From past news, headlines have addressed the black boy dressed in a hoodie that says “coolest monkey in the jungle” from H&M advertisement. Mike Rebel felt some type of way about this, and with the help of T-Pain, both artists go into depth on this issue on a single called “Paint Me In God” and the lyrics are uplifting.
The beginning of the track has the beautiful sound of the piano, and although the beat has a slower tempo, the importance lies in the emotions that pour with every word. There is a moment in the hit where Mike Rebel’s as well as T-Pain’s vocals infuse, signifying the message of standing together.
Whether or not H&M intended to cause such negative reactions, the reality is that they did. Mike Rebel felt as though we were moving backwards in regards to racism; the lyrics say, “you should see the colors that they paint me, they ain’t really wanna end slavery”. But at the end of it all, there is a light at the end of the tunnel…”paint me in gold or paint me in God”.
Listen to “Paint Me In God” below!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MB7mNnfuTms