DaBaby & Roddy Ricch pay tribute to George Floyd in ‘Rockstar’ performance

Rappers DaBaby and Roddy Ricch have recorded a striking performance of their 2020 collaboration ‘Rockstar’ for the BET Awards.

The single was originally released in April as part of DaBaby’s third studio album, ‘Blame It On Baby’. It was then re-released in June as a Black Lives Matter remix, following the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and many other black lives.

This performance sees the pair honouring “all the lives lost to racism and police brutality” with their latter release.

Watch the full video below:

The remix featured alternative verses that described the rapper’s own experiences of racism and run-ins with the law.

“Cops wanna pull me over, embarrass me/Abusin’ power, you never knew me, thought I was arrogant/As a juvenile, police pulled their guns like they scared of me,” he rapped.

Today’s performance (June 28) saw DaBaby recreate the scene of George Floyd’s death – rapping his first verse under the knee of a police officer.

• READ MORE: Rihanna, Dr Dre, Lady Gaga, Jay-Z, Harry Styles, Cardi B and more demand justice for George Floyd

The rest of the video honoured the global Black Lives Matter movement, featuring protestors wearing shirts “I AM…” followed by the names of individuals who have lost their lives. One t-shirt has the slogan “AM I NEXT?”.

DaBaby’s ‘Blame It On Baby’ received a four-star review from NME, which said it “fights back against these one-trick pony accusations” with his distinct “unflinching and largely unapologetic narrative style”.

• READ MORE: DaBaby – ‘Blame It On Baby’ review: rap’s latest hot property further propels his momentum

Aside from his ‘Rockstar’ cameo, Roddy Ricch performed two of his own songs live for the 2020 BET Awards: ‘High Fashion’ and ‘The Box’. Watch the medley here.

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