Swisher Sleep and Stuey Newton connect on their powerful “Black Vs White” music video. Before one is quick to say “this type of song is divisive,” I would strongly urge them to watch the visual and listen to the content. The picture painted through vivid visuals is one of reality and a very accurate representation of our countries history. At its core, it’s a cry for freedom and equality.
This visual is graphic. But it’s no depiction of our countries faults, it’s visual records of atrocities that have happened in the United States. The present-day location of the video was shot in Seattle’s Capitol Hill CHOP/CHAZ area early during the occupied protest.
The amount of lyrical talent on this record is staggering. These two artists are no strangers to top tier bars and wordplay. Stuey Newton is one of the Pacific Northwest’s most respected battle rappers, gaining multiple high-level matches and industry features. Swisher Sleep has long impressed the region. He was also a finalist for the #ListenUpChallenge as well as grabbing the attention of Tech N9ne’s ear.
I asked Swisher about the timing of this video, and if the content was inspired by the recent tragedies of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and others, Sleep had a horrifying response.
“(This is) the first song I made where spittin the most bars wasn’t the whole point. Took lots of research and time and pain to create this song…Sad thing is, I made this song almost 2 yrs ago and I knew some black man would get killed by some POS sooner or later. So, I held it until people were listening. It’s just fuc*ed up that we as a people know that it’s not an IF, it’s a WHEN.”
