In un momento importante e in risposta all’indignazione e alla solidarietà cresciute negli Stati Uniti contro la brutalità della polizia e il razzismo sistemico, Tom Morello (musicista e attivista nonché vincitore di un Grammy Award), ha riunito i suoi amici e compagni Dan Reynold, leader degli Imagine Dragons, The Bloody Beetroots (produttore) e Shea Diamond (artista e attivista) per un progetto speciale.
Il risultato è “Stand Up”, una riflessione sulla differenza tra le persone unite contro il razzismo in questo momento. Il brano (pubblicato da KIDinaKORNER/Interscope Records) è disponibile ora in tutto il mondo. Il brano è stato coscritto da Morello, Reynolds, Diamond, The Bloody Beetroots, Justin Tranter e Eren Cannata. Tutti e quattro gli artisti coinvolti doneranno il ricavato del brano alle seguenti associazioni:
NAACP, Know Your Rights Camp, Southern Poverty Law Center, e Marsha P. Johnson Institute, di cui Morello ha detto “Stanno facendo un grande lavoro per combattere il razzismo, l’ingiustizia e la brutalità della polizia”. KIDinaKORNER/Interscope donerà inoltre una cifra pari a quello che gli artisti guadagneranno dagli stream del brano per un periodo di 3 anni.
Parlando della nascita di questa canzone, Morello ha detto: “I grew up in the tiny lily white, archly conservative town of Libertyville, Illinois. When I was a kid, someone hung a noose in my family’s garage, there was occasional N-word calling, etc, etc. On June 6 of this year, there was a Black Lives Matter rally and march in that same town that drew over 1,000 people. It seems that the times, they are a’changin’. I was so inspired that night, I reached out to Dan from Imagine Dragons. The Bloody Beetroots and I had conjured a slamming track and within 24 hours Dan had sent back a completed vocal. We got Shea Diamond, a Black transgender woman with a long history of activism, on the track and the coalition was complete”.
Reynolds ha aggiunto parlando della necessità di scrivere questo brano: “When Tom reached out to work together with Shea Diamond and The Bloody Beetroots on this track I immediately went up into my room and wrote/sang the chorus and verse that day. This country certainly needs fixing, and I believe it will take people from all sides and colors to fix it”.
Bob Rifo dei The Bloody Beetroots ha aggiunto: “I was in my third month of quarantine and I was waiting for the right opportunity to present itself to reconnect to the world when Tom called me to work on ‘Stand Up.’ It is during times of turmoil and upheaval that we musicians have the responsibility to accelerate change with a loud and strong message for a better present and future. Today we can change this planet. This is our time. This is our turn”.
Diamond invece parlando di questa alleanza e del suo coinvolgimento in questo brano: “When I hear people talking about being allies of the LGBTQ+ community, mainly in the Black and Trans community, it’s almost laughable. We watch them profit from our pain, making these surface level posts of solidarity – especially in music. When I think about Black Lives Matter and Trans Lives Matter, you don’t get to see any representations of collaborations – many would never share a post, let alone do a song together. So when I heard Dan Reynolds wanted me on his song, I nearly flipped. I wasn’t surprised, though – he’s been so intentional in sharing posts, helping to raise money within our community and more. He really puts the A in ally!!! This is a proud moment in music history, and I feel honored to be a part of such an important song during this climate… we need to know where everyone stands in the music community, as music is an essential tool that can change the hearts and minds of so many”.