Roc Nation signee Vic Mensa has just released a new EP titled There’s A Lot Going On. In conjunction with the release, he also premiered the powerful record “16 Shots.” The song is dedicated to Laquan McDonald, a 17-year old young man, from Mensa’s hometown of Chicago, who was shot 16 times by police officer Jason Van Dyke. McDonald was approximately 20 feet away from Van Dyke, at the time of the shooting, and only in possession of a knife. A video showing the shooting created a public outcry, and the officer now faces charges of first degree murder.

While debuting the song on Ebro Darden’s iTunes radio show, Vic said of it “I was inspired to make the song by my time on the ground floor in the street, when we were revolting against [the shooting]. This record is like self-defense, because, to me, Laquan McDonald represents Emmett Till, which represents every name down the line. Since then, a lot of things have changed, but one main thing [that] hasn’t changed is that our lives are not respected.”

“16 Shots,” itself, is a powder keg. Mensa spits lines like “the mayor lie and say he didn’t see the video and everyone wanna know where the truth at” and “he never had a chance and we all know it’s because he’s black. Shot him 16 times. How fucked up is that?” Also, with a nod to one of the most high profile cases in Hip-Hop, Vic rhymes “Cops killin’ kids and stayin’ outta jail, but Bobby Shmurda can’t even catch bail.” On the chorus, Vic issues a stern warning of what’s to come if the killing of blacks by the police doesn’t stop: “16 shots, and we buckin’ back.”