With his powerful Black Lives Matter performance at the Rated Awards, Kano completely moved viewers.
During the virtual awards ceremony, which was streamed via YouTube on Wednesday, September 9th, Kano performed his single Teardrops which earned the biggest applause as a result of his depiction of the black experience and police brutality in the UK.
The performance which was about seven minutes long began with Kano driving in his car at night as the sample of Sizzla’s Dry Cry opened the track. After a short while, he was pulled over by the police. A police officer approaches the car and says: “We’ve got a few questions in regards to this vehicle, is this your car sir?”
Kano hands over his driver’s license as the officer explains the reason for the stop. The rapper silently absorbs the information as another officer is seen circling the car and peering inside. He then resumes the track prompting the officer to become irate before he smashes the car window in.
The officers drag Kano out of the vehicle. With the camera focused inside the car, Kano can be heard being beaten up by the officers off-screen.
A message then appears on the screen informing, “Since 1990 over 100 black people in the UK have died during or following police contact. 0 police officers have been prosecuted for manslaughter or murder despite several rulings of unlawful killing.”
Images of all the black people who have tragically died following instances of police brutality in the UK appeared on-screen.
