Listen to Mike Posner's "The Voice of The Unheard"

Mike Posner paired "The Voice of the Unheard" with an essay on his childhood and racial tensions at large.

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Complex Original

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Mike Posner just released the MLK-referencing "The Voice of the Unheard," a timely tribute track the Finally Famous alum paired with a personal essay entitled "What I've Learned About Being Black in America." The track takes a simple and direct approach at tackling the harsh reality at the center of recent turmoil in Baltimore, Ferguson, and elsewhere in the U.S. Fittingly, Posner is upfront about his own advantages — filtering his own experiences in Detroit through the realization that he still has "no idea what it's like to be black in America."

From Posner's essay:


Since the age of eight, most of my best friends have been black males. Making hip-hop music often landed me in Detroit ghettos because that’s where the other rappers lived. I was usually the only white person rapping in these cyphers. After [I] graduated from high school, I interned at a hip-hop radio station in Detroit where I was the only white intern. It was there I met Big Sean and became a part of his crew, Finally Famous, in which I am the only white member. Basically, what I’m saying is I’ve had extremely close friendships with many black males most of my life. From all of these friendships, this is what I’ve learned:


I have no idea what it’s like to be black in America.

Posner also detailed the inspiration behind "The Voice of the Unheard," referencing the well-known Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 1968 speech in Michigan wherein Dr. King defines the act of rioting as "the language of the unheard."

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