Apple Music celebrates this year’s Juneteenth holiday as well as the 50th anniversary of Hip Hop culture with a new collection of tunes. The streamer tapped acts like Lola Brooke, Blxst, Symba, and Baby Tate to remake memorable rap songs for the Juneteenth 2023: Freedom Songs playlist.
New York City-based newcomer Lola Brooke took on 50 Cent’s “Your Life’s on the Line” from the unreleased Power of the Dollar album. Brooke broke onto the music scene in 2021 with her “Don’t Play with It” single.
“The first time that I fell in love with Hip Hop was when 50 Cent dropped the video for ‘Wanksta,’” said Lola Brooke. “I chose [‘Life’s on the Line’] because that’s my favorite artist, and I created my own style with it, by just being me.”
Los Angeles rapper/singer Blxst also covered a song by 50 Cent for Apple Music. The Before You Go album creator tackled the NYC native’s Billboard Hot 100 chart-topping, R&B-influenced “21 Questions” which featured the late Nate Dogg.
“I chose to cover 50 Cent and Nate Dogg’s ‘21 Questions’ simply because it’s a childhood favorite of mine,” explained Blxst. “That song is a classic, and I can relate to the theme of the song, which is speaking about a loyalty that lasts no matter the position I’m in in life.”
Fellow West Coaster Symba chose to rework a song by the legendary Tupac Shakur. The “Never Change” emcee recorded his own version of 2Pac’s “Keep Ya Head Up” for Apple Music’s Juneteenth 2023: Freedom Songs.
“I chose this song because I feel like we’re in a time now where life was when 2Pac made this song,” stated Symba. “A lot of people lost their families, a lot of people are losing their jobs and getting laid off, so I just wanted to make something for today’s era to remember that song in times of what we’re going through today. No matter what you’re going through out there, keep ya head up.”
Juneteenth 2023: Freedom Songs also includes covers by 2Rare, 6LACK, Denzel Curry, Bun B, Lupe Fiasco, D Smoke, Saba, Hit-Boy, Black Thought, and more. In addition, Atlanta’s Baby Tate recreated a song by one of her hometown’s biggest stars – Ludacris.
“To celebrate 50 years of Hip Hop, I decided to cover one of the Atlanta greats, the one and only, DTP’s finest, Ludacris,” said Baby Tate. “I decided to cover ‘Rollout’ because I’m from Atlanta as well, and I just wanted to show love, give flowers, and give respect to one of my OGs in the game.”
The “Hey, Mickey!” rhymer continued, “I hope that I did it justice. I added my own little spin, we switched up the beat and I added some harmonies here and there because you know the girl still sings at the end of the day.”