A new musical offering by the Grammy Award-winning Sounds of Blackness, a group long known for their soul-stirring fusion of gospel, R&B, hip-hop, and pan-African rhythms, declares that We\u2019re Unstoppable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The new single premiered last month, embodies the spirit of cultural resistance, intergenerational legacy, and Black creative power. \u201cIt\u2019s a musical statement of cultural and spiritual resistance,\u201d said Gary D. Hines, longtime music director of Sounds of Blackness. \u201cResistance to the rising tide of DEI rollbacks, cultural erasure, and all the other mess that\u2019s going on in our country and world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The track features vocals by Jamecia Bennett, the dynamic young group<\/p>\n\n\n\n
NunnAbove, and percussion by the Atlanta Drum Academy. Hines emphasized that the release was intentional in both message and timing. \u201cThis is not a coincidence,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s right after Rondo Days. It\u2019s a national and international declaration that we are unstoppable as a people, culturally, musically, and spiritually.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While the song draws from tradition, its purpose is rooted in the present. Hines said the recording was a deliberate response to national shifts, including the dismantling of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs in schools and public institutions. The song, he explained, is both a counter-narrative and a tool for teaching youth about their identity and purpose. \u201cWe\u2019ve got to let our young people know, number one, that they have a role to play in this whole process. Number two, they\u2019re not alone. And number three, that they stand on the shoulders of giants of culture-bearers, of warriors, of truth-tellers, of griots.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For Hines, that message was deeply personal. He reflected on an international moment that shaped his view of cultural unity, attending Panafest in Ghana years ago, where Sounds of Blackness performed with Stevie Wonder. He recalled meeting Al McFarlane who was arriving to Ghana at the airport in Accra. \u201cWe shared a moment,\u201d Hines said. \u201cIt reminded me that this work is global. The message of our music, our struggle, and our hope, none of it stops at city borders.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gayle Smaller, a lifelong Twin Cities resident and Rondo Days organizer, shared how the legacy of Rondo lives on, not just in events, but in values passed through generations. \u201cRondo\u2019s not dead,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re still living it. It\u2019s not just about having a parade or a festival. It\u2019s about saying, \u2018This is who we are.\u2019 It\u2019s about our grandkids knowing they come from something.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Smaller emphasized how music and memory go hand in hand. Songs like We\u2019re Unstoppable<\/em> offer more than entertainment and that they are in fact cultural artifacts, meant to keep ancestral stories alive. \u201cI think this is what my father and my uncles were talking about. We’re hearing that beat that comes from the village. We’re hearing that beat that comes from the continent. We’re hearing the call to action.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rondo Days, launched in 1982, commemorates the historically Black neighborhood of Rondo, which was severely disrupted in the 1950s and 1960s when Interstate 94 was constructed through its heart. Each year, the celebration becomes a living monument to what was lost, and what continues to rise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lord Jamar, a hip-hop artist and cultural commentator best known as a founding member of Brand Nubian, took the stage as the national headliner during the Rondo Days festivities. Speaking on The Conversation, he recounted how the group\u2019s name was a conscious act of self-definition. \u201cI started studying African history and spirituality. I kept seeing the word \u2018Nubian\u2019 in my studies \u2026 Dr. York, the Five Percent Nation, all of it. And I thought, \u2018That\u2019s it. That\u2019s who we are.\u2019 Our brand is Nubian.\u201d For Jamar, naming is not just semantics but rather, it\u2019s a spiritual and political declaration. \u201cThe name tells people what you stand for before you even open your mouth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The energy around We\u2019re Unstoppable<\/em> marks more than a musical release. It\u2019s part of a larger movement that insists on presence, truth, and intergenerational memory. \u201cWe\u2019re not just making music,\u201d Hines said. \u201cWe\u2019re mentoring. We\u2019re modeling. We\u2019re letting them know, you have a place in this legacy. And we want them to pass it on.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n From St. Paul to Ghana, from the elders of Rondo to the voices of Atlanta youth drummers, this anthem is a reminder that cultural memory is alive, rhythmic, and determined. \u201cWe\u2019re unstoppable,\u201d Hines affirmed. \u201cThat\u2019s not just a song title. That\u2019s who we are.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Listen now: \u201cWe\u2019re Unstoppable\u201d by Sounds of Blackness: https:\/\/music.youtube.com\/watch?v=HcA3PV6OPME<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n