Samaria Rice, the mother of Tamir Rice, has called out Lil Baby’s Grammys performance of his track “The Bigger Picture,” which featured activist and Women’s March co-founder Tamika Mallory.
Lil Baby’s performance kicked off with a visual of police brutality featuring actor Kendrick Sampson. Mallory later appeared alongside Killer Mike of rap duo, Run the Jewels.
Mallory recited a poem from a podium, flanked by protester-performers:
“It’s a state of emergency; it’s been a hell of a year, hell for over 400 years. My people, it’s time we stand, it’s time we demand the freedom this land promises,” Mallory said. “President Biden, we demand justice, equity, policy, and everything else that freedom encompasses. To accomplish this, we don’t need allies, we need accomplices. It’s bigger than black and white. This is not a dream; this is our plight. Until freedom!”
“Look at this clout chaser,” Rice said, sharing a clip of the performance. “Did she lose something in this fight i don’t think so. That’s the problem they take us for a joke that’s why we never have justice cause of sh*t like this.”
“F*CK A GRAMMY WHEN MY SON IS DEAD,” she said in another social media post. “F*CK ALL PIGS COPS.”
In another post, Rice also slammed civil rights attorney Ben Crump.
“Tamike [sic] and the crew you bitches chasing clout along with Sonney, Crump, and Lee,” she said. “Y’all have literally f*ck our fight up i hope not another family soul used y’all to represent them. Y’all might as well be junior pigs cops… I’m mad [as hell].”
Ahead of the performance (and subsequent criticism) Lil Baby revealed his intention behind the performance:
“My performance is important to me and I had to make sure it was right,” he said. “Nominations aside, actually performing ‘The Bigger Picture’ means the most to me. I paint pictures with my songs and wanted the performance to bring that picture to life. Just like with the song, this performance had to reflect the real. No sugar-coating. My family, my fans and my city know who I do this for.”
