The music industry has come to a halt, as many are using their platform to take a stand against the death of George Floyd, who was recently killed in Minnesota due to police brutality. 6lack, R&B and Hip Hop artist, felt uneasy about releasing new music during this time and sent out a message before.
The Atlanta artist had been planning to release music a week before the killing of Floyd. 6lack took to Instagram to address his take on releasing music, claiming that he didn’t feel right dropping a new single when he’s angry at the current state America is in, specifically his people.
“George Floyd. Ahmaud Arbery. Breonna Taylor. And the many other names to be silenced, due to abuse of power and racism, have not died in vain,” the post read. “I can’t listen to anyone telling the people in pain, how to cope. We are fed up. And rightfully so. We’ve marched, kneeled, and petitioned we’re sick of the hashtags.”
6lack later followed up with the release of “ATL Freestyle,” which makes it his first single since his East Atlanta Love Letter album in 2018. The “Pretty Little Fears” artist has been featured in several songs since then, but “ATL Freestyle” makes it his first solo back. 6lack also dropped the visual for the single that captures him traveling from Los Angeles back home to ATL, where we can find him playing with his daughter and catching up with family.
In the beginning of 2020, the artist announced that there will be a new album coming soon. Since then, he’s mentioned the album in Instagram captions and on Twitter.