Songs you should be listening to RIGHT NOW
- Alli K.
- Jun 15, 2020
- 5 min read
I mentioned this is my last blog, but so many people are still hesitant to voice and act on their Black Lives Matter opinions while unapologetically consuming black culture. I hope to highlight the unseen support of the movement that people don’t even notice when they subconsciously listen to music. Don’t support black artists simply because their music is appealing to you unless you plan to stand with them. This quote from Rodney Carmichael, NPR, really stuck out to me: “Did you know there's a Wikipedia entry for ‘political hip-hop’? Kind of like having an entry for ‘wet rain’ or ‘loud thunder,’ ain't it?” Most of what these artists are saying is taking a stance. Below, I highlighted a few songs to consume in the near future that will give you perspectives on the current BLM issues.
"2020 Riots: How many times" by Trey Songz
This song looks to the future. “How many more mothers have to cry, how many more brothers have to die, how many more marches? How many more signs?” We’re still protesting racism 50+ years later, when will it finally end? This song, produced in light of the current justice movement, poses the issue of how to know when change is really going to come about. We can protest, we can speak up, but that doesn’t dismiss the fact that we still have to do these things at all. These acts of protest happen almost every time there’s a public, social injustice, so this time needs to be different. Celebrities all speaking up, mass gatherings of protestors (sorry COVID), meetings with police administrations- it takes an army and it takes persistence. Joey Bada$$, mentioned later, said in an interview, “we're realizing the power that we have as individuals, as musicians, as people with high influence." What is it that will make things finally change forever?
"Alright" by Kendrick Lamar
This 2015 hit is still relevant 5 years later. Aside from the fact that the entire album, to Pimp a Butterfly, is amazing and noteworthy, “Alright” is one of the most popular, and one that makes a statement. The current 2020 Black Lives Matter movement has been the largest in BLM history considering the amount of protestors from all cultures. For the first time, white people are experiencing the hardships that the black community has faced their entire lives. Police are tear-gassing and shooting rubber bullets at people, and they’re getting angry! Meanwhile, the black population chuckles to themselves because they’ve dealt with this since they could walk. Kendrick’s song highlights their ability to move on with our lives despite the injustices. “We gon’ be alright” repeated over and over- its spoken it into fruition. I think this song is important for us to understand the obstacles that other cultures are constantly forced to move past, regardless of the injustice it poses.
"This is America" by Childish Gambino
A small throwback you forgot you needed- Donald Glover went viral with this song and its music video in 2018. I want to bring this hit song back to light because it is a very visual representation of white supremacy. The lyrics alone, “This is America,” “Look how I’m livin’ now” is a wake up call to how oppressed the black population still feels: this is America; this is reality; this is the way it is. In the music video, he is shown dancing and singing with crazed eyes while in the background, hell has broken loose. People are dying and being beaten, a car is on fire, Glover even shoots an entire choir of black people. This is a major slam to police brutality. Black folks are being treated horribly, but look how we can all still go on with our lives happy as can be! The look in Childish Gambino’s eyes throughout the video is enough to leave an effect on you. If you don’t support the BLM movement and end racism, look how crazy you are, and look how ridiculous you look in the eyes of everyone else.
"Hell you Talmbout" by Janelle Monae +
Go back a couple more years and you’ll find this tribute to the lost. This song is a protest- you hear drums and chants followed by screams of the names of those lost to police and vigilantes. Aiyana Jones, Freddie Gray, and Walter Scott are a few of the names the various singers mention in the track. This is such a powerful and moving song, not to mention has a consistent beat that will intentionally get stuck in your head all day. This song was the catalyst for the hashtags #SayHerName and #SayHisName that we still see all over Twitter and Instagram. At the protest I personally attended, these phrases were the majority of our chants. I think it’s important to look back on this song and see the influence that music has on society. Janelle Monae, a very popular artist among R&B fans, found a way to make an impression on the BLM movement that has continued 5 years later. Like I said before, people are quick to consume black music for what it is- something to listen to. So, how do we make people see even further than the sound and buy into the message being spoken? This track makes it unavoidable- the track IS the message.
"Land of the Free" by Joey Bada$$
According to Wikipedia, this song is fully categorized as “political hip-hop.” Released in 2017, critics identify this song as a response to the current presidency. At the time, when asked about Colin Kaepernick’s kneeling for the national anthem, Joey replied “I loved when he did that because we haven’t seen an athlete stand up in a way that he did since Muhammah Ali … we gotta be heard in some type of way” (CNN). So, Joey used his music. His lyrics make a political stance against police brutality and racism: “In the land of the free, is for the free loaders / Leave us dead in the street then be your organ donors.” That’s pretty personal! He’s making an exaggerated point that while their lives seemingly don’t matter, suddenly it matters if we need something from them. Such an interesting take, but such a good point when looking at white privilege and people’s fear of standing up for BLM. My favorite lyric in this track says “We can’t change the world ‘less we change ourselves / Die from the sickness if we don’t seek the health;” sickness being silence and health being our voices. Think about the current protests- police forces are being reevaluated and police are finally being charged for appropriate offenses. We’ll die from the silence if we don’t speak up.
"Walking in the snow" by Run the Jewels
I’m going to conclude with this song, coming from a very timely LP release. The El-P and Killer Mike duo make up RTJ, a perfect mix of beats and Killer Mike’s success speaking up about political issues. For example, he “has been one of the most vocal artists since the murder of Minnesotan George Floyd” (Melis, Consequences of Sound). He stood beside Atlanta’s mayor in a press release and continues to give speeches to protestors and supporters. That being said, the lyrics in this track are eerily relevant to the current rise of protest: “And you so numb you watch the cops choke out a man like me, and ‘til my voice goes from a shriek to whisper, ‘I can’t breathe.”” Whoa. Eric Garner, who was choked to death six years ago by a police officer, uttered these same final words as George Floyd. How sad that 6 years later the same lyrics would still be relevant. Another part of this song that clearly calls out the injustice of today forces white Americans to look at injustices they currently experience: “Funny fact about a cage/ They’re never built for just one group.” Protestors and BLM supporters are being tear gassed and shot at regardless of race- and suddenly they’re enraged, when this is how black America has felt for years and years. So, while we always had the chance to look away and disregard the treatment of blacks, now we realize we all have more in common with George Floyd than we thought.
Sources: https://consequenceofsound.net/2020/06/song-of-the-week-run-the-jewels-walking-in-the-snow/
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