"Riot" is a song by American rapper and singer
XXXTentacion
Jahseh Dwayne Ricardo Onfroy (January 23, 1998 – June 18, 2018), known professionally as XXXTentacion, was an American rapper and singer-songwriter. Though a controversial figure due to his widely publicized legal troubles, XXXTentacion gai ...
. It was originally released on
SoundCloud
SoundCloud is a German audio streaming service owned and operated by SoundCloud Global Limited & Co. KG. The service enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is ...
in May 2015, before being re-released posthumously for streaming services on June 1, 2020, amid the
George Floyd protests
The George Floyd protests were a series of protests, riots, and demonstrations against police brutality that began in Minneapolis in the United States on May 26, 2020. The protests and civil unrest began in Minneapolis as Reactions to the mu ...
.
The re-released version is slightly shorter than the original, cutting a large portion of a speech from former
Ku Klux Klan
The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to KKK or Klan, is an American Protestant-led Christian terrorism, Christian extremist, white supremacist, Right-wing terrorism, far-right hate group. It was founded in 1865 during Reconstruction era, ...
leader
Jeff Berry, which was used to point out the rising danger of
racism
Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...
,
homophobia
Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who identify or are perceived as being lesbian, Gay men, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred, or ant ...
, and
antisemitism
Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...
in the United States.
Background
The track was originally released in May 2015, after protests of the
killing of Michael Brown
On August 9, 2014, 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot and killed by police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis.
Brown was accompanied by his 22-year-old male friend Dorian Johnson. Wilson, a white male Fergu ...
.
The song was then released on streaming services in 2020 following the
murder of George Floyd
On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black American man, was murdered in Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old White police officer. Floyd had been arrested after a store clerk reported that he made a purchase using a c ...
and
the protests that followed.
Composition
On the song, XXXTentacion is critical of the practice of
rioting
A riot or mob violence is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people.
Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The p ...
, while also denouncing
racist
Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...
and
homophobic
Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who identify or are perceived as being lesbian, Gay men, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred, or ant ...
rhetoric from
hate group
A hate group is a social group that advocates and practices hatred, hostility, or violence towards members of a race, ethnicity, nation, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any other designated sector of society.
Acc ...
s such as the
Ku Klux Klan
The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to KKK or Klan, is an American Protestant-led Christian terrorism, Christian extremist, white supremacist, Right-wing terrorism, far-right hate group. It was founded in 1865 during Reconstruction era, ...
. ''
Uproxx
Uproxx Studios (stylized as ''UPROXX'') is an American music, entertainment and popular culture website and content studio. It was founded in 2008 by Jarret Myer and Brian Brater. The website was acquired in 2014 by Woven Digital (which later ...
''s Derick Rossignol noted how X expresses his belief that rioters often don't consider the consequences of their actions: "Look in all the stores you wreckin', nigga, I reckon / Think about the people who own it for 'bout a second / I know you got your problems, but brother, they got theirs / This is not a game, quit violence and grow a pair". However, X also sympathizes with the frustration of those rioting after instances of
police brutality
Police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement against an individual or Public order policing, a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, b ...
: "But I won't dare say that you should stop the fuckin' ignorance / Murder opps, killin' shit, I'd enjoy the thrill of it / Bathe in blood of officers, different corpses, offin' 'em".
The song ends with dialogue from former KKK leader
Jeff Berry's speech during a rally, which was featured in the 1998 documentary ''The Ku Klux Klan: A Secret History'': "We see, I see, death before the children / White guys and white girls hanging from the buildings". The original song sampled more of the speech.
Music video
The track was featured in the 2017 music video for Onfroy's 2015 track "
Look at Me".
Charts
Certifications
Notes
References
{{Black Lives Matter
XXXTentacion songs
2015 songs
2020 singles
Songs written by XXXTentacion
Empire Distribution singles