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"Let's Destroy the System I Demand a Riot": Listen to OG Maco's New 'Breathe' EP

OG Maco gets political.

OG Maco raps like he's in the process of tearing down a building when he's just hanging out with his friends in a hotel; in other words, his voice was made for soundtracking political fury and raw anger toward an unjust system. Today he joins artists like Lil B, Tink, and J. Cole in doing just that with a three-song EP called Breathe that is, according to his Soundcloud, "speaking on the current state of American affairs and race relations." With a cover that references the recent #BlackLivesMatter protests and a title that alludes to New York resident Eric Garner's repeated cries of "I can't breathe" as he was being killed by police officers, Maco is pretty explicit before the first note even arrives. But lest you write this off as an empty gesture of support (don't do that), all three songs hit home on the topic in different ways and showcase sides of OG Maco that his past material might not have made as clear. This is OG Maco getting political.

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"Get Down," produced by Chuck Inglish, takes a traditional lyrical approach for musings like "why we scream peace so much but carry the biggest gun?" and "why do we pledge allegiance but as soon as they think we sneaking / it's guilty til proven innocent?" while also calling out people with "no change for staving kids but spend 20 racks on a necklace" and offering the damning, resigned "hope that we might know freedom through more than our white friends." "Do Better" rattles off the specifics of recent killings of Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Kimani Gray, and Trayvon Martin and discusses whether there's any way to change things, girmly noting "they lynch us still / just using guns."

All of which really only leads to one conclusion, easily summed up by the final song: "Let's destroy the system, I demand a riot."

This is OG Maco at his full-on angriest, and it's the only thing that makes sense. Listen to it below:

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