Dustin Brooks may have left his kick-ass beach boarding school behind, but he's still killing the game. Actor Paul Butcher, best known for playing Jamie Lynn Spears's younger brother on Zoey 101, has covered plenty of songs by Zayn, Shawn Mendes, and Justin Bieber, but now he's starting 2017 off with an original called "Blood."

The song urges everyone to join together as one instead of trying so hard to work against each other. Butcher recorded the track with Taylor Hill, his costar in the poignant, black-and-white music video, which is interspersed with protest footage.

"What pushed me to make this powerful song was my belief that it's an artist's duty to create art that reflects the times and can ultimately make a difference," Butcher told MTV News. The 23-year-old says he's working on "more pop/R&B mainstream" original music but will continue to cover songs like "Love Yourself" and "Little Things," videos of which have racked up thousands of views on YouTube.

"Each song I have done and am currently working on has a story or meaning behind them," he said. Watch the video for his latest one above.