Big K.R.I.T. Takes The Hip Hop Awards Stage In A Police Uniform & Uses Deadly Force (Video)

Last month, Big K.R.I.T. unleashed one of the most powerful verses of his career on a song that was not even his own. Joining artist Kenneth Whalum on a remix to his moving “Might Not Be OK,” K.R.I.T. raps about the killings by police of unarmed Black civilians that have become nearly a weekly occurrence.

Big K.R.I.T. Raps Like He Never Has Before In a Chilling Cry For Justice (Audio)

Days after the song’s release, K.R.I.T. performed that verse at the taping of the 2016 BET Hip Hop Awards, in stunning fashion. The MC stepped onto the stage, in Atlanta, GA, dressed in a police uniform. Armed with nothing but a spotlight, he unleashed the lethal verse, without music, leaving the entire audience stunned. Just as he did on the record, K.R.I.T. started off calmly but continued to escalate until he reached a fever pitch. By the end, his emotion was palpable as he fired every word off like a lethal shot.

Dead Prez Lead The Most Meaningful BET Cypher Ever. It’s Bigger Than Hip-Hop (Video)

K.R.I.T.’s performance was not the only one of its kind for the award show. Later in the evening, Dead Prez, Locksmith and Oswin Benjamin took the stage for a live cypher that addressed a number of issues plaguing the Black community, and the nation as a whole. Given that Hip-Hop has long been the voice of the people, it’s fitting that a meaningful portion of the show was devoted to these types of substantive issues.

Here are the entire lyrics to Big K.R.I.T.’s verse from “Might Not Be OK,” courtesy of Genius.

Mommas been cryin’ and they gon’ keep cryin’
Black folk been dyin’ and they gon’ keep dyin’
Police been firin’ and they gon’ keep firin’
The government been lyin’ and they gon’ keep lyin’
Propaganda news channels, that shit is all for show
Camera phone videos is like all we know
Diluting what an eye witness might really say
Because the whole world saw a murder yesterday
Now your account ain’t what it used to be
According to them your eyes can’t adjust to the violence you ain’t used to see
Police brutality is all in your mind
And the tactics that they use only look worse in rewind
And people die everyday, you should get used to it
Hands behind yo’ back, face down, and still say you shootin’
Can’t breathe
Knee where your neck be like why you movin’?
Kids in your car and they on like what you doin’?
Like why you chillin’? Fuck yo’ feelin’s
Why you smilin’ when I’m so serious?
I ain’t patrolling your space, like why you livin’?
Stop asking questions, why you filmin’?
You look suspicious, I think you dealin’
Step out the car, fit the description
Someone I fear, I need to kill it
Blood on the curb, I didn’t spill it
‘Nother civilian, ‘nother not guilty
‘Nother T-shirt, ‘nother rap lyric
‘Nother life gone, I can’t forgive it