*Reflecting on the images in the music video for his latest single, “Fresh Out,” featuring Haillie, Griot B (Brandon Brown) said, “The beauty of family get-togethers. It’s to celebrate the holiday…Juneteenth. Some people have to work on Juneteenth…still there’s the need for them to celebrate.”
Released in conjunction with Juneteenth, the “Fresh Out” music video celebrates family gatherings, neighborhood cookouts and backyard barbecues. Its themes of community, togetherness, and celebration also resonate on Independence Day, as families across the country gather to mark the Fourth of July and America’s 250th anniversary.
I told Brandon that I just recently learned what Juneteenth was all about because my daughter is into the history of African Americans pre-Civil War, and she took the week off to celebrate. So, its recognition is to highlight the “actual” end of slavery in America (when a high-ranking military official openly declared all slaves are free in Texas), two years after Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. I can see Juneteenth as a deep and hard pill to swallow for some.
“That’s what I do. I’m the greatest educator…I’m the Griot,” he emphasized happily.
“That’s how my students learn (music),” Griot B said when recalling how he went from history teacher to rapper. “It started with a student’s challenge for me to make a song and I did. It was enjoyable to me. To reach them in a way that they understood…and I kept at it and got better.”
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