PAPA ROACH's JACOBY SHADDIX: 'Right Now, It's A Dire Situation For African-Americans In America'

PAPA ROACH frontman Jacoby Shaddix spoke to SkillBox's "Artists For A Cause" initiative about the racial unrest in the United States following the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade and many other black people who have died at the hands of the police. He said (hear audio below): "Right now, it's a dire situation for African-Americans in America. Especially for young black men, they don't feel safe, they don't feel protected, and that's a basic human right — period — to feel safe and feel protected by your people. They've been marginalized for years. Their voice has continuously not been respected, and it falls on deaf ears of the establishment.

"It was time a long time ago to listen to our brothers and sisters, but it's boiled over, and finally our African-American brothers and sisters are being heard," he continued. "And I think it's important to take care of our people, man.

"I look at everybody as my brother and sister — beyond a border, beyond any type of religion, beyond politics. I see people as human beings. That's just it.

"Music, that's the thing that brings us together. We have a common bond. And if we can just find ways to find more common bonds between each other. Yeah, we're different. Different cultures have different ideas or different traditions, but we've gotta honor and respect each other, and that's what it comes down to.

"For me, I've grown up as a humanitarium, essentially," Jacoby contininued. "My mom told me, she's, like, 'You've gotta leave the world a better place than you found it.' And that's always in the back of my mind. When I wake up in the day, it's, like, 'How am I gonna leave this world better?' Some days I'm successful, and some days I'm not successful.

"It's a really important time for us in America right now, especially, to take a moment and look in the mirror and maybe think, 'Maybe I haven't been right my whole life. Maybe I've been wrong.' And I think that it's a really good time for some self-reflection.

"I'm a firm believer — if I wanna change the world, I've gotta start with myself. And so I'm the type of person that every day, I will take a look in the mirror or I will take a look at my life and go, 'All right. What needs to be worked on?' And that's how I approach my life.

"It's a challenge, right? But it's something that I think everybody should be willing to be up to — look at yourself in the mirror and ask yourself, 'Am I correct about everything I believe? Am I correct about the way I treat people?' Take responsibility.

"I've just got nothing but love for my African-American brothers and sisters — straight up. That's my heart."

PAPA ROACH is working on material for the follow-up to 2019's "Who Do You Trust?" album for a tentative early 2021 release.

"Who Do You Trust?" was released in January 2019. The disc was produced by Nick "RAS" Furlong and Colin Cunningham except for the song "Top Of The World", which is helmed by Jason Evigan.

On June 20, PAPA ROACH took part in its second live streaming experience iteration called "Infest In-Studio", a special virtually ticketed, live HD broadcast. The program featured PAPA ROACH performing its breakthrough album "Infest" live in its entirety to celebrate the LP's 20th anniversary, along with exclusive discussions and reflections in a unique studio environment.