Kendrick Lamar isn’t just the Pulitzer Prize-winning artist behind Damn. He’s now also the inspiration behind a cringy police recruitment video. Last week, Fort Worth PD released a rap video set to the tune of Kendrick’s “Not Like Us.” The point of the video? To praise Fort Worth PD’s recruitment efforts and to shade Dallas PD for putting a recruitment billboard up in Fort Worth. Even if the music were good, spinning Kendrick’s music into some pro-cop anthem on the heels of his Super Bowl performance and Trump criticisms feels socially tone-deaf on several different levels.
Kendrick and Fort Worth PD Don’t Mix Well
The Fort Worth P.D. remix, if you can call it that, is a direct response to recruiting efforts by Dallas PD. One officer raps about the recruiting rivalry, saying, “Numbers don’t lie, why you throwing up a board? / Last time I checked we took 14 of yours.” The shootings of innocent Black people, qualified immunity, unlawful detention, and racial profiling are a few factors contributing to negative views of law enforcement. Some find the Fort Worth rap video so funny because it’s a glimpse of cops outside their natural habitat. It’s like they’re taking a break from violent oppression to goof off.
A Reddit post on the subject by u/98Saman garnered over 3k likes and numerous comments expressing everything from amusement to horror. One commenter was quick to point out a glaring issue with the video, saying, “So fun watching an organization that disproportionately targets black people co-opt their art for propaganda.” Another commenter made it clear just how effective a recruitment tool rapping police are, saying,
If I was on the fence about joining the police this would push me into a life of crime [sic]
Under Trump, more and more Americans are realizing the role of law enforcement as a weapon of state violence. In the last week alone, ICE abducted an American citizen, while police protected Teslas over people, arrested Starbucks strikers, and detained Jewish protestors at Trump Tower. N.W.A. has a song that helpfully describes the police’s role, but Fort Worth P.D. probably doesn’t want to rap over that.
