The Prince of Baltimore

“With everything going on there this week, I had a lot I needed to get out.” Prince recorded the song “Baltimore" in response to the April 2015 murder of Baltimore’s Freddie Gray. Gray “fell into a coma” while in custody in a police van, dying a week later of a “severe spinal cord injury.” The six officers involved were suspended WITH pay. Eventually, the officers were found not guilty or had the charges dropped. Gray had been arrested on April 12 and charged with “illegal possession of a switchblade.” Video recordings by two bystanders captured Gray's arrest, showing Gray screaming and being dragged to a police van by officers. The medical examiner concluded that Gray’s death was a homicide. The officers failed to follow safety procedures “through acts of omission.” A witness recounted that the officers were “FOLDING" Gray - one officer bent Gray’s legs backward, and another held him down by PRESSING A KNEE INTO HIS NECK. Gray’s arrest and subsequent death sparked widespread protests in the city and around the country. In 2017, the Justice Department announced that the six arresting officers would face no federal charges in the 25-year-old’s death. On April 30, 2015, Prince recorded “Baltimore" at his Paisley Park Studios just outside of Minneapolis. A “bouncy track” that belies its dark subject matter: “Does anybody hear us pray?/For Michael Brown or Freddie Gray/Peace is more than the absence of war.” The song appears on Prince’s final album, 2015’s Hit n Run Phase Two. In honor of what would have been Prince’s 62nd birthday yesterday, the Prince estate released a new lyric video for the song.

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