DaBaby's omnipresence over the last year threads a thin line between overnight celebrity and over saturation; he drops new musical content almost as often as his altercations and antics make their way into the headlines. Nothing is more emblematic of this delicate dance than the rollout of the song "Rockstar," originally a collaboration with Roddy Rich centered around largesse and extravagance.
During June's BET Awards, however, he premiered a new version of the song, titled the "BLM Remix." DaBaby performs the opening verse lying on the ground, under the knee of a faceless white body, tying his own life's trials and tribulations with those of George Floyd. It's a startling image that strikes a dissonant tone: DaBaby invokes Floyd, a man unable to breathe during the last moments of life, as the rapper's own words escalate in volume. He raps about his vilification by hometown authorities and challenging their right to seizure of his property; he boasts about buying a Lamborghini as an action of resistance as opposed to a transparent display of grandeur. But the concept of rockstardom, as nebulous as that may be, is not affixed to the average Black person in America nor is that dynamic present in average interactions with law enforcement. Ultimately, this is why fastening "BLM Remix" to the track flies in the face of the song's greater temperament. With this new framework, the hook ("with the pistol on my hip like I'm a cop") becomes increasingly discomfiting the more you listen.
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