Rapper Black Though, who is best known for his role in The Roots, has released a new single called “American Heartbreak,” featuring R&B performer Ledisi. This song will be featured on the soundtrack for the HBO series Between the World and Me, which is an adaption of Ta-Nehisi Coates’ best-selling book.

“American Heartbreak” features Black Thought’s trademark introspection as he points out racial injustices that go on today and critiquing the system of capitalism that keeps people limited in their freedoms. Lyrics such as “With the fact that black bodies are worth more if they’re deceased/ I’m trapped in a nine-by-twelve, awaitin’ our release,” provoke visceral energy as Ledisi brings her fantastic vocal talent to the song.

Black Thought recently released a new EP called Streams of Thought, Vol, 3: Cane and Abel, which held guest appearances from Pusha T, Killer Mike, Swizz Beatz, Portugal. The Man and The Last Artful, Dodgr. This EP announcement was preceded by Black Thought’s NPR Tiny Desk concert, which featured performances of three singles from the project “Thought Vs. Everybody,” “Yellow” and “Nature of The Beast.”

“Thought vs. Everybody” was the first single released by Black Thought and showed off his signature wordplay against a strong flow and beat. He also shared the track “Good Morning” featuring Killer Mike, Pusha T and Swizz Beatz back in August. Black Thought was more recently featured on “Say Peace,” a song from Common’s latest studio album A Beautiful Revolution Pt. 1, which came out back in October.

Photo Credit: Raymond Flotat