Lose Yo Job

The informal anthem of the movement against abusive policing

If the movement against abusive policing has an anthem, it's "Lose Yo Job," a rap spontaneously composed by Johnniqua Charles as she was detained outside a strip club in South Carolina in February. A video shot that night shows her wagging her butt and taunting a security guard as he holds her by the elbow. "You about to lose yo job," she chants. "You about to lose yo job/ Get this dance!/ You about to lose yo job/ 'Cause you are detaining me for nothin'."

Charles was eventually released, and the guard himself later posted the video online, declaring "that rap was lit." It went viral on a small scale, and then a remix by the producers DJ Suede and DJ iMarkkeyz went viral on a huge scale. It was helped along by an absurdist video featuring unauthorized cameos by everyone from Beyoncé to Elmo. More pointedly, the video showed the Minneapolis cops charged in the death of George Floyd. Soon activists were chanting the lyrics at demonstrations.

Since the song took off, Charles has raised more than $55,000 on GoFundMe. And the security guard? He still has his job, and TMZ reports that the video has landed him offers to work elsewhere too.