stl gld remembers victims of police brutality in new music video for “hold on”

By Arielle Gray*, AFROPUNK Contributor

Boston based Hip Hop group STL GLD is breathing new life into the genre, though they’re not new to the game. Comprised of rapper/ vocalist Moe Pope and producer The Arcitype, STL GLD most recently took home a Boston Music Award for Best Album of the Year for their sophomore album Torch Song.

STL GLD has been vocal about their stance on police brutality, both in their music and in the press, and you can see this all over their newest music video for “Hold On”. Rendered in complete grayscale, the video gives us a bleak yet evocative look into the stories of police brutality victims, stories we know all too well. Directed by Christian Hardy, the video features Moe Pope as the lead and the STL GLD camp as other characters. The video is arranged into 3 different parts, each representing a different brutality case.

The last scene takes us back to the moment of Philando Castille’s 2016 murder, a moment of collective pain that still resonates heavily in our community. But the video neither sensationalizes nor is gratuitous in it’s rendition of the victims’ deaths. Instead, it serves as a reminder that Castille & Grant and all of the other countless victims of police brutality still have not received justice because our system continues to operate in the name of white supremacy.

“Hold On” isn’t just about remembering the victims of police brutality- it’s a call to action and to resistance. Watch the visuals below and check out the rest of STL GLD’s Torch Song here.