It seems like every time you turn on the news nowadays, there is a new story about someone getting shot and killed by the police. While the majority of police shootings are simply  justified shootings by officers in the line of duty, recently, unjust shootings have been getting the limelight in the majority of U.S news. Many celebrities, mainly of the African American race, have been outspoken when it comes to these horrible shootings that should’ve never happened. Many use social media to share their thoughts, some protest in the streets to show their support, and some use the exposure they have to start a conversation. Many musicians have been using their song lyrics to express their opinions, mainly outrage, concerning the recent shootings. A lot of the time, this outrage is spread out in the world without anyone taking it seriously because the message does not apply to the masses. Atlanta based rapper T.I. recently came out with a song titled “Warzone” in which he ingeniously talks about the recent problem of unjust shootings throughout the entire song. T.I, who’s roots tie deeply back into some of the poorest and dangerous African American projects in Atlanta, masterfully portrays the recent shootings in the music video that goes along with the song. In a way that very few could accomplish, or even think of, T.I. took one of the most effective ways I’ve ever seen in designing the video in a unique way to show just how twisted racism is in America, and to put it in perspective to an audience who truly don’t understand that racism is still prevalent. 

T.I. has scenes in the video reenacting the graphic deaths happen to the likes of Tamir Rice, Eric Garner and Philando Castile, who are all African American men shot by white cops. But instead of using African American actors to play the likes of the aforementioned men, T.I. flips the narrative and uses white actors to play the victims and uses black actors to play the cops. This visual change brings about a feeling that is truly astounding when watching the video and really opens the door to a way to connect to the video when someone has no connections or serious feelings to the shootings.  

I am white. While watching the news, it is sometimes hard to relate to the obvious racial profiling that is going on within our country against African Americans. I don’t fear the police. I don’t feel like I’m at a disadvantage because of my race. But I know there is a problem in our country, I just can’t say I completely know everything about the issue. There has been nothing that I’ve ever seen or heard that has made me relate more to the issue than the music video “Warzone”. Instead of depicting a straightforward portrayal of the tragic events, approach by having white victims assume the roles of Rice, Garner, and Castile. The scenes aren’t fictional; they look very familiar. The majority of these shootings happen in impoverished African American projects to poor African American men. For some reason the fact that these problems were happing to another race that I don’t identify as almost made me think that the problem wasn’t that bad, which is absolutely horrible. I wasn’t doing it on purpose, just the opposite, because it’s difficult to relate to something that doesn’t affect you whatsoever. Seeing images of people who I can relate to suffering and hurt brings a really emotional feeling to my heart and makes me understand how many people I don’t relate to are feeling. 

When it came to explaining the message that he was trying to make with the video, T.I. explained “We wanted to give them (meaning people who didn’t think there was a problem) the least amount of ammunition to oppose our message. And the way to do that, we thought, was to go with the most atrocious of all of the travesties. And don’t get me wrong, there are still more that are equally atrocious, but for the purposes of our video ... those were the ones that seemed most effective.” He goes on perfectly to explain the issue that white people face by saying “those who either don't know or want to pretend they don't know can act as if it doesn't exist when it really does. And the only people who ever really see it, feel it, or acknowledge it, are the ones who are affected by it. And that to me is what makes it much more difficult to combat because you can't fight what you can't see." It’s disturbing to see these scenes played out in the video, but when you step back and think about it, it’s even more uncomfortable that these scenes are reality. The video ends with a powerful visual of a white woman looking for a seat on a bus filled completely with black people. After no one allows her to sit next to them, she is forced to the back of the bus. As she takes a seat, a famous audio clip of activist Jane Elliot interrupts his song. “If you white folks want to be treated the way blacks are in this society – stand! Nobody is standing here. That says very plainly that you know what’s happening. You know you don’t want it for you. I want to know why you are so willing to accept it or to allow it to happen for others.” This message makes complete sense to me despite the fact that I’ve never thought about my life like that and this statement should never be a reality. 

Visuals are one of the most powerful ways to make a point if the visual can bring about an emotional response. While the world is very turbulent right now, music is an outlet to many to either express themselves or a way to escape. T.I takes a huge risk in Warzone with not only his lyrics, but also the visuals he shows. By using the visual effect of role reversal, T.I is able to the attract a discussion on the inequality and corruption among a flawed system rooted in our nation to someone who doesn’t experience it on a daily basis. 