23 year old rising multi-instrumentalist Wyatt Waddell, today released the powerful video for his protest anthem “FIGHT!,” raising awareness for the protest movement and charities including: Chicago Community Bond Fund, Black Lives Matter Chicago and Greater Chicago Food Depository.
The video features footage from the protests and tributes to victims of police brutality and racial injustice including: Emmett Till, George Stinney, Rodney King, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Ahmed Aubrey, Sandra Bland, Trayvon Martin, Laquan McDonald, Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson and Carol Denise McNair.
Part gospel, part field holler, part funky soul, “Fight!” has an upbeat, feel-good groove, that underscores its message. Already gaining comparisons to Stevie Wonder and Curtis Mayfield, “Fight!” was recorded and released in just 24 hours after Wyatt was deeply inspired by watching the protests unfold on TV and when he recalled a quote by one of his musical inspirations, Nina Simone.
This has been a hard and trying time for black lives. These events have left me angry, scared, and confused. I then remembered what Nina Simone once said: An artist’s duty… is to reflect the times…
Recorded in tribute to the people on the streets protesting, Wyatt added, “This song is me looking at what’s happening and what I’d tell the people protesting. I had to look outside of myself at what’s going on and how people are being affected. Hearing people’s fears, anxieties, and watching everything happening on TV really helped me write the song. I hope that it can be an anthem for my people as they’re fighting for a better America.”
Charities benefiting from the single include the Greater Chicago Food Depository. Wyatt has first hand seen the food crisis in Chicago, adding, “Today I saw the lines down the street of people lining up to get something to eat. We have got to feed the people.”
Chicago’s “Boy Wonder” has been praised by publications including the Chicago Tribune, who compared him to a diverse range of artists from The Beatles to Sly & The Family Stone. His remarkable Instagram loop videos, powerful versatile vocal range, perfect pitch and instinctive songwriting is creating a huge buzz in his local Chicago music scene and he is poised to make his national breakthrough. He plans to follow “FIGHT!!” and previous single “Sleeper” with a full album, which is currently in the works.
