William Lee Barefield III, Better Known As Trip Lee, is back! That’s right, the return is so monumental that we had to introduce him by his government name, just in case you forgot who he is. Truthfully, Trip never left, he’s been here all along. He’s made appearances on the Christmas album (that you all should be playing right now) and on the various Reach Records playlists, and a few features here and there. What folks mean to say is that he hasn’t been releasing solo music as often as they would like. Say that then. But the days of waiting for new music from Trip Lee are over!
Trip returns with the brand new single “Supernatural.” The young OG waited until the fourth quarter right before Christmas to give us this gem. Right off the bat you see that Trip hasn’t lost a step at all (how can he have when he never really left?). He comes through with a killer and skillful fast flow on both verses as he gives us a wishlist of things he wishes to see in this world. From wanting folks to “Know Christ as the Healer, the Cancer Killer” to “I wish forbidden fruit was bitter,” Trip Lee has a lot on his mind and heart.
The song isn’t without its controversy though. As he spits, “I wish Hip Hop didn’t root for killers, I wish the police didn’t shoot to kill us,” he appears to have stepped on some toes. It’s funny how folks don’t have a problem with him talking about how hip hop shouldn’t glorify killers (you could argue that all of hip hop doesn’t glorify that subject matter), but when the police are mentioned, feathers get ruffled.
Folks seem to have forgotten that Lee has literally had guns pulled on him by police as he was on his way to a Christian event. He was detained for looking like a suspect he didn’t even resemble! He has black children and for the past few years we have all witnessed black and brown bodies killed with near immunity. That’s the reality and he spoke on it for one line and he kept it moving. If you are stuck on that line, ask yourself why.
Trip is back without a doubt. Matter of fact, he’s not back he’s still here. Still making great music that glorifies the Father and speaks to the human experience here on Earth. If we want to see a better world, we need to stop focusing on just the physical and tap into the “Supernatural.” The song and music video are available now, make sure you run those numbers up so Trip doesn’t go back into hibernation. Yessuh.
