Actor and singer Tyrese Gibson is back with his first new music in five years. Featuring cameo appearances from his daughters, 13-year-old Shayla and 1-year-old Soraya Gibson, Tyrese recently dropped a hard-hitting music video for his powerful new song “Legendary” featuring CeeLo Green.
Directed by Deon Taylor, “Legendary” holds nothing back as it shows Tyrese Gibson and CeeLo Green delivering emotionally-charged verses over stirring visuals of police brutality and racial violence. The video begins with a depiction of a dead Black child in a hoodie with Skittles scattered around him to represent Trayvon Martin (who was murdered in 2012 by a White vigilante) and a slain Black man with cigarettes scattered around him to represent Eric Garner, who was murdered by police in 2014.
It then shows Tyrese with on the ground with a White officer kneeling on his neck while a crowd watches in horror, which represents the murder of George Floyd on May 25, who was killed by police when a White officer knelt on his neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds, which is how long the video is.
The video contains footage from the Black Lives Matter protests that spread across the nation as a result of George Floyd’s death. It also shows CeeLo Green and Tyrese with his daughters sitting in rattan peacock thrones wearing all-black outfits to invoke imagery of the late Huey Newton, the founder of the Black Panther Party. The video also shows a depiction of Breonna Taylor’s murder, who was killed on March 13 by police when they broke into her apartment and shot her to death while she was sleeping. Above the depiction, a sign reads: “I’M BREONNA TAYLOR, I WAS KILLED IN MY APARTMENT BY OFFICERS. MY MURDER IS STILL UNSOLVED. SAY MY NAME.”
The “Legendary” video powerfully captures the urgent need to address and take action against the continued onslaught of police brutality and racial violence against Black Americans. The video closes with an alternate ending to the tragic narrative that happens far too often, where a crowd member rushes in and saves Tyrese (representing George Floyd) from the officers killing him.
