Usher lets the song cry.

In the wake of the murders of innocent Black men and women, the R&B veteran responds with his emotional new song “I Cry.” “I cry for the sons without fathers and the pain that their mothers hold deep inside,” he sings on the powerful ballad. “And I’ll fight for the future we’re making / We can change if we face it / ‘Cause these tears won’t dry.”

Usher, who is a father to two sons, explained that the song came from the heart. After witnessing the death of George Floyd, he was inspired to finish the track. “This song was inspired by wanting to teach my sons that it is OK for a man to feel emotions deeply and to cry. Like many men, I was raised to believe that we have to be ‘tough’ and not show our vulnerability, which I don’t want to teach them,” he said.

“While I was shut in during the pandemic and watching the death of George Floyd, the ongoing slaughter of Black men and women, the protests and the events that unfolded, I became very connected to the wider universal feeling of hopelessness,” he continued. “Like many, I grew increasingly frustrated by how slow things have been to change. I became very depressed thinking about all sons who have lost their fathers to police brutality, social injustice and violence; the daughters and mothers too. So I returned to this song and realized it was intended for this time, so I finished it and here it is.”

Usher has been using his platform to speak out on social justice issues and also joined Black Lives Matter protests in L.A. Earlier this month, he released “California,” a collaboration with Tyga.