Pussy Riot have released a new song, “Hangerz,” with the help of Vic Mensa and Junglepussy. The politically themed track was written after the band staged a sold-out live benefit show in Birmingham, Alabama, on July 11th to protest the anti-abortion legislation and centers on reproductive freedom for all women.
“Don’t like abortions? Don’t make it,” Pussy Riot’s Nadya Tolokonnikova said in a statement. “Don’t tell me what to do, my body is nobody’s business. It’s a universal basic right of every human — to decide what do we do with our own bodies. Don’t like abortions? Promote reproductive rights and join Planned Parenthood’s effort in educating people on how to take good care of their reproductive health and to protect themselves from unwanted pregnancies.”
She added, “Abortion bans never work, throughout the history we see that abortion bans cause only a growth of illegal procedures that often lead to severe pain and serious damage to health women’s health, including death. Stop banning and punishing me. Treat me as truly equal. Talk to me. Listen to me. Help me when I need it. Planned Parenthood and their affiliates are places where women can receive real support, and we, women of Pussy Riot, cherish these unique safe places dearly. And we’re seriously dedicated to continuously support them.”
“When I saw Pussy Riot protesting inside of that church in Russia, I was immediately entranced,” Mensa noted of his involvement with the band. “It’s revolutionary, it’s radical, it’s explosive, it’s what music should be in times like these.”
Popular on Rolling Stone
All proceeds from the release of “Hangerz” will go directly to Planned Parenthood and $1 from each ticket sold on the band’s 2020 tour will go toward a local Planned Parenthood affiliate representing each tour market. The trek kicks off March 13th at 1720 LA in Los Angeles and includes stops in cities like Portland, Denver, Chicago, Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Atlanta and Houston before wrapping April 15th at the Crescent Ballroom in Phoenix, Arizona. The band also has a May 19th date scheduled at the Phoenix Concert Theatre in Toronto.
“Hangerz” follows Pussy Riot’s recent song “1937,” released in September protesting local Moscow parliament elections and calling for the release of various political prisoners. In July, the group shared “Black Snow,” which took on Russian president Vladimir Putin’s lax and destructive environmental policies.