MUSIC

Music has been a means of communication and expression since its birth. With that being said, it is used as a platform for musicians and artists to vocalize their opinions and points of view.

Let us begin with some analysis of music from the past.

In 1929, Louis Armstrong’s song “(What Did I Do To Be So) Black and Blue” was introduced in the Broadway musical Hot Chocolates. (Armstrong, Louis. “(What Did I Do To Be So) Black and Blue). Gold. Universal Music Enterprises, 2006. MP3.

• “I’m white inside, but that don’t help my case, cause I can’t hide what is on my face. I’m so forlorn. Life’s just a thorn. My heart is torn. Why was I born?”
  • All too often, black people encounter the phrase “You’re not really black” or “You’re so white”. A personality type has no race, and I know it sounds cliché but when all is said and done, we are all just people. So why is it that skin has such a strong influence on the trajectory of a person’s life? Skin is not the clothes a person wears, people cannot simply just take off their largest organ and continue on with life. Armstrong makes it clear that his skin cannot be ignored and that it has the strongest impact on the events of his life.
• “My only sin is in my skin. What did I do to be so black and blue?”
  • Armstrong realizes that aside from his skin color, his life has been more or less pleasant. In fact, it is his race that makes him blue, the effects of his treatment being the influence on his emotional stability.

Michael Jackson’s 1996 hit “They Don’t Care About Us”, although not specifically related to New York still presents evidence about social injustice and Race Relations. (Jackson, Michael. “They Don’t Care About Us”. HIStory: Past, Present, and Future Book 1. Jackson, 1996. MP3).

• “I am victim of police brutality. I’m tired of being a victim of hate. You’re raping me off my pride.”
  • Michael Jackson himself was an individual victim of police scrutiny and brutality, but is also speaking for the rest of the Black race.
• “Black male, black mail, throw your brother in jail.”
  • Genius: Black males are often stereotyped or accused of being bad people, through rape, violence, and cussing in rap. Michael is saying that they’ve been blackmailed and no one knows they really are on the inside.
  • The idea of a black male and a criminal behavior of any sort has come to be a common perception.
• “Tell me what has become of my rights. Am I invisible? Because you ignore me. Your proclamation promised me free liberty, now. I’m tired of being the victim of shame. They’re throwing me in a class with a bad name. I can’t believe this is the land from which I came.”
  • America is supposedly the land of liberty and the free, but that isn’t the case. Blacks are being stripped more and more of the rights they fought for years ago. In America, Blacks and Whites are not promoted to be equal. For many Blacks born and raised here in America, it is eye opening to realize that you can be shot for “suspicious behavior” or for even just walking down a street.
• “But if Martin Luther was living, he wouldn’t let this be, no.”
  • Martin Luther King Jr., the prominent leader of the Civil Rights movements would not stand for the current state of the country. His famous “I Have A Dream” speech declared that he dreamt of the day when his children would “live in a nation where they will not be judgment by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” How is it that after all the progress this nation has seemingly made over the years, we still fail to fulfill King’s dream.

Jackson’s “They Don’t Care About Us” was inspired by events that were all too similar to those happening recently. In 1992, officers of the Los Angeles Police Department were videotaped beating Rodney King. And were acquitted by a jury that was predominantly white and was composed of no African American members. King’s case relates to that of both Eric Garner and Michael Brown; Garner’s murder was caught on video as well, while Brown’s murderer was set free for a crime he so obviously committed. The song actually caused quite a controversy before it was even released as the New York Times denounced it, causing the song to not reach much of its intended audience. The controversy of the song actually overshadowed the song itself. Jackson filmed two music videos for the song, both of which were produced by Spike Lee and make a statement. The more popular of the two is the more socially and politically acceptable of the two. The alternate version, filmed in a Long Island prison depicts lots of police brutality that came about as a result of the LA riots among other injustices worldwide. As the Black Lives Matter movement becomes increasingly important and gains steam, “They Don’t Care About Us” has been resurrected in many cities and states, including Ferguson, California, and New York in the riots and protests about the longstanding policies of racial profiling and systematic police brutality.

 

Tupac Shakur, born and raised in New York City, had first hand experience with Race Relations within the city, and chose to use his music as a way of sharing his struggles with the world. His 1999 song “Changes” served to shed a light on the inequalities present in New York since before his untimely passing. Oddly enough, the song’s lyrics manage to strike a chord in many hearts nowadays because their relevance is uncanny and unnerving. (Evans, Deon, Hornsby, Bruce, Shakur, Tupac. “Changes”. Greatest Hits. Interscope, 1998. MP3).

• “Cops give a damn about a negro. Pull the trigger, kill a nigga he’s a hero.”
• Darren Wilson much? How is it that a man can be found innocent and receive severance pay after shooting an unarmed black man twelve times?
• “Cause both Black and White are smoking crack tonight and the only time we chill is when we kill each other.”
  • When it comes down to it, we have to realize that people of all races commit crimes, it’s not a matter of only black and white. But it seems as though Blacks have more typically stereotyped to be criminals and closely related with drugs. It is all too common that Blacks, and other people of color, are associated with and labeled as criminals. Tupac’s lyric is not solely referring to “smoking crack”, it goes far deeper than that. The rapper uses the crack reference to place an emphasis on the crack epidemic of the 1980s which led to connotations that Blacks were commonly smoking and selling crack. The fact of the matter, however, is that both races played a part in the crack epidemic, so if Blacks are so easily associated with dealing drugs, so should Whites.
    • According to an article written by the Huffington Post in 2013, “When It Comes to Illegal Drug Use, White America Does the Crime, Black America Does The Time”, white Americans are more likely to have used the most types of illegal drugs, while their black counterparts are have greater chances of being incarcerated for drug charges.
      • Tupac also makes a valid point about the fact that Blacks and Whites only seem to come together and bond in times of disparity and unrest. Granted that the groups are coming together to protest and make social change, should it have taken this much civil unrest for the races to find common ground? With both races participating in riots, protests, and social media reforms, Blacks and Whites in America have found common ground in their interests.
    • “But tell the cops they can’t touch this. I don’t trust this; when they try to rush I bust this.”
      • Blacks in killed by police in the past year:
        • Eric Garner
        • Tamir Rice
        • Michael Brown
        • Freddie Gray
        • Tanisha Anderson
        • Ezell Ford
        • Darrien Hunt
        • Rumain Brisbon
        • John Crawford III
        • Akai Gurley

Need I really list more than 10 people, or do we all get the point?

Over the past few months, music about social injustice has been created faster than ever. As young blacks have been killed, artists have produced music to voice their opinions about the state of Race Relations and social injustice. A plethora of new music has come to light.

Rapper J. Cole’s song “Be Free”, performed on David Letterman’s Late Night show, offered perspective on the matter. (Cole, Jermaine. “Be Free”. Unknown Album. Roc Nation LLC, 2014. MP3).

• “So now it was like the officer is pulling him inside the car and he’s trying to pull away. At no time the officer said that he was going to do anything until he pulled out his weapon. His weapon was drawn and he said, “I’ll shoot you” or, “I’m going to shoot” and in the same moment, the first shot went off. We looked down and he was shot and there was blood coming from him. Then we took off running. …All we want to do is take the chains off. All we want to do is be free.”
  • A New York Times article released in August of 2014 (Sisario) explains the responsibility Cole and the hip hop community feel. “In the many, many instances where tragedies like this have happened, people in hip-hop immediately feel a responsibility to use the platform they have to raise a certain perspective that is not the default.” Ultimately, this portion of the song is the narrative of a black male shot and killed by a police officer. Released in 2014, “Be Free” was inspired by events such as the shooting of Michael Brown. When Cole unveiled the track, he commented that it could have easily been him, or one of his best friends. “I’m tired of being desensitized to the murder of black men.” Really though, everyone should be tired of being desensitized to the murder of black men. And it seems that many are growing more and more restless as riots and protests have popped up around the country.

In collaboration with a plethora of other artists and rappers, Game released “Don’t Shoot”. With voices coming from Los Angeles, Atlanta, D.C., New Orleans, Miami, Memphis, and New York, the song is home to a solidarity amongst blacks in the nation. (Taylor, Joycean, et al. “Don’t Shoot”. Unknown Album. Tunez, Luney, Summers, Isabella, 2014. MP3). When interviewed Game stated that the collaboration came together easily. “I managed to get everyone on board fairly easy, simply because we have the hearts. We care and are inclined to take a positive approach to resolving an issue that has existed since the beginning of mankind and that is racism and hatred towards one another as human beings” (Weingarten, Rolling Stone).

• DJ Khaled Intro/Chorus: “As we keep our hands up high and scream for justice, Ferguson, rest in peace Mike Brown…Throwin up our hands, don’t let them shoot us.”
  • In protest, many people on social media took to posting photographs of themselves with their hands held up in surrender, triggering the trending “#Don’tShoot”.
• Game: “Seen the pictures, feel the pain, scandalous how they murder son. Tired of them killing us, I’m on my way to Ferguson.”
  • As previously mentioned, about a hundred too many black people have been wrongfully murdered.
• Diddy: “I’m talking ‘bout Emmett Till, I’m talking ‘bout Ezell Ford. I’m about ‘bout Sean Bell. They never go to jail for. Trayvon over Skittles, Mike Brown Cigarillos. History keeps repeating itself.”
  • As P.Diddy begins to state the names of black men ruthlessly murdered over the past century, it because increasingly clear that killing blacks is not just a thing of the past. These murders have happened for years on end, and nothing has changed. As much as people have tried and taken a stand, black lives continue to be taken. Why is it that this country cannot learn from its mistakes? Why must this continue to keep happening? Why does history keep repeating itself? There are still crooked and corrupt policemen with ultimately racist ideas who take the opportunities they are given to take the lives of Black Americans.
• Rick Ross: “Ribbon in the sky, Michael Brown, another soul stole by the system, black men we pay the toll. The price is your life.”
  • Yet another young black male whose life was taken at the hands of the police. Another dream that will never be fulfilled. Another ribbon in the sky.
• Fabolous: “My only question is, what we doing for the loss of Mike Brown? Cause right now, I challenge you to use your talents to. Speak up, and don’t you ever let them silence you. Cause action speaks louder than words, that’s what I heard. Shot down with his hands up, that’s what occurred. Man that sound absurd. Matter fact to me that sound like murder. We want justice”
  • The media’s favorite thing to do is distract citizens. Soon after Michael Brown’s death, celebrities were quick to join in on the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, but only a select few had anything to say about the case. So what was being done about the murder? Fab is calling for action amongst those who have a platform that can be used to make a difference! Every entertainer has the opportunity to use their position to make a difference. Among the list of entertainers who have spoken up about the issue in the last few months are Jesse Williams, Jussie Smollett , Carmelo Anthony, and Jada Pinkett Smith.