I feel global political oppression or global wars usually produce great music but Macklemore might be the peak.
Nothing against him, some of his songs are good, but I expected real rage inducing stuff with everything going on. Or is this just the state of music as a whole?
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Locals, Ill check them out for sure
mackelmore dropped like a couple of bombs when the palestine stuff was gaining traction in the mainstream.
Residente as well
Bob Vylan.
It’s this super unknown band. Very underground. Nobody seems to know who they are. They’re called Apostrophe.
They don’t exist, at least not in Western mainstream music. Record labels have learned from those artists and will now drop anyone who doesn’t toe the capitalist/imperialist line. Like the singers being cancelled for supporting BLM or Palestine.
And it’s very specifically just for leftist messages. Kanye straight up calls himself a Nazi and sold shirts with swastikas on it and didn’t get canceled for antisemitism, but tons of pro-Palestine artists did. If an artist straight up calls themselves a socialist like Tupac did it would be career suicide.
As someone in Gen Z, I have never heard a mainstream song released in my lifetime that actually attacks capitalism beyond useless lip service or calls for any kind of anticapitalist action by the general public. They definitely exist but only by indie artists who will either never get signed onto a label or will be forced to capitulate to the capitalist propaganda machine if they do.
Childish Gambino? Yasiin Bey? Kendrick? Killer Mike? Hip hop alone has never stopped being critical of the machine… You must be living with your head under a rock or in headphones that only play top 40 or something. There is an absolute wealth of music that takes on the various hierarchies that dominate our world…
Ashenspire’s Hostile Architechture is, in my opinion, a fantastic album. Full-on anticapitalist metal with an operatic twist.
Well recession pop is back, check out the new Lady Gaga or Kesha albums. So there is that sort of dissonance and syncopated funkier rhythms in pop music which can usually be connected to economic and social downturn.
I know that shit is worlds away from what you’re referring to, I think you’re looking for something more aggressive.
I think the 2022 Every Time I Die record Renegade goes pretty fucking hard, I listen to Planet Shit about once a month and just rage.
Planet B by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard goes pretty hard.
You can always check out whatever Napalm Death is doing, much of their stuff is political and social commentary, in fact I love ND lyrics.
No one has the " popular understanding of ‘transgender’ didn’t really exist for gen x but whatever it’s going to be, these songs are mostly about needing to transition but feeling unable to" that Kurt Cobain had, but Kurt did once say that early Nirvana was an attempt at copping Gang of Four, and Go4 is very political, critical and high energy. esp their first album “Entertainment!” and “Solid Gold”. After that they become kinda disco.
Also consider diving into the incredible wealth of protest music produced before the 60s. The 60s is kind of understood as a high water mark for protest music, but IMO a lot of Dylan and stuff was promoted more because he was actually less political than like Phil Ochs. Woody Guthrie, Victor Jara, The Almanac Singers, Odetta, etc., had much sharper politics than most well known artists who came after.
Finally, last but best, not new but largely undiscovered and forgotten, the Swedish RATM: the 1998 album The Shape of Punk to Come by the Refused. By far, one of my absolute favorite left wing records
My whole thing, that a lot of people are missing,this generation doesn’t have a lot of great music produced from the political time.
Maybe it is a rear mirror view type of thing. Billie Holiday did not shy away due to her believes.
If others don’t know, she was harassed by the federal government. Back then, it was easy for record companies to silence you compared to today
So I’m a socialist, in that I go to meetings voluntarily and get in trouble all the time. I spend a ton of time heavily invested in this political stuff. And one thing that is like desperately missing from our movements is any kind of culture. So that’s something that I’m also thinking about a lot, and I think a lot of people are. Not sure what to do really, still trying to figure that stuff out, but I’m actively trying to figure that out.
Run the Jewels def have some overtly political stuff, a few tracks with Zach de la Rocha even, although Killer Mike is a little disappointing politically, but many artists are. They have newer stuff but I just really like this song
Another group to check out is the Coup. Been making records since before the gangsta rap come up in the 90s even. Their newer stuff is pretty popular with young people too.
Both these songs are over a decade old, fuck me
Yes, that is my point. We aren’t getting this generations stop the killing or down with the president. Nixon, Reagon, and Bush all got called out by name.
Kendrick is goimg after a know groomer while a know rapist watches. We are having families riped apart by a secret police force while a netflix anime is topping the charts.
It blows my mind and confuses me. Especially when I hear younger generations complain about nothing being done, while their peers do nothing.
I guess I should be happy no one recommended country music.
RATM listeners as a group didn’t do anything either.
I don’t think music actually compels people to action, conditions do.
nothing being done
Yeah that’s kind of like its own sort of doomer individualism. I wish I could tell you, as someone who teams up with others to do things that the view disappears in practical work, but tbh it seems like it only increases. Idk. There are def lots of young people joining the movement. Hasn’t reached a critical point but it’s growing.
I wish we had more artists since most are like political sickos
That kind of mainstream, popular, “counterculture” hasn’t existed for like 20 years. Popular music is laser precise with focus groups and streaming, and they don’t need that kind of sneering acceptable dissent.
“Anti-colonial” by End It is nice. Propaghandi is cool. I like Stick To Your Guns.
The drummer for System is pro-Trump, and still plays with the group iirc. They were never as radical as their image.
Kneecap
Most punk like Bad Religion, Dead Kennedys, Anti Flag, Black Flag, The Clash, Dropkick Murphys has been very political from the start.
I know they are older now but Dead Prez, Foo Fighters, Rise Against and System of a Down are still active. Then there is the much older Roger Waters who has been very political throughout his career. And let’s not forget the legendary Los Tigres Del Norte.
But coming back to younger artists
- Killer Mike
- Kendrik Lamar
- Childish Gambino
- Anderson.Paak
- Bambu
- Andrew Jackson Jihad
- Feminazgul
- Lowkey (British rapper)
I’m not saying there isn’t political songs, I’m saying this generation doesn’t have those as much.
I also love that you said younger artists then named killer mike. Makes me feel like a teen.lol
Bob Vylan and Kneecap seem to be pulling their weight.
Haha. I tend to mix time in my head sometimes. My age is showing!
Bad Religion are working on a new album too
whoa Lowkey mentioned! yeah, that’s the kind of politically conscious hip-hop I meant. Immortal Technique was even moreso, but he’s been inactive for a long time and the extreme homophobia makes it hard for me to listen to, which is a shame.
Yes. I would like to think he was a product of the toxic masculinity culture, especially due to his time in the prison. It is a shame that while he was being radical on one front, he managed to dehumanize people who should have been his allies.
Dub Fx? Check out Cracks in the Mirror. Definitely not as popular as your examples though
That is my whole point. There is a lot of amazing music but no major breakouts know globally. This post is filled with wonderful examples but 90% have to be searched to figure out who they are.
Say the Doors in the late 60s or early 70s and everyone knew who you were talking about. We don’t have that as much.
Yeah, I see that. But I guess that has more to do with how music is produced and “consumed” nowadays rather than the artists themselves - a couple of decades ago it was really tough to get signed by a label, whereas now anyone can produce hits in their bedroom. This has, imo, led to a more “decentralised” music scene, and also to more focus on singles rather than albums. The fact that media outlets, including radios, are corporate-owned definitely doesn’t help too.
I feel like that should produce more of those songs. Less thumb on the scale powers to hold you down.
Old songs did a great job of mixing the meaning into the songs. Most singers don’t write their own songs. That might be a issue and auto tune can turn anyone into a singer. I used rock and rap as an example due to them usually being more hands on.
Kneecap have been getting massive publicity because of their pro-palestine/anti-genocide stance. I haven’t listened to much to their latest stuff, but I should re-explore them.
Great music, they could turn into that band with a few massive hits.
Elder Millennial and gen x. Rage and nirvana are my jams.
I took my daughter to a concert some years ago, when she was in middle school, and before any bands went on, “Killing in the Name Of” started up. I told her “at the end of the intro when the song starts up, everyone in the audience over 30 will start bobbing their head” and sure enough, thousands of adult chaperones all at once just start grooving
“With the instant availability of information, and content so easily obtainable, is the culture now a product that’s disposable?“
This quote goes back to 2007. 18 years later it’s not even a question anymore, music and the culture around it has become disposable.
There’s always going to be great bands and artists who have something to say! I’ve heard some of my favourite bands just in the last 10 years. But society is never going to look at music the same, it’s just something people tap on their screen and give a quick listen, or worse; just watching some idiotic lip sync to a 20 second excerpt of it on tik tok.
I’m sad about how right you are.
This is America was produced in 2018. Say the word Mustard around a lot of people and they know what you are talking about. That is my whole point. We still have massive hits but no rage against the governments or wars.
I also feel that the design of current music ecosystem is doing this as well. They can stop music being released or throw money at it.
We don’t have the bands kicking, for the most, against capitalism.
How many indie punk bands do you listen to? In the 80s and 90s counter culture and anti-establishment is what sold music, and that’s why bands like Rage were able to go mainstream. Producers and promoters don’t support bands like that anymore because they know they won’t make as much profit.
My counter point is music is way easier to consume now. You can find no name bands everywhere. Durry is a great example of a band born out of the pandemic. Older group that is anti “normal” life. Seen them in concert amd have really hit a groove in their music. Indie bands have a way as before you heard them on some AM station.
It feels like less and less big artist are less vocal against what is happening. They will speak or make a post but their music is still the same ol same ol.
It feels like less and less big artist are less vocal against what is happening. They will speak or make a post but their music is still the same ol same ol.
My point is that artists who are vocal don’t make as much profit for the record labels as they used to, so they’re not being promoted as much as they used to. RAtM only became as big as they are because they were profitable for Sony. Ironic, isn’t it?
Most people are anti-war or anti-genocide. It seems like an easy payout for artist right now. Kneecap and Vylan showed that. Most people never heard of them until the BBC stuff recently.
There’s also the wider political angle to consider. The 90s was very safe for media companies to push revolutionary talk, there was no chance it’d actually turn into revolution. Now, shit’s starting to go down, and media companies don’t want the government to think they’re encouraging revolution.
Please remember that Parental Advisory and TV Parental Guidelines started in the 90s. 2 Live Crew was taken to court and declared legally obscene by a federal judge in 1990. Every generation has been through this.
And there’s no real coming back from this. If it were me I’d raise taxes on art, particularly the big players, to reduce the monetary incentives and drive the big corporations out. That’d be a start, politically unpopular and visciously opposed by Disney but a start.
I think policing art is bad, but if all the art in the world was just made as a hobby project that would probably be a better world. Less art, more valued, more honest.
