Bryson Tiller pays for Breonna Taylor billboards in hometown of Louisville
R&B crooner Bryson Tiller is supporting justice for Taylor who was killed in a botched police raid in March
R&B crooner Bryson Tiller has more than music on his mind these days. Though he’s just released a new, deluxe version of his 2015 album Trapsoul with three new tracks, his hometown plays prominently in his mindset as of late. He’s from Louisville, Kentucky and like everyone else, he’s been impacted by the Breonna Taylor case.
Taylor, 26, was killed in a botched no-knock police raid on March 13 when her boyfriend fired at what he thought were intruders in their Louisville apartment. Only one officer has been charged in the case – now former Louisville police officer Brett Hankison, who was charged with reckless wanton endangerment for shooting blindly into the complex where Taylor lived. His charges stem from the danger he put Taylor’s neighbors in, not her death.
Instead of using billboards in the city already secured, according to a report by Billboard, to promote his album Anniversary due on Friday, Tiller decided to instead use them to seek justice for Taylor.
“Been doing a lot of thinking about what’s going on in my hometown right now,” Tiller said in a heartfelt Twitter post dedicated to Taylor.
“The blatant racism that I’ve dealt with growing up in Kentucky, whether it was at Church Camp or School or just walking down the street and hearing people drive by and yell out racial slurs, i know exactly how it feels,” he wrote alongside a painting of Taylor.
“A lot of us feel like we lost a sister and many of us feel like it was because of racism. And then you have the people who are condemning others based on how they feel which… doesn’t feel right at all. Truth is, all we wanted to see was the right thing be done and here we are feeling wronged once again. We love you Breonna. You brought the city together like i’ve never seen before. Rest easy Queen we will NEVER forget you & will continue to fight for you!”
It has already been a challenging year for the 27-year-old singer. Tiller lost his grandmother in April and deleted all of his Instagram posts, according to The Jasmine Brand. In an Instagram post before the deletion, he lamented that he hadn’t made the time to tell his grandmother everything he wanted her to know.
“Today, I realized I lost the most important woman in my life. As I type this… I’m also realizing that never acknowledged you as the most important woman in my life nor did I treat you that way. I didn’t call as much as I should’ve,” he wrote.
“i didn’t do as much as i could’ve. you and i have always had a love-hate relationship and about a year ago i remember saying to someone: man i really need to be there more for my grandma regardless of what we’ve been thru because i don’t know how long you’ll be around. today is the first time i find myself only thinking about the good and not the bad. I’ve never lost anyone really close to me before, I’ve never understood how it felt.. i lost my Mother at a very young age so i couldn’t really process what was happening.”
Tiller added that after receiving a letter from his grandmother apologizing for being so hard on him and his siblings growing up, he should have released the resentment then and let her know he appreciated her before it was too late.
He continued: “in the letter your words were: im sorry i was so hard on you guys growing up, it was just really hard as a single parent taking care of you after your mom passed, i hope you don’t have any resentment towards me, im so proud of what you’ve accomplished” Maamaw im so sorry today i let go of any resentment i ever had towards you and im sorry i EVER complained about ANYTHING you couldn’t do for me. I love you so much and i wish i read this letter sooner because i would have called you to tell you that i promise i would have.”
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