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Nas Protests Police Brutality With Chilling 'Cops Shot The Kid' Video With Kanye

A harrowing tale of injustice

More than six months after the release of his 11th album, Nasir, Nas has debuted the chilling video for standout track "Cops Shot the Kid."

As the song's title suggests, the accompanying video, directed by Rohan Blair-Mangat, strings together scenes depicting graphic police brutality. In one, a young black teen gets handcuffed and harassed by a pair of police officers; in another, a different young man gets shot as he flees from cops with his hands raised. Those harrowing scenes play out as Nas raps on a dark road, raising his fist in protest and railing against injustice: "White kids are brought in alive / Black kids get hit with like five / Get scared, you panic, you're goin' down / The disadvantages of the brown."

Although featured artist Kanye West doesn't make an appearance, the vid does include a cameo from Slick Rick, whose song "Children's Story" proves the main sample for the track. Check out the full video below.

Nas recently unveiled a 16-minute short film called Nasir — The Film, which features snippets of last summer's entire Kanye-produced album. Meanwhile, the Queens rapper has a big year ahead. In addition to reportedly working on new music, Nas will headline this year's Governor's Ball Music Festival, coming to New York in June.

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