Apart from the recent assassination that has sparked a divide all over the US, the murder of Iryna Zarutska, a Ukrainian immigrant in North Carolina, has also caused political unrest. Hence, musicians, such as North Carolina rapper DaBaby, have also spoken up on the matter, but his statement is more creative as he released a music video and song that re-enacted Iryna’s murder. Despite the song’s message, however, DaBaby’s music video has sparked outrage.
DaBaby’s new song, titled “Save Me,” uploaded to YouTube on September 17, is accompanied by a music video depicting a dramatic alternate reality re-enactment of Zarutska’s stabbing. In it, DaBaby is on the train where Zarutska was stabbed and shows his self-insert character stopping Decarlos Brown Jr., the Black man who stabbed her in the neck. DaBaby then ends the video with him taking the criminal to the police and saving Iryna Zarutska.
Some of the lyrics in “Save Me” also allude to how Iryna’s murder or everyone’s safety should be everyone’s responsibility regardless of skin color, though its meaning can be easy to misinterpret without the music video, “Man, we can’t save ’em, You know what I’m sayin’? I might be one of them.”
The rapper himself has admitted that his new song and music video are a dedication to Zarutska, whose brutal murder led to many politicians questioning the judicial system of North Carolina, specifically the city of Charlotte. The murder was so graphic and randomly violent that it even caught the attention of US President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, who even pledged $1 million to fund Iryna’s nationwide murals in her honor.
People online were torn on DaBaby’s portrayal
While DaBaby’s message is overall positive, and many people on his YouTube channel even praised it for having a different message and story compared to most rap music these days, others have called it out for sending a message that they considered offensive. Some have called the video tone deaf and interpreted DaBaby’s self-insert as bad taste or insensitive.
“🥷🏽 you don’t recreate somones death in a rap video,” according to a popular TikTok backlash discussion
“tribute doesn’t involve him roleplaying as the hero and saving the woman from getting stabbed 💀no way in hell yall tryna justify that dumb a** shit”
“She JUST passed… ts insensitive”
“One of the craziest video concept I’ve seen in a while”
The viewers who then liked DaBaby’s music video also defended the rapper for speaking out about the issue and even creating a tribute to the late Zarutska. DaBaby also posted Zarutska’s GoFundMe page on his new music video, and the fundraiser has earned more than $445,000 of its $470,000 goal, something DaBaby’s fans commended him for, especially since he has a huge following.
“a lot of people are hating on him for making this, but im glad a celebrity finally brought some attention to what happened,” according to a YouTube comment
“Glad to see someone with a big platform speaking about this RIP Iryna”
“Wow, DaBaby just gained some seriously massive respect in my book. Thank you for having the courage to bring attention to this tragedy. Using your voice for good like this is truly admirable”
