Great adversity often inspires some of the most significant works of art.
The Great Depression gave us Grant Wood's "American Gothic"; the Spanish Civil War and Stalinism inspired George Orwell's 1945 allegorical fable, Animal Farm; and Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake's 2002 split spawned JT's infidelity anthem, "Cry Me a River." And now, the current global COVID-19 pandemic has given us our first masterpiece: GMAC Cash's latest, the aptly titled "Coronavirus" — and it fucking slaps.
GMAC Cash, Detroit's self-proclaimed "King of Parody Rap," has never shied away from addressing local hot topics. Last year, GMAC released “On Strike” made in solidarity with United Auto Workers' strike of General Motors. In 2018, he dropped “Popeyes Got Roaches” after a video of a Detroit Popeye's went viral for a slew of health code violations, including a roach infestation — which must have come as quite a blow to the parody rapper, considering he penned a love letter to the chicken-slinging fast-food giant in 2016.
Now GMAC is taking coronavirus head-on in his latest banger, but within a safe social distance, of course.
“Imma chill at the crib ‘cause it safe here/ Here I ain't even about to drink me a Corona beer/ I’m about to stay in the crib for about a year, and I ain’t coming back out until this shit clear,” GMAC declares, while urging folks to self-quarantine, sanitize, and embrace the ankle-shake as the new touchless greeting.
The video follows a mask- and glove-wearing GMAC as he navigates a world of social distancing after he finds himself in a clothing store where people are shamelessly coughing and sneezing around him. GMAC isn't fucking around. Like a roving fountain of health or a rogue sanitation fairy, GMAC runs through the streets misting anyone who crosses his path with pure rubbing alcohol because why the hell not? Though the Detroit rapper isn't sweating the fact that he may have to resort to isolation, where he plans on going deep with some video games, he does threaten to help expose those with COVID-19.
“If you got that CV, they gonna find you/ If you coughin' I ain't tryin' to be around you/ I ain't even tryin' to stand beside or behind you/ I'm gonna try and help those motherfuckers find you.”
Not all heroes wear capes, but in these trying times, they do wear masks and gloves and stay the fuck home. Stay vigilant, GMAC.
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