Longshot is an emcee who originally got started in Chicago but has been calling Minneapolis home for about ten years now. His most recent album came two years ago, when he teamed up with Doomtree producer Lazerbeak to make the album Parades. Now he picks up where he left of to make an EP for our times, #ImSaying.

When Longshot isn’t dropping dope rhymes, he’s working with children in the community and trying to build a better future for the next generation. I say this, because this comes through in his music as well, where Longshot has always felt the need to address the needs of his community. It’s what made Parades so powerful and exciting to listen to, and it’s what’s driving #ImSaying. For this EP, Longshot is working with producer Omen, who’s giving him just the right urgent push with the beats as Longshot steps up and talks about the issues at hand today. The EP opens with the title track, where Longshot essentially restates his thesis statement from “Parades,” that police-on-Black-American-violence has gone on too long and that big, systemic change is the only way forward. Over the course of the rest of the EP, he’s addressing everyone and making calls to action, whether it be taking potential white allies to task or letting the powers that be know that a change is coming. It’s an EP that finds just the right balance between excitement and furiousness, skepticism and optimism, hope and fear. It’s a message delivered with love, but also warning those that stand in the way of change to step aside, because it’s coming whether you like it or not.

#ImSaying is a soundtrack for our current moment. Longshot is challenging his listeners, but also encouraging them, because he knows we can do better. So put this on, take notes, and then go out and do something.