rapper hassan wants to know ‘can i be black?’

West Coast MC Hassan Hamilton has been wooing crowds with his distinct flavor of humor-infused, punchline-packed rhymes since the tender age of 13. The rapper distinguishes himself from the pack through his willingness to verbally go where no MC has gone before, illustrated by his latest single “Can I Be Black.” The looping old-school hip-hop beat plays second-fiddle to Hassan’s socially commentary rap that poses questions like “Can I be Black and throw a barbecue in the park, go for a swim and maybe sell some water when it gets hot?”

Hassan weaves through the Black experience in America in each verse, filling each bar with realities relating to colorism, police brutality, anti-black media coverage and the harmful stereotypes that feed into systemic oppression. “Too independent to be liberal, to dark to be conservative” is the perspective that Hassan raps from, offering his views on the importance of who sits in the White House as well as Black-on-Black violence.

The song is 3 minutes and 21 seconds of hand-waving, finger-snapping truth, leaving us with one burning question:

Can we be Black?

Can I be Black? by Hassan