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Jacksonville-area 12-year-old Keedron Bryant lands record deal after black anthem goes viral

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A 12-year-old from Jacksonville, whose passionate performance of his song “I Just Wanna Live” about his experiences as a young black man went viral, now has a record deal.

Keedron Bryant, 12, has signed a record deal with Warner Records, the Associated Press reports.

The song will be released on Friday which is Juneteenth, the holiday to commemorate the emancipation of slaves in the U.S.

Keedron’s mother, Johnnetta, wrote the song after watching the video of George Floyd’s death and praying to God.

“I needed his wisdom. I went into prayer. He gave me those words so clearly,” Johnnetta Bryant told the AP of writing the “I Just Wanna Live” lyrics. “I shared it with Keedron ... and I told him, ‘...I want you to take these words and I want you to pray over them. Meditate on them. Whenever you’re done with them, come out and we’ll record it.’ He did just that.”

The AP reports that Warner Records is donating 100% of the net profits of “I Just Wanna Live” to the NAACP and for every stream of the song on Amazon Music, the company will donate $1 to the NAACP for the first 24 hours the song is out, giving up to $50,000.