Jay-Z Drops ‘Songs For Survival 2’ Playlist Featuring Nina Simone, 2Pac, James Brown, Curtis Mayfield And More
Jay-Z certainly is in tune with the rhythm of our times. On Tuesday, the rapper turned business mogul dropped a new playlist titled Songs for Survival 2 — the sequel to his exclusively made playlist Songs for Survival on TIDAL.
The playlist features classics from R&B, Funk, and Soul icons including Nina Simone, Eddie Kendricks, Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield, James Brown, Syl Johnson, The Impressions, Roberta Flack, and Donny Hathaway with a dose of Gil-Scott Heron and Tracy Chapman and of course Black powered rap songs by Public Enemy, Tupac, Jay Electronica, and Jay-Z himself with his classic “Young, Gifted and Black” freestyle.
As protests continue all over the country, playlists have seen a rise in demand as protesters strive for a peaceful promenade as they fight the American disease, racism. Jay-Z’s playlist is a strong beneficiary for the vibe and rhythm of peaceful protestors with thought-provoking grooves like Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Goin On” and a Black pride anthem-like James Brown’s “Say It Loud – I’m Black And I’m Proud,” it would be nearly impossible for the Black and Proud to not get down.
Jay-Z has been vocal about Black matters throughout the years including the recent string of cases. On Sunday (May 31), the governor of Minnesota told CNN that Jay-Z reached out to him to discuss the death of George Floyd and demand justice. Hov released a statement later that day that confirmed his interaction with the governor and made a public request to the Attorney General to prosecute all four of the officers that were involved in the killing of George Floyd.
“After our earnest conversation, thank you to Governor Walz for doing what’s right and calling in Attorney General Keith Ellison to take over the George Floyd case. Earlier today, Governor Walz mentioned having a human conversation with me. A dad and a black man in pain. Yes, I am human, a father and a black man in pain and I am not the only one. Now I, along with an entire country in pain, call upon AG Ellison to do the right thing and prosecute all those responsible for the murder of George Floyd to the fullest extent of the law.”
The very next day, in ties with his Roc Nation and REFORM Alliance team, Jay-Z paid tribute to George Floyd by taking out several full-page ads in newspapers all over the nation including the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Minneapolis Star Tribune and more.
On Thursday (June 4), Jay-Z lent his private jet to the legal team of Ahmaud Arbery to help them attend the scheduled preliminary court hearing in Georgia they almost missed. S. Lee Merritt of the Merritt Law Firm took to Instagram to thank Hov for the flight that morning.
“When you absolutely have to be in Court to stand with your client and righteous protestors for justice … Jay Z sends his private jet. That’s part of the P.P.E plan to get us out of this Crisis (People Power Political Power Economic Power).”