for a divided world.

Now, DJ/Producer J.PERIOD is proud to present the next chapter in the historic saga of “Ohio”: “SOLDIERS,” the epic new single from Hip Hop’s pre-eminent freedom fighters Dead Prez and rising stars Sa-Roc & Maimouna Youssef. Sampling elements of The Isley Brothers’ “Ohio” over a hard-hitting track produced by J.PERIOD, “SOLDIERS” reframes the narrative again for a new generation—the generation of Ferguson, Flint, Oakland, New Orleans, Sanford, and Charlottesville.

J. Period ft. Dead Prez, Sa-Roc & Maimouna Youssef | SOLDIERS



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