rIVerse Drops Black Justice Anthem “Stand Up.”
On Juneteenth, Toronto’s rIVerse released what may be their most powerful video to date: “Stand Up,” a searing call-to-action in the current global fight against police brutality and systemic racism. The track empowers listeners of all races to fight back against police violence, racial profiling and a corrupt system that targets Black men, women, and children.
“Nobody deserves to have done to them what’s been happening to people of color,” says songwriter Dizz. “At the foundation, this track is an anthem for basic human rights and justice for Black people. It’s a reminder of what our purpose is: as a band, we need to stand up and maybe our listeners will be influenced to do the same.”
rIVerse’s mission statement has always been to represent the underrepresented — members Dizz, Khadija, Zak and Monroe meet across lines of race, gender and sexual orientation in their devotion to music as a force for positive change. Dizz wrote the track back in 2018 to process his residual trauma at the police murders of Sandra Bland and Philando Castile. The song was initially born when Dizz, a former dancer for Keshia Chante (Juno award-winning Canadian R&B Star & former host of BET’s 106 & Park), ran into producer Daniel Jones at Chante’s birthday party. Dizz felt heavily inspired by Childish Gambino’s “This Is America,” and Jones played a beat for him with the same energy. The band was motivated to finally release “Stand Up” this year, following the murder of Ahmaud Arbery.
“There had to be something done,” says Dizz. “ I was enraged, I was very emotional. This has never really stopped. The only thing I could think of, being an artist, was that we had this song and it needed to come out now.”
The video was shot on a chilly June night in Toronto’s famous Graffiti Alley, the first time the band had been together in months. The twin global pandemics of COVID-19 and widespread police violence could not deter them from getting their message to the world.
“The story had to be told and needed to be told right,” says Khadija. “The logistics for the shoot worked out really well; it felt like the universe was helping us put this out into the world. But there were definitely moments on set I had to step back. It’s such an intense topic and something we’re all emotionally going through right now.” “We are four unique individuals coming together with one message,” says Monroe. ”2020 is the year when everyone’s third eye is open. We’re saying what we have to say proudly and strongly.”
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