Trump Administration Shares Video of Controversial Boat Strike Set to LL Cool J Hit: ‘KNOCKOUT’
The Donald Trump administration has taken a flippant tone in regards to its highly controversial strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean, with the Department of Homeland Security recently releasing footage from the deadly military operations set to LL Cool J‘s hit “Mama Said Knock You Out.”
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In the video posted to X on Wednesday (Dec. 10), the New York hip-hop star’s voice spits bars over clips of United States troops dropping down from helicopters onto large watercraft and aiming machine guns at people on board. “Don’t call it a comeback, I been here for years/ I’m rockin’ my peers, puttin’ suckers in fear,” Cool J raps. “Listen to the bass go boom/ Explosions, overpowerin’/ Over the competition, I’m towering.”
“KNOCKOUT,” the DHS’ caption reads. “If you threaten our nation, or break the law, there is no place on land or sea where we won’t find you.”
Billboard has reached out to LL Cool J’s rep for comment.
The post comes as many politicians and human rights organizations have been raising concerns over the attacks, which have killed at least 87 people since September, according to NBC News. The government claims that the targeted boats were transporting U.S.-bound drugs on behalf of cartels, but on Tuesday (Dec. 9), the ACLU and other advocacy groups filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration alleging that the strikes amount to murder and — in the case of survivors who were either killed or left to die in the ocean — inhumane treatment.
“We think that the public deserves to know how our government is justifying the cold-blooded murder of civilians as lawful,” ACLU attorney Jeffrey Stein told NBC News. “We think that the Trump administration needs to stop these illegal and immoral strikes immediately, and that the officials who have carried them out must be held accountable, not gifted a ‘Get Out of Jail Free card.’”
There has also been inconsistency in Trump’s promise to release video of the Sept. 2 strike that killed two survivors, with the twice-impeached POTUS initially saying he had “no problem” with doing so before walking back on his comments, according to ABC News.
Released in 1990 on LL Cool J’s album of the same name, “Mama Said Knock You Out” peaked at No. 17 on the Billboard Hot 100 and won best rap solo performance at the 1992 Grammys.
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