Earlier in 2020, Inner City delivered a house album titled We All Move Together. They have now released a Kurt Schneider-directed music video for the title track featuring Idris Elba in collaboration with police brutality awareness initiative Detroit Will Breathe (DWB).
The video depicts a dancer leading a growing group of DWB protestors through the Motor City. Interspersed are actual Black Lives Matter protest footage clips, some of which went viral during demonstrations in the weeks following George Floyd‘s death in Minneapolis. All the while, Elba’s anthemic spoken word samples ring out over the tense synth work and driving kick drums of “We All Move Together.”
“With the challenges in Michigan, the U.S., and further afield, specific to what we are facing with the BLM movement, we deeply felt that we wanted to release a culturally significant and impactful video that not only embodies the message of the track, but that also directly benefits the Detroit Will Breathe individuals and collectives on the frontline of the movement in the city,” said Inner City and Idris Elba in a joint statement.
Inner City was founded in 1987 by Paris Grey and Kevin Saunderson – the latter of whom was among the first wave of artists to introduce a style of electronic music that would come to be known as Detroit techno. The group released singles like “Big Fun” and “Good Life” that topped the Billboard charts, establishing them as one of dance music’s most promising crossover acts. Their current lineup consists of Saunderson, his wife Ann and son Dauntiez, as well as Tommy Onyx and Steffanie Christi’an.
Saunderson has been vocal in the recent past about the plight of the Black community. In June he shared an open letter in solidarity of Black Lives Matter protestors in addition to recounting how a top agent snubbed him in conversation with Billboard.
Detroit Will Breathe is accepting donations via their general GoFundMe.
