New York, NY (Top40 Charts) R&B superstar Beyoncé has delighted fans by releasing a surprise new song amid Juneteenth protests: Beyoncé marked Juneteenth's holiday by surprise dropping a new track "Black Parade," and it comes with a powerful message and purpose.
"
Black Parade" was co-written by Bey and JAY-Z. The song's message is to empower black people, Beyoncé boastfully sings about her African heritage, ancestral wealth, complexion, and demands reparations.
"I'm going back to the South, I'm going back where my roots ain't watered down,"
Beyonce sings, opening the track.
At several points on Friday's release, the singer tells listeners to "Follow my parade."
Proceeds from the song will benefit Black-owned small businesses, a message entitled "Black
Parade Route" on the singer's website said. The post included links to dozens of Black-owned businesses.
On her website,
Beyonce added: "Being
Black is your activism.
Black excellence is a form of protest.
Black joy is your right."
Shortly afterwards the singer, from Houston, Texas, released the song.
In the near five-minute track,
Beyonce sings of black pride and calls for reparations for slavery.
She sings: "I can't forget my history is her-story, yeah. We black, baby, that's the reason why they always mad."
Other lyrics include the phrase: "Need peace and reparations for my people."
Black Parade is Beyoncé's first new solo music since she contributed to The Lion King companion album last year.
In April she teamed up with rapper
Megan Thee Stallion for a remix of the latter's viral hit Savage.
June 19, or Juneteenth, is the holiday commemorating the effective end of slavery in the United States. The date has taken on a deeper meaning in 2020 in the midst of calls for racial justice and recognition that
Black Lives Matter.