Musicians Protesting George Floyd's Death

While many artists have shared their outrage over George Floyd’s death on social media by demanding justice against the police officers responsible, urging an end to racism, making donations and more, some are leaving their homes to speak out in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

As protests spread across the country from Seattle to Los Angeles to Minneapolis to New York City to Atlanta and beyond, musicians are joining those who are gathering to call for an end to systemic racism and police brutality. Nick Cannon is one of them.

The actor and musician wore a black hoodie featuring Floyd’s final words, “Please I Can’t Breathe,” written across the front as he marched with Minneapolis protesters on May 29.

In subsequent Instagram posts featuring black-and-white photos of himself with protesters, the entertainer noted, “We All Tired of it…,” “THEY GON HEAR US LOUD AND CLEAR!!!” among other messages.

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“Til Earth and Heaven Rings”

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Machine Gun Kelly was another who participated in protests. The rapper posted video to his Instagram stories showing himself in a black mask at a May 30 rally and holding a sign that read “Silence Is Betrayal.” He added in text over the video, “Everyone stands together.”

He later shared a series of black-and-white photos on Instagram, including of himself on holding up the same sign above his head, and captioned the images “justice soon…”

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justice soon…❤️✊✊✊

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See which other artists have joined the nationwide protests, and hear their messages:

Lil Yachty

The rapper spoke to fellow protesters about how he’s feeling: “I feel like we gotta stand for something or we’ll fall for anything, you know what I’m saying?”

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I am no different from the next man. Every voice matters and must be heard.

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Halsey

The singer shared her experience protesting in L.A. Saturday (May 30) via her Instagram stories. In a series of black-and-white photos, she said that protesters were peaceful, their arms raised, when police fired rubber bullets into the crowd, hitting her twice.

On Sunday, she posted an update from a Santa Monica protest.

“I dont know how to articulate the horrors of today,” she tweeted. “NG + officers firing rounds into kneeling crowds. We dont have enough medics on the ground on our side. I was treating injuries I am not qualified to. So much blood spilled. If you have med training pls go + standby outskirts.”

She continued: “And if you’re a white ally who is gonna stand and shout and antagonize the officers and NG and then hide behind black bodies when the shots start firing, f— you. You couldnt understand a shred of the bravery of the black folks at the front line. Thank you to everyone who stayed.”

“And a big personal thank you to @yungblud who literally ran exposed in front of rounds being shot to drag wounded people to safety without even thinking twice,” she said.

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It’s become very clear to me that some of you need to see what I’ve seen. Please swipe through this. These pictures and videos don’t even scratch the surface. It’s easy from the comfort of your home to watch looting and rioting on television and condone the violent measures being taken by forces. But what you don’t see is innocent peaceful protestors being shot at and tear gassed and physically assaulted relentlessly. You think it’s not happening, it’s only the “thugs” and the “riots”, right? The police are keeping you safe right? You’re wrong. This is happening everywhere. And innocent people exercising their rights to speech and assembly are facing violence and abuse of power. With all of our medical professionals being CONSUMED and EXHAUSTED with Covid, there is little to no medical attention available. I have first hand treated men women and children who have been shot in the chest, the face, the back. Some will lose vision some have lost fingers. I have been covered in innocent blood. My father is a black man. My mother is an EMT. This week I had to put those two associations together in ways that have horrified me. This is NOT a virtue signaling post. But I HAVE to show you what I am witnessing with my own eyes. With Trump’s decision today to enforce the mobilization of armed forces on our own citizens, this has escalated beyond your privilege and comfort to not care. Please care. We are begging you to care. This is war on Americans. This is everyone’s problem. Everyone’s. #BLACKLIVESMATTER

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J. Cole

The Fayetteville native joined his fellow citizens to protest in North Carolina on May 30. The rapper hasn’t posted on social media, but was spotted by attendees as well as local news outlets, who reported his presence. Per WRAL, the musician declined to speak on camera.

Tinashe

The singer-songwroter took to the streets and freeways of L.A. to protest while holding a “Black Lives Matter” sign. In two mini-galleries on Instagram, she shared photos of herself and her fellow protesters marching, and captioned the first “Show up,” while urging followers to not live in fear in the second collection.

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Show up.

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She also added on Twitter later that the march she participated in was non-violent:

Chika

The rapper shared video of herself documenting a protest on Sunday, but added in her caption that she was detained for “failure to disperse.” In a second video, she said that the protest was peaceful until law enforcement allegedly “began beating” protesters.

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So I was dEtAiNeD for “failure to disperse”….. hmmm. What the fuck does this look like?

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Paris Jackson

Paris shared photos of herself at a protest on Instagram, noting that the one she participated in began peacefully, but that the calm did not last. “it broke my heart to see it all go up in flames” she captioned the mini-gallery. “violence is not the answer.”

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today started out so beautifully, seeing people come together with peace and harmony in their hearts. it broke my heart to see it all go up in flames. violence is not the answer. how do we expect to bring our world up to a happier and higher and healthier way of living if we’re stooping as low as those that committed the crimes we’re protesting ? peaceful protest only!!

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Yungblud

Also spotted at L.A.’s protests was the English artist, who told fans he’d be at West Hollywood’s Pan Pacific Park.

Ariana Grande

Grande took to the streets of Los Angeles over the weekend, joining the Black Lives Matter protest in the wake of George Floyd’s death.

Travis Barker

The Blink-182 drummer shared a black-and-white video of himself marching down Hollywood Boulevard with protesters while holding up a sign that read “No Justice No Peace.”

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NO JUSTICE NO PEACE

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