Jussie Smollett has released a new song, “Thank You, God“, on his Instagram.
The former Empire star prefaced the lyrics video with a message to his fans that he is using art to process his experience with the criminal justice system that has been ongoing since he was accused of faking a hate crime in 2019 and ordered to serve jail time. Smollett wrote that he is “channeling these thoughts the best way I know how.”
On the track, Smollett duets a melancholy rap over a choir boy falsetto, maintaining that he is an innocent man who has been falsely accused of a crime he did not commit:
You think I’m stupid enough / To kill my reputation? / Just simply to look like a victim / Like its something fun / Y’all better look at someone else / You got the wrong one.
In the snippet, Smollet takes time to thank his supporters, before lamenting that “celebrity is for the birds.”
Smollett wrote in the caption that all proceeds from the song will be donated to three not-for-profit organizations, the Rainbow Push Coalition, Secure the Bag Safety, and Illinois Innocence Project.
Smollett was convicted of faking a hate crime in 2019 and was sentenced to 150 days in prison and 30 months of probation for staging and falsely reporting a hate crime. Smollett was released from prison pending his appeal by an appellate court on a $150,000 bond just six days after he was sentenced.