Rapsody Tackles Police Brutality & Social Injustice In '12 Problems' Visual

Rapsody's got "got 99 problems and 12 [is] still the biggest."

On Friday (October 30), the conscious lyricist dropped the music video for her single “12 Problems," which details the history of violence and injustice against Black Americans. The track — released in September — is a reimagining of her Roc Nation boss Jay-Z's “99 Problems" as it features the chorus, "I got 99 problems and 12 still the biggest."

The visual for the politically-charged track begins with a young Black ballerina dancing in front of Atlanta-based photographer Yvette Glasco's “Don’t Let Go" artwork as Ambré and Buddy’s “Revolution" plays in the background. From there, the music video — directed by up-and-coming talent Patrick Lincoln — transitions to a shot of Rapsody standing in a gun range as she spits, "Speak mine, what you thought dem 99 problems was?/ War on drugs, legality/ They got us on fallacies/ Resorted in casualties/ I was supposed to resort in the Maldives/ Now, we in the rallies, now/ Boxin' in IG now, boxin' like Ali/ In the memory pourin' Hennessy and Bumbu shot reachin' for the ID/ Get off my neck, ni**a, 'less you a Cuban link."

Throughout the video, Rapsody is shown in various scenarios, including being dragged by a police officer while wearing a “Vote” hoodie, driving a patrol car, and being surrounded by police officers with guns aimed at her head.

In an interview with Billboard, the "Power" rapper spoke about how the events of this year — America's reckoning with racial injustice following the killings of unarmed Black people by police — have not only inspired her music but have made her look inward and outward as a Black American.

“This year, I think we all have been enlightened, and we've been educated even more on the process and politics and how we fit in it,” she said when asked about the upcoming November 3 election. “And when we talk about our communities, the Black and Brown community, the poor community, that was the birthplace of where hip-hop originated, where we had to make something out of nothing. And out of that came hip-hop.”

Photo: Getty Images