Protest song co-written by Fil-Am artist H.E.R. grows in popularity after Grammy win
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It's the fourth Grammy win for the enigmatic singer-songwriter from California.
Patience is a virtue for R&B artist H.E.R.
The award-winning Filipino-American singer-songwriter just found her song “I Can't Breathe” reaching more than 1 million views on YouTube nine months after it was released.
Winning a Grammy for the song certainly helped the track and video generate more interest from people outside the United States.
“I Can't Breathe” won Song of the Year at the 63rd Grammy Awards held yesterday, March 15, in Los Angeles, California, USA.
The track is a protest song and inspired by the “police brutality and systematic racism” in the U.S. highlighted by the racial protest that erupted last year in the wake of the death of George Floyd in the hands of police officers.
The phrase “I can't breathe”--the last words spoken by murdered African-American Eric Garner in 2014--has been used as a rallying cry by the Black Lives Matter Movement first formed in 2013.
“I didn't imagine that my fear and that my pain would turn into impact, and it would possibly turn to change, and I think that's what this is about,” said H.E.R in her speech accepting the award.
“That's why I write music. That's why I do this.”
It wasn't the first time though that H.E.R. had won a Grammy. To date, she has four Grammy trophies and 13 nominations since 2019.
H.E.R. whose real name is Gabrielle Sarmiento Wilson was born in Vallejo, California on June 27, 1997, making her 23 years old today.
The singer-songwriter's mother is Filipino while her father is an African-American.
H.E.R. stands for Having Everything Revealed, and was in tune with the artist's desire to keep a mysterious persona and let her music do the talking.
“Just by the title, you know that it means something very, very kind of painful and very revealing,” H.E.R. said about “I Can't Breathe” in June last year during a performance.
“These lyrics were kind of easy to write because it came from a conversation with what's happening right now, what's been happening, and the change that we need to see.
“I think music is powerful when it comes to change and when it comes to healing, and that's why I wrote this song, to make a mark in history. And I hope this song does that.”
She did just that by winning another Grammy in an extraordinary time.
In the meantime, revisit the recently concluded 63rd Grammy Awards through pictures in this gallery:
