Lil Yachty, J. Cole, Halsey, Nick Cannon, More Artists Take to the Streets to Protest George Floyd’s Death 

By Jem Aswad

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – There’s been no shortage of musicians sounding off on social media, calling for an end to police violence and racism in the wake of George Floyd’s death at the hands of a Minneapolis law-enforcement officer, but as protests broke out in at least 17 cities across the United States, artists including Lil Yachty, J. Cole, Halsey, Nick Cannon and more took to the streets with protesters.

Yachty posted video of himself saying to fellow protesters, “I feel like we gotta stand for something or we’ll fall for anything, you know what I’m saying?” — but in his caption noted that “I am no different from the next man. Every voice matters and must be heard.”

Nick Cannon made the most of the photo op, posting a photo of himself in a crowd wearing a black hoodie bearing Floyd’s last words, “Please I Can’t Breathe.” “THEY GON HEAR US LOUD AND CLEAR!!!” he wrote. On Sunday morning, he posted a long message and spoken-word video that incorporated the protests, slavery and the coronavirus pandemic.

Halsey said she had been hit by rubber bullets fired by police during a protest in Los Angeles on Saturday, via a series of photos on her Instagram story.

North Carolina rapper J. Cole had not posted on social media at the time of this article’s publication, but local news outlets spotted him demonstrating .

Tinashe posted photos and video of herself and others marching in Beverly Hills and on a Los Angeles freeway, noting that “The protest I participated in yesterday in DTLA was non violent. We were there to protest police brutality and black lives, period.”

In her story, she angered at least one commentor by writing in her Instagram story, “If you’re posting about looting, (especially if you’re white), you’re worried about the WRONG THINGS.”

Rapper Chika posted that she was detained for “failure to disperse,” later adding that the Los Angeles protest was peaceful until law enforcement allegedly “began beating” protesters.

Country singer Orville Peck posted photos from the Los Angeles protest in his Instagram story .