Review: John Legend Drops Politically-Charged Single 'Preach'

Whenever another act of violence happens in the world, people are quick to send "thoughts and prayers". How is that enough? We need more than that to stop these cruel intentions.

Singer/songwriter, John Legend is also known for being an activist and speaking up about these worldly situations on and off social media. For Legend's first release of 2019, he's using his platform to do just that and hit us with the politically-driven single "Preach".

The song is a call-out to the chaotic events happening around the world. He sings about having the urge to do more than give "thoughts and prayers". It dives deep about how angry one gets about the news (hello relatable!) and whether one should be uncaring or finding a way to do more and stop these acts of terrorism.

It's a question if one feels unsafe to go to concerts, mall or movie theaters. How many of you feel that way? The world is in a state of disarray and even more so with the number of shootings happening. A lot of people have just become numb to them since it's a common occurrence.

The music video directed by Dominique DeLeon (also worked with Legend on his "Penthouse Floor" video featuring Chance the Rapper) depicts a number of things including police brutality and immigration. It opens with Legend asleep with his wife Chrissy Teigen then is awoken and finds himself in a high-school gymnasium seeing children escape from a shooter. You also see him in a church.

Left in the video description box is a link to FREEAMERICA, a fundraising campaign that aims to present a platform for those who are profoundly impacted the most by the criminal justice system that needs to be fixed desperately. We can always count on this star to use his platform for good.

"I can't sit and hope/ I can't just sit and pray that I can find a love when all I see is pain/ I'm falling to my knees/ And thought I do believe/ I can't just preach, baby, preach," Legend sings in the chorus.

I hope this song inspires people to really go out do more about everything currently happening. This song is unquestionably powerful and hits deep. I respect Legend for being so outspoken and with that I thank him for doing so.

View the music video and please be sure to stream/purchase the single on your favorite digital platform.

Photo Credit: John Legend's Twitter.

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