J. Period Recruits Black Thought, Posdnuos and Pharoahe Monch For a Pointed Protest Anthem

J. Period brings three titans to the mic on his politically-charged new cut. As tensions boil across the country with protests that range from strictly peaceful to explicitly violent, the Brooklyn-based selector and producer has wrangled some of his heavyweight associates to bless his freshly-released and timely-as-ever protest anthem, “Rise Up!.”

Leading the pack, Pharoahe Monch bats first, passing it off to De La Soul‘s Posdnuos, and as an extension of their Live Mixtape styles, Black Thought joins and leaves nothing but smoke in his wake, knocking it out of the park as the track’s clean-up emcee. Joss Stone graces the closing bars with some vocal flourishes as the track fades into a clip of a Martin Luther King Jr. speech. It hasn’t been confirmed, but our guess is that Questlove is the man behind the kit.

Period tells Rolling Stone that the song “aims to remind us of the higher ideals we’re fighting for when we call for justice: unity, equality, diversity, empathy.” Hear it down below and join us in Philly to see J. Period rock with Black Thought, Fat Joe, Mobb Deep and Scott Storch for another edition of the Live Mixtape at Roots Picnic.