“We are owed an unpayable debt,” the New York-based artist Michael Love Michael wrote in the announcement for their latest track “JFC,” which doubled as a fiery call to arms. “We owe it only to ourselves to claim our freedom.” Though the singer’s recent releases “6 Jaguars” and “Rope,” marked by ambient vocals and plush ‘80s synths, have always filtered political topics through decadent pop production, “JFC” finds Michael plainly furious, and rightfully so. “I can’t believe all the ways that a great white lie / Wanna ruin how I live my best Black life,” they voice in a reverberating whisper that builds and bites over an icy, trap beat; in this “anthem for collective Black liberation,” Michael has found their power in protest, and the courage to say “I don’t owe you fucking anything.” —Coco Romack
