ESPN's The Undefeated and Hollywood Records keep blessing us with their Music For The Movement series. The music on each collection explores themes of Black beauty, self-love, Afrofuturism and empowerment in song. Previous volumes, I Can't Breathe and Black History Always, included Alex Isley’s reimagining of “People Get Ready” and Tinashe’s take on “I’m Every Woman.” Now they’re getting ready to release the third edition of the four-part series, entitled Liberated / Music For The Movement Vol. 3, just in time for Juneteenth. To kick off the celebration, they’ve released the lead single "Running Blind" by Lucky Daye.
As soon as producer D’Mile’s bassline hits, “Running Blind” transports you back to the 1970s and the era of conscious soul music. Over the percolating, drum heavy beat, Lucky Daye gives us his best Curtis Mayfield impression as he tries to make sense of a world gone mad by finding direction. Much of the lyrics sound like they could have been written in the '70s, showing how we as Black people are still experiencing the same struggles. Daye does modernize things a bit, however, singing about our current distractions. “Strip a nigga of his timeline / But as long as we got stripper pictures in our timeline / All nines, all right,” he reflects on social media.
Liberated / Music For The Movement Vol. 3 will be released on Friday, June 18th, in celebration of Juneteenth, which follows on Saturday, June 19th. In addition to Lucky Daye, the project will also feature new music from Cordae and Common, actress Yara Shahidi of black-ish and grown-ish fame, Chlöe Bailey of Chloe x Halle and Kamasi Washington. You can check out the full tracklist below after you listen to Lucky's "Running Blind."
Various Artists Liberated / Music For The Movement Vol. 3 tracklist:
1. “What’s Life” by Cordae featuring Common
2. “Running Blind” by Lucky Daye
3. “To Be A Black Girl” by Yara Shahidi
4. “Feeling Good” by Chloe Bailey
5. “Sun Kissed Child” by Kamasi Washington
