Dear pop stars: Where are the protest songs?
What does protest music sound like in the age of Trump? Today’s biggest pop stars have some ideas.
According to Katy Perry’s “purposeful pop” song Chained to
the Rhythm, the resistance is a disco track about suburban malaise. Lana Del Rey claimed North Korea as the inspiration behind her new song Coachella — Wood
stock in My Mind, a track that’s as fiery as a music-festival flower crown. Miley Cyrus told Billboard she’s making a “political” new record. Yet, her lead single Mali
bu had all the Americana influences of Laurel Canyon folk and none of the progressive politics.
Considering all three of these stars have been accused of appropriating urban culture, it’s time they stop stealing and start listening. Since the election, hip-hop artists have released the defining music of the Trump resistance.
Hip-hop’s political conscience is nothing new, with protest ingrained in the storytelling of the genre’s forefathers.
Kendrick Lamar’s chart-topping DAMN. is 2017’s best-selling release so far, an album that weaves vivid narratives about race and poverty in America.
A month after DAMN.’ s release, Logic’s Everybody replaced Lamar’s album at No. 1. Everybody features verses from Public Enemy’s Chuck D, Black Thought from the Roots and Killer Mike from Run the Jewels, uniting three decades of socially conscious rap. The month before, Joey Bada$$’ All-Amerikkkan
Bada$$ landed at No. 5, an album that borrows both its spelling and its excoriation of police brutality from Ice Cube’s 1990 classic AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted.
Alongside Lamar, Logic and Bada$$ are A Tribe Called Quest and Run the Jewels, two groups whose pre-Inauguration Day albums focused heavily on politics. Snoop Dogg drew ire from the president for his Lavender video and YG and Nipsey Hussle released the boldly titled track (Ex
pletive) Donald Trump. And the best recent example of Trumpera “purposeful pop” is Solange’s
A Seat at the Table, released a month before the election, yet more politically resonant than few works of popular music since.
Of course, the spectrum of anti-Trump music extends beyond just Lamar and Perry. Modern folk music, has seen recent songs like Jason Isbell’s Hope the High Road and Bruce Springsteen’s
That What Makes Us Great, anthems focused more on staying positive than taking a stand. Neil Young and Green Day released social justice-oriented albums last year, and Gorillaz’ new Hu
manz references the dread, if not the politics, of life under Trump. And with full albums coming from Perry, Lana and Cyrus, in addition to Ani DiFranco and Jeff Tweedy, there’s more potential for protest songs to come.
Less than seven months since the election seems too soon for a
Blowin’ in the Wind- style generational anthem to arrive. But considering the bold statements from the hip-hop world, the protest song that comes to define the Trump era will likely sound less like Imagine and more like Alright.