— Richmond-based five-piece collective Butcher Brown share their new single, “BLACK MAN”, with an accompanying visual featuring fellow Richmond native Michael Millions.
Since Butcher Brown graced NPR’s Tiny Desk (At Home) series with a performance straight from a Richmond rooftop last year and collaborated with Alex Isley on a cover of Patrice Rushen’s “Remind Me“, the group hadn’t released any new music… until now. The group has finally ended their hiatus and have enlisted the help of Richmond rapper and songwriter Michael Millions for the song and music video.
The raucous music video for “BLACK MAN”, directed by award-winning producer, cinematographer and director Shirod Greene, finds the band back in school, rallying the rest of the class to join them for an impromptu show of the track, culminating in a show-stopping sax solo.
Describing how the song came together, Butcher Brown said,
“For ‘BLACK MAN’, Corey came in with the demo for the original blueprint. During that same time, different people in the band had begun to tap in with Michael Millions because he has many different skill sets that bring lots of value to lots of people, he is a legendary hip hop artist in RVA and he is one of the coolest people in the world. We teamed up to bring this sound to the ground level so that everyone has access to it.”
On the other hand, when speaking on his lyrical inspiration, Millions said,
“I was thinking about cycles when I wrote this. Life, death and all points in between. About how things change and how things seem to just stay the same. The only thing I want to stay the same is my family, so that’s what I wrote about. I recorded it straight through too, no cutting up the vocals because Butcher Brown cut they demos straight through, that was the only way to do it. This whole collaboration has been a gem and I’m excited to share this music”
For those looking to hear Butcher Brown perform live, the collective will be touring throughout the US this year, including a set at this year’s Blue Note Jazz Festival in Napa in July.
Watch the video for “BLACK MAN” and stream the single right here. Also be sure to follow Butcher Brown on their official Instagram and Twitter to see what’s next for them.