Principle over profit! Jasiri X believes the movement is more important than money

By FinalCall.com News | Last updated: Feb 13, 2012 - 10:51:09 PM

Jasiri X

(FinalCall.com) - Some months ago, Jasiri X was invited to perform at the University of Connecticut as the principal performer for what was billed as a “Political Awareness Rally.” According to Brother Jasiri, about a week before he was to perform there, he received an email from one of the organizers that he met at Occupy Wall Street, informing him that there was concern regarding the song “Occupy (We the 99).”

Brother Jasiri said the organizer said he would not be censored if he chose to perform the song, however, he might not receive the agreed upon performance fee. He then received an email directly from the comptroller of the Undergraduate Student Government telling him specifically that he could not perform the song.

At first, Brother Jasiri agreed only to perform the “non-political” songs because he did not want to cancel the performance which would disappoint his fans and waste the efforts of many of the campus organizers who worked so diligently to make the event a reality, however, when he arrived at the University of Connecticut for the event, he had a change of heart, and decided to perform all of the songs, even those considered “politically incorrect.”

“As I looked around the crowd I began to think of all the people around the world occupying for a better tomorrow, being arrested and brutalized by police, sleeping in the cold and rain, sacrificing comfort for freedom. I knew at that moment I had to perform the song, ‘Occupy (We the 99)’ as well as other ‘political’ songs like ‘Real Gangstas’ (about the Wall St. bankers), even if it meant I would not get paid,” wrote Brother Jasiri in a posting on his popular YouTube channel. “At some point in this movement all of us are going to have to make sacrifices if we truly want to see real change. The 1 percent control the 99 percent with promises of money, access, and comfort; we have to put our own souls above all three.”

Download Jasiri X’s song “Occupy (We the 99)” FREE @ http://jasirix.bandcamp.com/track/occupy-we-the-99

You can also check out the YouTube video for the song filmed live at Occupy Wall Street and Occupy Pittsburgh and directed by Paradise Gray @ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oxv9kIFJh5Y

The Final Call