Need Freedom

Album: Empire Season 3 (2016)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This soulful social commentary track features in the opening episode of Empire season 3, "Light in Darkness." The song was written by Empire's supervising music producer, Rodney Jerkins and performed by Jussie Smollett (Jamal Lyons).
  • The track was born out of a song written for rapper character Freda Gatz. "It started as 'Free Freda,'" Jerkins told Billboard magazine, "as she's locked up in jail. But once I sat down with Jussie, we started talking about everything going on in the country."

    "I recorded this exactly seven days after Philando Castile was shot," Smollett added. "Between the shootings of Castile, Alton Sterling, at the Pulse in Orlando and the police officers in Dallas - not to mention the other numerous killings over the last couple of years - it was like we couldn't breathe."

    "What are we doing as a people, a nation; what message are we sending to the next generation? Then this song came," he concluded.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Randy Houser

Randy HouserSongwriter Interviews

The "How Country Feels" singer talks Skynyrd and songwriting.

Gilby Clarke

Gilby ClarkeSongwriter Interviews

The Guns N' Roses rhythm guitarist in the early '90s, Gilby talks about the band's implosion and the side projects it spawned.

Subversive Songs Used To Sell

Subversive Songs Used To SellSong Writing

Songs about drugs, revolution and greed that have been used in commercials for sneakers, jeans, fast food, cruises and cars.

Tom Bailey of Thompson Twins

Tom Bailey of Thompson TwinsSongwriter Interviews

Tom stopped performing Thompson Twins songs in 1987, in part because of their personal nature: "Hold Me Now" came after an argument with his bandmate/girlfriend Alannah Currie.

Krishna Das

Krishna DasSongwriter Interviews

The top chant artist in the Western world, Krishna Das talks about how these Hindu mantras compare to Christian worship songs.

What Musicians Are Related to Other Musicians?

What Musicians Are Related to Other Musicians?Song Writing

A big list of musical marriages and family relations ranging from the simple to the truly dysfunctional.