Lil Baby took the stage at the 63rd Grammys on Sunday night to perform “The Bigger Picture,” which was up for a pair of awards at the ceremony. The performance made a strong statement about police brutality, with a reenactment of the fatal shooting of 27-year-old Rayshard Brooks by Atlanta police officers last summer and appearances from Killer Mike and activist Tamika Mallory. While the performance drew praises in some corners, Samaria Rice—the mother of Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old boy who was shot and killed by Cleveland police officers in 2014—had a mixed reaction.
After making comments about Mallory’s appearance in the performance on her Facebook page, Rice told Cleveland.com that she wasn’t happy about the inclusion of Tamika Mallory in Lil Baby’s performance.
“Who hired them to represent these families?” Rice said. “She doesn’t speak for us. If you were going to do anything you should have had the mothers on stage so they could speak for themselves. Tamika Mallory was representing women. So how did you come over in our fight for police brutality? I’ve never met Tamika Mallory. But I don’t like the way she’s moving. You’ve seen her over the years and now [her status] is elevated. They need to go get a life and stand back and get up out our fight.”
Mallory, who appeared towards the end of Baby’s performance delivering a speech demanding justice, has been involved in activism from a young age as part of Al Sharpton’s National Action Network. She gained prominence as an organizer of 2017’s Women’s March and has been an advocate for Black Civil Rights causes. Mallory and liberal activist Linda Sarsour faced some criticism last year for organizing a four-day BreonnaCon in Lousiville, Ky. in response to the killing of Breonna Taylor by police. As Cleveland.com notes, the city’s local Black Lives Matter chapter refused to participate in the event, saying it was not representative of the city or respectful of Taylor’s legacy.
Rice did not criticize Baby’s performance overall. The depiction of a Black man being killed by police during a major entertainment awards show did draw some criticism, while others praised Lil Baby for drawing attention to a critical issue. The Atlanta rapper released the song last June in response to nationwide protests stemming from the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police, with lyrics addressing the incident and subsequent outrage:
I find it crazy the police’ll shoot you and know that you dead, but still tell you to freeze
F-cked up, I seen what I seen
I guess that mean hold him down if he say he can’t breathe
It’s too many mothers that’s grieving
They killing us for no reason
His performance featured a backdrop of a burning Atlanta-area Wendys in reference to the shooting death of Brooks. Protesters occupied the Wendys site for more than three weeks before eventually being forced out by police. Officials razed the building soon after.
“The Bigger Picture” was up for Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance at the ceremony, both of which it lost to Megan Thee Stallion and Beyoncé’s “Savage Remix.“ “My performance is important to me and I had to make sure it was right,” Baby said in a statement alongside his performance. “Nominations aside, actually performing ‘The Bigger Picture’ means the most to me. I paint pictures with my songs and wanted the performance to bring that picture to life. Just like with the song, this performance had to reflect the real. No sugar-coating. My family, my fans and my city know who I do this for.”
Watch the full performance above and read all the lyrics to Lil Baby’s “The Bigger Picture” on Genius now.
