NINA SIMONE -

is straight to the point. It’s actually the first song that my mother allowed me to repeat a curse word to. It is very listenable music, but with a profound undercurrent of political thought. Nina Simone was an expert in this, alongside Billie Holiday. I don’t know if any modern artists are as strong and as fearless as those two musicians were.

MARVIN GAYE -

Marvin Gaye’s classic asks everybody to search the corners of their hearts and brains to come up with solutions for the ills in society. He touches on this theme in a lot of his music, but the message hits very hard in What’s Going On in particular. This is one of my favourite songs, period.