COPS SHOT THE KID

2018 was an incredibly prolific year for Kanye West, as he produced five albums over one wild summer: Pusha T’s Daytona, Nas’s Nasir, Kids See Ghosts (a collaboration with Kid Cudi), Teyana Taylor’s K.T.S.E., and his own solo album Ye.

There are countless highlights across those records, but one track I return to often is “Cops Shot the Kid” from Nas’s 12th studio album, Nasir. The track depicts a young man being shot by police observed by two weary hip hop veterans — Nas and Ye — illustrating the scene with their rhymes informed by the weight of their experience and authority.

Given that Kanye was deep into his MAGA “red cap” era at the time, his verse carries a trace of conflicted reflection — mostly lamenting the human cost of inner-city violence, but also subtly echoing rationalisations often voiced by law enforcement. It offers a small counterpoint to the prevailing anti-police sentiment in hip-hop.

Listening to the song now, in a post–George Floyd world, the track hits even harder. In hindsight, it feels almost prophetic — anticipating the chaos and unrest that would erupt during the COVID summer of 2020, when mass protests and riots left parts of several American cities in ruins.

NAS :

I don't wanna hurt nobody

We just came here to party

See a few dames, exchange some names

I'm a top shotta, kid, stay in your lane

The cop shot the kid, same old scene

Pour out a little liquor, champagne for pain

Slap-boxin' in the street

Crack the hydrant in the heat

Cop cars on the creep

Doin' they round-ups, we just watch for the sweep

Yeah, it's hotter than July

It's the summer when niggas die

It's the summer when niggas ride

Together we be strong, but forever we divide

So y'all are blowin' my high

Type of shit that's killin' my vibe

White kids are brought in alive

Black kids get hit with like five

Get scared, you panic, you're goin' down

The disadvantages of the brown

How in the hell the parents gon' bury their own kids

Not the other way around?

Reminds me of Emmett Till

Let's remind 'em why Kap kneels

KANYE :

Stay tuned up and down your timeline

This fake news, people is all lyin'

Money is bein' made when a mom cries

Won't be satisfied 'til we all die

Tell me, who do we call to report crime

If 9-1-1 doin' a driveby?

It's certain things I can't abide by

I ain't bein' extreme, this is my side

Talkin' big shit, ready to die

I know every story got two sides

Claimin' he paranoid by the black guy

Cop wanna make it home by night time

Just a good kid, he wasn't that guy

Had a little hit, he wasn't that high

Cop gon' claim that it was self-defense

Say he was ridin' dirty so the case rests