Enough is “Enough”

TV writer and music writer/producer Jeff Mustard was, like most people, incensed by the George Floyd murder. Instead of merely stewing and watching endless reruns of police officer Derek Chauvin pressing his knee on Mr. Floyd’s neck until he finally stopped screaming “I can’t breathe,” followed by mass protests throughout the country that dominated the news for many months, Mustard was inspired to write a song about what happened to Mr. Floyd and how the nation reacted. The lyrics and hip-hop/rap delivery of the Song were significantly inspired by Lin Manuel Miranda’s “Hamilton.”

Mustard titled the two-part song/mini-LP “Enough.” Says Mustard, “this was a fitting title given that it captures the sentiment of the country’s outrage over the needless killing of black men and women in the country.” Says Mustard, “Each part stands on its own, and each was produced as a stand-alone song and a music video, respectively. “But taken together,” adds Mustard, “the two-parts together reflect 400 years of history of the African American experience and what is happening in the country today.” Mustard incorporated critical phrases in the lyrics that are representative of the slogans seen and heard during the protests and rallies: “I can’t breathe,” “No justice no peace,” “Black Lives Matter,” as well as keyword references around which both verses and choruses were built – such as “chokeholds no more,” “Like Colin take a knee,” and even the “time” of 8:46, which is how long officer Chauvin had his knee on Mr. Floyd’s neck. Ideally, Mustard would like to see this song played when the George Floyd 25′ foot Face Hologram is shown. “The lyrics and message of the vid

Part 1 – “How We Got Here” 

The song title “How We Got Here” is a wordplay/double entendre. At about 300 words, comprising  15 verses and one chorus, the Song is produced to a fast tempo at 125 BPM. Part 1 is a condensed  history lesson of African American enslavement, going back 400 years to England when African  Americans were forced to come to the newly forming nation (the United States) and work as slave  labor on plantations.

Part II – “Arrest, Death, Revolution”

The approx 450 words of this movement, “Arrest, Death, Revolution,” bring us to “this moment” in  time, triggered by Mr. Floyd’s tragedy. Produced at 80 BPM, this track maintains a steady, slower,  but no less classic hip-hop rap beat style and delivery, allowing the listener to absorb the lyrics and  powerful message of the Song. Part II is 4:00 and comprises 16 verses and six choruses. Mostly, the  “song” continues the “systemic racism” message and theme. It accentuates the here and now in the  face of the George Floyd murder, invoking the ever-present racism message that continues to lurk  beneath the veneer of our society. It also reinforces the historical, social injustice, and inequality  themes reflected in Movement I.

The vocal artist for the Song is Ethan Dangerwing, a rapper known as the Vulture, a prominent  South Florida visual artist (photographer), and music performer. The music video was shot and  produced on a 16-acre farm in West Lantana, Florida. The farm, Sons and Daughters Farm and  Winery, remarkably, and through cosmic divinity, is owned by the Jones Family. In 2015, 31-year-old  African American artist, Corey Jones, a drummer, and all-around good-guy, well-respected and well loved in Delray Beach, Florida, where he worked and lived was shot and killed. Corey Jones was  murdered in West Palm Beach, Florida, by Nouman K. Raja, a policeman, who shot Jones in the  back multiple times while Jones waited on the side of a highway ramp in the early morning of  October 18th, 2015, for a tow truck to help him with a disabled vehicle. Raja was sentenced to 25  years in prison. The murder garnered national attention at the time, including representation by  prominent Civil Rights Attorney, Benjamin Crump.

About Jeff Mustard 

Jeff Mustard is a multiple-award-winning writer and producer whose material has been produced for  print, radio, and television. Since 2015 he has focused on writing exclusively for TV, Features, and  Music. The George Floyd Murder inspired his creation of Equal Justice Studios, a media company  focusing on producing projects amplifying social justice projects. Mustard will be releasing an shortly,  “American Carnage” a four song compilation that features the degrading life, society and culture of  America, and American’s under the Trump Administration. 

Other songs written and soon to be produced under the media banner and album include  “Insurrection,” a Lady Gaga, Alicia Keys-style piano solo, a love song ballad to the Country under the  Trump administration featuring references to the riots of January 6th, and other cultural atrocities  and missteps coming out of the White House. “Confederate Free” a profoundly supportive song  dedicated to the Anti-Confederate Statue Movement sweeping the Country. The track “Survived 45”  is a single featuring the missteps of the Trump administration and havoc of the Covid Crisis, and  “Corona Criminal,” a gutsy, bluesy Mississippi Delta style song that grits and growls its way through  the challenges facing marginalized communities during the Corona Virus Pandemic.