Steve 'Flash' Juon“From the window in my jail cell
I’m talkin to the moon
God can hear me up in heaven
Pray that I’ma come home soon”
We can’t talk about “PETERSON” without explaining what Tory Lanez is referencing on the opening track “Free Me.” I can assume 95% of the people reading already know, but I still have to be fair to the 5% of people who don’t and explain. “I lost the trial, there’s no mo’ Gucci and Chanel […] judge gave me ten ’cause he ain’t wanna give me bail.” The Canadian singer/rapper was found guilty in 2022 of shooting Megan Thee Stallion in the aftermath of a party in the Hollywood Hills that went bad, discharging a gun directly into her foot inside of his car. He denied it. He accused her of lying about it. He and his legal team went out of their way to discredit her and accuse her of seeking money and attention, even though she’s a highly successful rap artist in her own right and needs neither his money nor the publicity her accusations generated. In fact the backlash from his fans toward her resulted in unwarranted threats that caused her to fear for her own safety.
“PETERSON” is the (sob) story of a man who was convicted in a fair trial heard by a jury of his peers. They concluded he was guilty of assault with a semiautomatic, having a loaded and unlicensed gun inside his car, and committing gross negligence in discharging said gun. Frankly the fact he only got a ten year sentence feels to me like a slap on the wrist, and if any of his appeals are successful he won’t serve all of it. If he’s an exemplary prisoner he can even have his sentence reduced under California law. That would be a productive use of his time. Instead he’s begging God for forgiveness and asking the Lord to “Guide Me Through the Storm.” Forgive men for saying so but this feels phony as fuck.
Look — I’m the first person to argue that the “prison industrial complex” discussed in the song’s outro is an abomination. Black men and women, and in fact people of color in general, are disproportionately put into the penal system compared to white people. Law enforcement has almost always been discriminatory and there are plenty of studies that show that when white offenders and black offenders commit the same crime there is an incredible inequality in sentencing. Right now there are inmates doing 25 years for possession or distribution of marijuana when their white counterparts got time served, parole and community service. None of this is right or just. Expecting the system to be reformed under the current federal administration though is a joke — we know the orange goon is a racist piece of garbage and perfectly happy to let things stay this bad or get far worse.
It would have been nice to divorce a review of “PETERSON” from this discussion, but Tory Lanez made that unavoidable by making this entire album ABOUT his personal woes — his trial, his sentence, and even his “Lawyer Fees.” It’s impossible to talk about one and not talk about the other. It’s also impossible for me to think he got a raw deal. He committed an act of violence against a black woman and expected to get a pass for it because far too often in this country that’s exactly what happens. He’s not sorry that he did it. There’s no contrition here. He’s sorry that he got held accountable. He’s sorry that he lost access to the money and fame he had on the outside, although he talks like a mafia don and implies that people can still get touched even while he’s locked up. He even has a song called “I Fucked a Lady Cop” where the intro is an unnamed woman who implies he shouldn’t be recording music while in jail. I don’t know — should he be? Maybe he shouldn’t open that can of worms.
Now admittedly I wasn’t Tory’s biggest fan even before the shooting occurred, but I did at least acknowledge he was making the kind of R&B rap-singing that was (and still is) popular at the time. His lyrics didn’t impress me, but he had good production. I can say the same thing about “PETERSON.” He got everybody from AraabMuzik to Lex Luger (no relation to the wrestler) to produce this CD. I also have to admit these vocals are unreasonably clean. If he recorded this over the day phone I can’t tell. Either he smuggled in a DAT like X-Raided used to do or he’s got some amazing engineers. I have to acknowledge that songs like “My Shayla” sound good. I’d even call them catchy and toe-tapping.
On the whole though I’m still not feeling Tory Lanez that much. I can for the moment put aside my personal disgust with what he did to Megan, his failure as a man to be accountable for his actions, and his continued attempts to be a martyr for his audience. I can’t however put aside the fact he’s just the same dude behind bars that he was as a free man. His style really hasn’t changed and he’s not become a more thoughtful or introspective human being. That’s probably too much to expect though. If he’s the type of person to shoot somebody in the foot over an argument he’s already the type of person to not be rehabilitated by doing time. I don’t see him changing or growing. He’s going to be this exact same dude for the rest of his life and that’s just not interesting to me musically. I still wish him well though and hope his commissary is good and that he avoids the perils a black man faces in jail. May whatever blessings he receive while doing time hopefully spillover to being a positive contributor to the world when he’s eventually released. Good luck Tory, and Megan, good on you for not keeping quiet. No one should ever suffer in silence and the world doesn’t get better when we allow unchecked violence.