Boombox Blitz: The Illustrious Blacks combat anger with joy in ‘Black Like Jesus’ video

Welcome to Boombox Blitz, an artist spotlight series showcasing overlooked singers, songwriters and musicians who are quietly taking over the world.

You know the name Philando Castile. He was murdered by a St. Anthony, Minnesota, police officer named Jeronimo Yanez nearly two years ago. The tragic, wholly-unnecessary and completely-avoidable slaying is a haunting reminder of our society’s time, marred by hate-spewing Nazis and white supremacists masquerading as protectors and enforcers of the law. Since that muggy July evening, countless more bodies of people of color have hit the streets in body bags. The epidemic rages on, and the leaders of the free world continue to do nothing.

But art remains the most crucial medium to communicate the pain and tragedy, evoking our darkest instincts and inciting change at the ground levels. Singers, musicians and proudly-married couple Monstah Black and Manchild Black, known creatively together as The Illustrious Blacks, wield their queer, black power with their song “Black Like Jesus,” a rock-drenched anthem branded with a joyous but no-fucks temperament. “‘Black Like Jesus’ is unapologetically black and is a celebration of joy. We need more art that shows our joy, not just our pain. We really wrote something on what it feels like to be queer and black in America,” the group says in a statement.

“Underneath the skin, there’s no difference,” they remind us on the second verse, a stern but comforting message broken together with the production’s earthy shivers. “Strangled by fear, revelation’s near / Ocean to ocean, ship a notion,” they sing. The song, a superb cut from their 2017 EP, Neo Afro Futuristic Psychedelic Surrealistic Hippy, is a bedeviling blend of dance, pop and hardcore rock, owed to the Blacks’ spellbinding synergy.

The accompanying music video, which opens with Castile’s mother’s penetrating cry (“My son loved this city and this city killed my son,” she weeps), taps into the pair’s high-octane show ⎯⎯ embracing marginalized individuals and creating a safe-space of love and support. “I had these celebrities that I looked up to, but no black queer people in the immediate area,” Monstah explains of their mission to be unwavering pillars of the community. “So, to become a representation for other youthful black queer kids has always been a goal of ours.”

“Words they say we need to communicate / Take a moment to swallow some of these: colonial, victorian, superior, entitled, African, Cuban, Indigenous,” they rally, mixing such a paramount message with feelings of unbridled freedom, sexual escape and being comfortable in your skin, owning what it means to be POC and LGBTQIA+. Later, they howl into the whirlwind: “You may have some friends like me, gentrified and educated / Giving you sweet and sticky like cotton candy…”

The song’s evocative nature aside, the visual is just so much damn fun. Live free, be you.

Watch below:

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