RIGHTS CLAIMS THROUGH MUSIC
A study on collective identity and social movements
Dzeneta Sadikovic
Department of Global and Political Studies Human Rights III (MR106S)
Bachelor thesis, 15hp 15 ETC, Fall/2019
Abstract
This study is an analysis of musical lyrics which express oppression and discrimination of the African American community and encourage potential action for individuals to make a claim on their rights. This analysis will be done methodologically as a content analysis. Song texts are examined in the context of oppression and discrimination and how they relate to social movements. This study will examine different social movements occurring during a timeline stretching from the era of slavery to present day, and how music gives frame to collective identities as well as potential action. The material consisting of song lyrics will be theoretically approached from different sociological and musicological perspectives. This study aims to examine what interpretative frame for social change is offered by music. Conclusively, this study will show that music functions as an informative tool which can spread awareness and encourage people to pressure authorities and make a claim on their Human Rights.
Keywords: music, politics, human rights, freedom of speech, oppression, discrimination,
racism, culture, protest, social movements, sociology, musicology, slavery, civil rights, African Americans, collective identity
List of Contents
1. Introduction
p.2
1.1 Topic
p.2
1.2 Aim & Purpose
p.2
1.3 Human Rights & Music
p.3
1.4 Research Question(s)
p.3
1.5 Research Area & Delimitations
p.3
1.6 Chapter Outline
p.5
2. Theory & Previous Research
p.6
2.1 Music As A Tool
p.6
2.2 Social Movements & Collective Behavior
p.8
2.2.1 Civil Rights Movement p.10
3. Method
p.13
3.1 Content Analysis
p.13
3.2 Selection of Material
p.15
4. Material – Songs of The African American Identity p.18
4.1 Slavery
p.18
4.2 Civil Rights Movement
p.21
4.3 Contemporary
p.24
5. Analysis
p.34
6. Discussion & Conclusion
p.42
7. List Of References
p.44
7.1 Bibliography
p.44
7.2 Webpages
p.46
7.3 Music
p.47
7.3.1 Musicians & Songs p.47
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1. Introduction
1.1 Topic
The focus of this study will be on how claims on rights can be conveyed through the way music articulates oppression and discrimination and how that frames societal change. The example used will be the role of songs in the African American community, covering the time from slavery to today. In this study I will talk about oppression, discrimination and rights violations occurring in the United States because of racism and its history of racial segregation.
In order to discuss this, I will discuss how songs which express oppression, discrimination, rights violations, lack of freedom and visions of a better world, include claims of justice and rights. We will have to look at the way artists, musicians, use their ability to reach a large audience to articulate collective memory of an oppressive and discriminating history. How this articulation of collective memory mobilizes a society by creating collective identities and through social movements encourages people making claims based on identity, to make a claim on and fight for their rights by being vocal, pressuring authorities to live up to the law and grant
everyone their human rights.
1.2 Aim & Purpose
The aim of this study is to examine how music frames social change and gives room for right claims. The purpose is to gain understanding and awareness of how music can channel and articulate a society’s history, emotions, knowledge, information, ideas and rights violations such as discrimination and oppression. We will see how music used in this context of social movements, can contribute to pressuring institutions to respect all people’s human rights. With this study, I hope to contribute to already existing research uniting the field of human rights with sociology and musicology, in order to create an understanding of how music can come to play an important role in the contemporary fight for human rights. There is a tendency of categorizing music as pleasure and politics as business, placing those two topics far from each other, when in fact they can be very closely related. I hope to bring attention to the fact that music depicts our society and can shape how it may come to be, as well as further bring attention to the songs included in this study for future research within the sociological and musicological field.
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1.3 Human Rights & Music
One of many roles which music can serve, is as a voice for the oppressed. Voicing experiences of racism, discrimination, lack of freedom and other rights violations, with an aim of raising awareness and achieving said rights, it gives relevance to bring music into a human rights discussion. As music voices violations of rights, we can identify the rights being violated. By identifying people’s dissatisfaction through music, we can locate certain issues or occasions when peoples human rights are violated, e.g. in this case it is oppression and discrimination of the African American community, Music can also suggest and encourage potential action to take in order to make a claim on one’s human rights that should be granted to everyone according to various conventions e.g. ICCPR or ICESCR but aren’t due to oppression and discrimination. Music can encourage people to act in order to better our society and its relation to human rights.
1.4 Research Question(s)
This study will be framed by relevant material and theoretical approaches in order to answer the following main questions:
What perceptions of oppression and discrimination of the African American identity are conveyed through the songs?
What kind of claims are expressed in music?
The discussion brought forward in order to answer these two main questions, will result in rise of follow-up questions such as:
How is music encouraging people to make a claim on their human rights? How are collective identities and music connected to one another?
In what way could the relation between collective identity and music affect a society?
1.5 Research Area & Delimitations
This study will gather research from the fields of sociology, and fields of human rights. First and foremost, musicology and sociology. Within these fields, I will further limit this study to research regarding collective behavior and collective identities, and research that has been done on music in the context of social behavior, as well as oppression and discrimination. Cultural
sociology will be an essential part of this study, in order to establish a discussion on identities,
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To narrow down the broad spectrum of societies, rights and music, this study will be limited to the African American identity, and this community’s claim on human rights through music, on a timeline starting from slavery in the United States and ending with the current day. I limited and divided the timeline in to three eras: slavery, Civil Rights Movement, and contemporary, in order to chronologically and periodically discuss the song texts relevant to that specific time. These specific three periods are of relevance because they have characterized the African American collective’s fight for human rights, and there is already a vast field of research concerning the African American identity and discrimination. The material, song texts, will be limited to genres that are relevant for the timeline covering eras from slavery to current day. Most relevant for the timeline will be, starting from the era of slavery; spirituals, moving on to the era of Civil Rights Movement; jazz, funk, and ending with the contemporary era; hip-hop and rap.
Music from these specific genres are included because these genres have been characterized by or are characterizing the era the music was produced during. The genres evolve into and/or give rise to one another over time, hence the relevance of following a timeline throughout this study. Genres such as metal will also be included, for a nuanced analysis and to show that these types of songs aren’t only occurring within the genres of hip-hop and rap. The music of the first two eras that will be discussed, is limited to the popularity of them within these fields and the occurrence of them in previous research, which is where they are selected from. However, I haven’t yet come across previous research on music of the third era (with the exception of Kendrick Lamar’s music), which I will discuss in this study. That music will be limited to songs that convey racism, and oppression and discrimination of the African American identity, and articulate a collective memory and/or identity. The selection of the contemporary music conveying discrimination has been chosen from artists whose music I am already familiar with. Most of the artist included in this study are a part of the African American community and have legitimacy when speaking of oppression and discrimination of the African American community since they are a not only part of it but recognized by it as members. Here lies the reason for the selection of the musicians Joey Badass, Body Count, J. Cole and Kendrick Lamar. These artists regularly hold big concerts where hundreds, if not thousands, of listeners attend, and they reach an even bigger audience worldwide through online streaming of their songs. One common criterion for selection song texts is whether there is a manifestation of collective identity or collective memory in the music.
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1.6 Chapter Outline
This study will contain brief research on the role of music during American slavery and the Civil Rights Movements that followed, in order to discuss the contemporary situation of collective movements and protests such as the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement and where music places in these social and resistance movements.
In chapter 2, I will present the relevant sociological and musicological theories regarding collective behavior. The theory will consist of previous research done by sociologists and theorists discussing different approaches on Civil Rights Movements, music, collective identities and culture. A discussion on what role culture has in collective identities and how music contributes to mobilization of society and creation of said identities as well as cultures, will be brought up.
In chapter 3, the method used to approach my material will be presented. A content analysis together with hermeneutics, are the methods which will be used to present and methodologically analyze the material of this study, which consists of song lyrics/text. The selection process of the material will also be argued for here. This material will later be presented in chapter 4. The song texts presented cover a timeline divided into three eras starting from Slavery, continuing to Civil Rights Movements, and ends with Contemporary, the current period.
Chapter 5 will consist of this study’s theoretical analysis, where the material will be discussed in relation to, and through, the theoretical approaches in order to answer this study’s main question(s). And finally, a brief conclusion of what was brought up in this study will be found in chapter 6.
All sources for the information used in this study will be listed in chapter 7, in the list of references.
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2. Theory & Previous Research
This chapter will deal with theoretical approaches to collective identities and social movements which are the theoretical framework of this study. The theoretical approaches, and the previous research are combined in one chapter together, because these theoretical approaches are gathered from, and consist of, previous research within the fields of sociology and musicology. This research regards how music can be used as a tool of mobilization in a society and creation of identity, by creating a specific culture where individuals can unite into a group, creating feelings of belonging and shared history. The previous research will serve as theoretical framework. This chapter will deal with different sociological, musicological and cultural theories and research done by various sociologists. Many of the theoretical approaches are selected and picked out from the previous research to be used as a base in this study.
Previous research within the field of musicology constitutes the base for the theoretical approaches made in this study. The previous research within the field is vast, and a lot of research has been done both within the sociological field of collective identities and oppression and discrimination, and the musicological field e.g. the rise of a certain musical genre during a certain time of history. There is research on the relevance the musical genres had in the fight for the human rights, e.g. during the era of slavery and the Civil Rights movement. Research has also been done on contemporary social movements as well as music. However, when it comes to the combination of the two, the field is not as vast, especially concerning the African American musicians brought up in this study. This is where this study will pick up from the previous research presented in this chapter and build further on to it by exploring the relation of contemporary music and contemporary social movements in the analysis in ch.5.
2.1 Music As A Tool
Music may serve several functions and some of these functions which are central for this study will be discussed in this section.
Music gets shaped by cultural and political factors, and often reflects the political situation from that era (Rejai and Phillips, 2001 p.185). Being influenced by historical memories, politics, and culture, music can spread propaganda for ideologies or movements as well as encouraging the audience to act on the issue in question. Specifically, besides creating feelings of belonging and comfort, it can encourage hostile behavior towards the other, outside of that collective. Protest songs used during social movements fall under the category of propaganda. To gain understanding of the actions influenced by music, one needs to understand the way music
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conveys and affects behavior and emotionally based actions. (Grant et. al, 2010 p.184ff) Music offers inclusion and a sense of belonging to a collective by creating a common culture that gives frame for the collective identity (Inthorn, Street & Scott, 2012, p.345).
Reflection of historical, cultural and political events in music can influence and resolve conflicts arising in different situations, creating bonds between a collective past/memory and the current events. A collective can observe itself, as well as other collectives, through the interpretations of the social reality which the music is conveying. This way, ethnomusicology plays a big role in the creation and development of musical frames, by articulating music, which is an outcome of the society, back to it. Articulating knowledge and culture through music empower the community through self-definition and representation. The ability of preserving and mediating culture and knowledge that music possess is different than the abilities language possess. Music leaves room for interpretation, which the audience can fill with their own perceptions and feelings, creating emotional bonds between each other as well to the whole community. This can strengthen the groups’ relations and help resolve conflicts. (Grant et. al, 2010 p.191f) The emotions are essential for a collective identity and in turn a social movement, since emotions can encourage and lead to action and engagement in the political sphere. (Inthorn, Street & Scott, 2012, p.340f) Music as a popular culture offers individuals, youth especially, resources to engage in political activities, starting by talking about the music and exchanging political thoughts and ideas. (Inthorn, Street & Scott, 2012, p.348)
Music can be used as a tool for opposing societal injustices such as racial discrimination and oppression. When speaking of oppositional culture, African American popular culture can be viewed as a way of expressing opposition to injustice, such as institutional racism and racial oppression. Rap music of the late 20th century functioned as expression of oppositional culture
and resistance to issues occurring on the streets. Rap music came to bring light to these public issues and injustices, and art/music came to be used as a tool of resistance. Rap music became African American youth’s voice when opposing the dominant group in the society. Oppositional culture occurs, is fueled and encouraged, when a certain subordinate group in a society is worse off in terms of e.g. oppression or discrimination caused by the dominant group. This relationship between subordinate and dominant groups create tensions and leads to various forms of protest or resistance movements. (Martinez, 1997 p.268ff) When a collective’s ideas and ideologies are expressed by the state, and get representation, the collective doesn’t need to take actions, doesn’t need protest movements in order to get representation. (Eyerman, 2002 p.457)
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2.2 Social Movements & Collective Behavior
Social movements became a central part of collective behavior studies around the time of WW2. Collective behavior was at best viewed as a reflection or warning of the social issues or tensions occurring that should be given attention, and at worst as threats towards government and institutions, as revolution. The understanding of social behavior shifted during the 60’s and 70’s because of the Civil Rights Movement, and social behavior came to be viewed from a new perspective. The previous understanding was that social behavior couldn’t affect and give rise to better democratic institutions, nor that it could help integrate a society. The previous perceptions of social movements were that they were indications of a lacking society and that something wasn’t right, e.g. in the case of the French or Russian revolution. (Eyerman, 2002 p.443f)
It is more likely for alliances to form when people feel like their identities constitute a common ground. Ideologies can also come to play an important part in the creation of alliances for a social movement. Mobilization of a society and alliances are important in a social movement in order to increase the odds of achieving the movements goals, since people with similar ideas and strategies for action taking are likely to work well together for their common goal. The cultural dimension has become a feature in collective actions and play an important role in both mobilization as well as the movements collective identity. It indicates what the people in the movement stand for. (Beamish & Luebbers, 2009, p.650f)
When music is produced it reflects the current societal movements and the historical influences of that surrounding society. Music takes social realities, mirrors them, and reflects them back to society, reproducing the realities. It can serve as an echo of the past carrying onto the present and offer a look into the close future of society and what social changes might be occurring, as well as create social changes by encouraging social movements and action taking. We can hear the social cries for changes and get an understanding of what the society looks like just by listening to music. (Wood, 1995 p.608)
A certain bond is created between the recipients and the ideas that are distributed and supported through music, creating a connection and a sense of solidarity between individuals and collectives. During concerts’, ideologies can be spread as well as significant bodily motions such as a certain hand gesture or sign that are symbolic for the ideologies. These signs that have been used for the ideologies through time and history, create a link between the past and present movements, which generates a collective memory, and mobilizes the audience by establishing a collective identity and creates alliances. (Eyerman, 2002 p.450)
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The oppressive and discriminating experiences from the past don’t remain in the past, they get articulated by collective memory to the present and affects the outcome of the future. The collective memory is a social phenomenon (re)produced by different contexts the collective is part of. Through articulation of memory, knowledge and information of the past is articulated in the present. Knowledge and information of identity shaping events occurring during individual people’s lives which are shared collectively, e.g. slavery, even though they are experienced individually. (Griffin, 2004 p.544f)
Musicology allows us to examine music from the point of view of social shaping and social impact. A common critique towards this social science discipline is that it is lacking in the area of lyrical observation. That is, this discipline observes music from a broader social perspective, the context of when and how the music is created in relation to society. It doesn’t focus on the songs content and what the songs are saying, or how lyrics and organized sound have through history been tools of cultural and political change in a society during social movements.
(DeNora, 2004, p.213)
Music can be used as a tool to transfer memories from the past to the future. It can fill an important role for the collective memory; music remembers when individuals do not. This articulation of memories can be seen at work in the Civil Rights Movements. This articulation of memories creates a sense of belonging which people bond and unite over. A collective identity is created, where people that don’t know each other, nor have lived in the same centuries feel connected and can relate to one another. Social movements can through music objectify itself so that it takes a visible form, getting more attention brought to the issues that social movements bring up, and generating a continuity. Music can serve as support for certain groups that have created a collective identity, as well as recruit new members through inclusion or create alliances. (Eyerman, 2002 p.446f)
Music has been an important tool for group formation and creating collective memory during social movements. However, music hasn’t frequently been researched as a factor of collective identity in social movements and in sociology. Music/lyrics haven’t only served the purpose of carrying and distributing political ideologies during social movements, it has also spread different fundamentals for sit-ins or different kind of resisting techniques. Learning a social movements discourse and how it can be changed legitimately, is of importance when participating in said movement effectively. (Collin, 2013p.450ff)
The way actors in a movement produce and consume text, e.g. song lyrics and how and/or where they place themselves in relation to a collective identity and movement, can be analyzed
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through discourse theory. The practice of music, in a social movement and/or a collective identity, becomes a way for individuals to learn about and join the movement’s discourse as well as taking an active part in expressing the collective identity and altering the collective discourse. (Collin, 2013 p.462f)
Du Bois was a sociologist encouraging African American people’s civil rights in his works. He thought that art should give good/the best representation of the African American people, since they aren’t represented enough in the mainstream media, not represented in a good way at least. (Eyerman, 2002 p.445) It is important for people to define themselves, and see themselves represented whether it be in song, picture or media, rather than letting others spread misrepresentation and negative definitions. This improved the community’s collective self-esteem and helped defying the existing social norms. (Morant, 2011 p.73-78)
Music and musical practices such as singing, clapping and dancing can collectively be used to create a link between different communities and to discuss the collective identity and what they commit to. Music can come to play an important role for members of collective communities who use music as a tool for spreading awareness about certain issues and what interest the community has in them, in order to properly approach and bring attention to them. Music plays an important role in the distribution of information when it comes to social movements and its collective action-taking. This was effectively shown by the Civil Rights Movement. (Paretskaya, 2015 p.639f) Music has repeatedly encouraged and provided the Civil Rights Movement with ideas or instructions for potential actions that would help the movements cause.
(DeNora, 2004, p.218) The way music can mobilize a collective and recruit new members is
by introducing individuals to new ideas they can connect to each other with and strengthen the collective identity. During the Civil Rights Movement, music was used as a tool for mobilization and serving the ones that are already committed to the cause/protests and create a common agreement. (Paretskaya, 2015 p.640)
2.2.1 Civil Rights Movement
Songs about freedom, freedom from enslavement, which were sung during Civil Rights Movements, developed from gospel songs and spiritual hymns. Through song, people convey how they feel and singing in a collective creates a communication between the individuals, expressing the same feelings from deep within themselves, as one. This collective bonded by the same emotions, experience, and collective memory is hard to dissolve. These people put themselves, their lives even, at risk when participating in social movements and collective singing. Courage was essential for participating in the Civil Rights Movement. The instructions
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for the Civil Rights Movement was to be peaceful, so that the police can’t stop them. No violence or conflicts, no singing even, but when the police arrived and tried to stop the peaceful protest and arrest the protesters, they were to sing with all their might and power that their lungs could carry. “Aint a-scared of your jail 'cause I want my freedom I want my freedom” (Hsiung, 2005 p.23f)
A song that has a strong connection to Civil Rights Movements is “We Shall Overcome”. It was sung by slaves, carrying a message of hope, regardless if the context was religious or secular. During the 30’s and 40’s the songs context took a turn and it became to be viewed as openly political, when it got sung during movements and marches. This created a collective identity articulating the historical struggles to the present and became a worldwide protest for different struggles related to labor. (Eyerman, 2002 p.447)
“These songs bind us together, give us courage together, help us march together.”
-MLK (Hsiung, 2005 p.23)
The Civil Rights Movement came to be a movement dominated by youths in the 60’s when college and high school youth took it upon themselves to lead and participate in direct protest movements. (Eyerman, 2002 p.448) The youth brought their popular culture to the movements which came to have a role in the fight for the Civil Rights. Although, the influence didn’t only go one way, it was mutual. The fight for civil rights was conveyed through music, which was a component of popular culture, and music articulated the feelings and memories of civil rights violations and oppression of the collective identity, which emphasized the already existing collective feelings. Collective memory is distributed through music, hence, collective listening to such music, e.g. live concerts, is important for the creation of collective identity. (Eyerman, 2002 p.449)
Nina Simone was a popular Jazz musician during the Civil Rights Movements era. Simone’s songs became the anthems of the Civil Rights Movement, they were the soundtrack, the background songs, of the different marches and rallies. (Feldstein, 2005 p.1379) Before the black power movements and the second way feminism, Simone introduced the vision of black cultural nationalism that is characterized by female power to the world. (Feldstein, 2005 p.1352) People all over the world considered her to have an intense political discourse of her own which she conveyed through her songs and used as tool of bringing up the shameful ways of race violence and segregation of African Americans. (Feldstein, 2005 p.1358) Simone could be found supporting different civil rights movements either by letting them use her name to gain more supporters or participating in them. She performed in Atlanta during the
Selma-to-12
Montgomery marches amongst other. She found politics to be important and affecting her life and surroundings, hence she found politics and music to be related, “two sides of the same coin”. (Feldstein, 2005 p.1361) She wrote “Mississippi Goddam”, one of the most influential songs that has become very important to civil rights movements, after hearing about the church bombings, where black people were the targets and little girls died. Her first instinct was to try to build a gun, but instead, realizing she didn’t know anything about guns and killing, she wrote a song. Music was her weapon. (Feldstein, 2005 p.1369)
Thanks to Simone, amongst others, the American civil rights activism was spread to outside of the US as well as black nationalism. She created deep relations between her music and her politics during her performances and used her words and voice to link together Africa with African Americans when distributing thoughts of black freedom through her songs, that could be applied everywhere and weren’t only limited to the US. (Feldstein, 2005 p.1372f)
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3. Method
In this chapter the method of content analysis will be presented. A textual analysis and a hermeneutical analysis, which are a subcategory of content analysis, will offer the most qualified approach in order to present and methodologically analyze the material in ch.4 which consists of musical lyrics. Because music leaves room for interpretation, when presenting the material in the next chapter, these methods will be combined and used in order to elaborate the lyrics and show my interpretation of its meanings. The lyrics’ meaning motivates why the material was chosen.
3.1 Content Analysis
We as humans use language and text in order to covey our thoughts to other people and affect a broader audience. Language is what sets the limits of our thoughts and actions. In order to learn, educate ourselves, or simply just find out about something that sparks our curiosity, we turn to text, we read about it, and in the case of this study, we hear it through music. (Bergström, Boréus p.12)
A textual analysis is one of the social sciences oldest methods used to interpret various texts, by looking at what point the text has, what words are chosen and used, as well as what the text means in its entirety, the bigger context. The discipline of social science examines human behavior in a society, how different people or different groups of a society relate and interact with each other, which in the case of this study is the African American community and social movements. This discipline is useful in the sociological fields for discussions of segregation, oppression and injustices, which are topics that this study treats. (Bergström, Boréus, 2000, p.12)
Text acts as a tool in relation to humans, it mirrors, (re)produces and articulates human thought, such as thoughts on oppression and discrimination. It can be used to create relations between a group, a collective identity e.g. the African American identity, and other people outside of the group, mobilizing society and recruiting individuals to a collective, and/or creating alliances. (Bergström, Boréus, 2000, p.14) Language is used as a tool for constructing our knowledge. From an idealistic constructivist point of view, there is no distinction between language and reality. We can’t speak of a reality nor convey our thoughts and knowledge without the language. Language represents our realities, the human interaction and relations. (Bergström, Boréus, 2000, p.23f)
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A content analysis of a text can be an examination of both quantitative and qualitative material and is useful when examining change over time, the occurrence of a certain word or phenomena mentioned at different times. (Bergström, Boréus, 2000, p.19ff) In the case of this study, such phenomena are oppression and discrimination of the African American community, which is occurring from the time of slavery to current day.
A content analysis can be used to establish what effects the text can have on therecipients. This way of analyzing a text offers insight in social events or processes taking place in a society, and the social behavior during these occurrences, e.g. concerts or protest rallies. This method can be used to view the way social behavior changes over time, e.g. the behavior of discrimination and oppression, and the mobilization of protest movements. Although, using a content analysis as method when interpreting something might be a little vague when irrelevant material is chosen. It is important to analyze material that is of relevance to the research question, in order to reach a valid conclusion and answer. However, the chosen material can’t speak for the entire field of such material, only for itself, hence the results aren’t general only specific to the chosen material. Usually, in order to get a result and its cause-and-effect, the answer to “why”, e.g. a phenomenon in a society such as social movement or racism, a content analysis must be combined with another method suiting the research. This is yet another lacking thing about the method, since the outcome of the study may change based on the perspective one views it from. (Chadwick, Bahr, Albrecht, 1984, p.240ff)
The Hermeneutic Circle is a process in which you analyze a text in order to understand it
hermeneutically. It is a theory of analyzing the entirety of a text based on smaller parts of the text, and in turn analyzing the smaller parts in relation to the whole text, in order to establish an understanding of the text’s meaning and what it conveys. This sort of analysis will be done when analyzing the songs, which are the smaller parts, in relation to discrimination and oppression of the African American identity, which is the whole context. According to The
Hermeneutic Circle neither the entirety of the text, nor the specific parts of the text can be
understood individually without being considered in relation to each other. (Bergström, Boréus, 2000, p.26) The hermeneutic strategy of analyzing material offers understanding of the context for one or multiple texts. There are three different aspects to be analyzed in order to gain this understanding: The social-historical aspect which consists of considering the time the text was written and who it was meant to be received by, as we will see in the ch.4.1, or 4.2, and how the contemporary song texts from ch.4.3, build on to that historical aspect. (Bryman, 2001, p.370)
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Interpretation is a founding pillar in the content analysis of a text. Interpretation can be complicated depending on the texts character and which category of a textual analysis is applied. A problematic thing with interpretation can be when analyzing a certain word, its meaning and occurrence. Every possible meaning of the word can’t be brought up every time that specific word is mentioned, hence the outcome of meaning may vary. When interpreting a text there are five main components to consider: the text, the context in which the text arises or is presented including its discourse, the producer of text, the recipient of the text, and the interpreter of the text. Based on these components, there are different strategies one can use when analyzing a tex. One strategic approach is relating the text to the interpreter, that is the person analyzing it. Another strategy is analyzing the text in relation to its producer, how the producer wrote it and what meaning and message they tried to convey. A third strategy is analyzing the text in relation to its recipient, that is, what messages and meaning does the targeted audience draw from the text. The last strategy of analyzing a text is its relation to the surrounding discourse, where the text is placed in the context without relating it to the five components/actors. (Bergström, Boréus, 2000, p.25)
The texts content must be analyzed with consideration to the producers use of language. Knowing the context of the text is of importance in order to produce an accurate analysis, but it shouldn’t be the deciding factor of the text’s meaning, only a guiding tool. As previously stated, it is significant to consider what meaning the text has to the recipient. It is relevant to look at how different groups of society interpret the text depending on the collective living standard and difference like for instant economical-, gender based-, educational- and age differences. Different groups of society interpret the text differently based on what social characteristics and tools they possess. This part of the analysis is about getting an understanding of how other people understand the text. (Bergström, Boréus, 2000, p.28f)
3.2 Selection of Material
The selection of the songs was mainly based on the song’s topics, that is, whether the songs are reflecting a collective memory and/or identity, by e.g. talking about oppression and/or discrimination of the African American collective. Out of the wide selection of songs mentioning the issues in question, not every song will be included. The included songs have been selected based on my pre-understanding of the issues in question concerning the African American community. Songs have been selected from the contemporary artists who are mostly, as previously said, a part of the African American community, whose music is the genres of
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hip-hop or rap. The selection of the older songs from the previous eras was based on their occurrence within the field of musicology. These songs were identified through the previous research included in this study and were selected for further examination.
A way to limit the selection of songs will be sticking to certain relevant genres characteristic for the music of the era discussed, as explained in ch.1.5. The process of finding relevant songs was relatively easy, considering that they are popular songs by popular artists/musicians who are known worldwide for selling out concerts and having a high number of sold records and/or streams online. I am familiar with and have heard most of the songs previously. All it took was to gather all the songs I could think of into a playlist, as well as consult with people in my surroundings if they could think of any song which would fit the theme. Such songs were the songs from the contemporary era presented in ch.4.3, as well as the ones presented in ch.4.2. The correct lyrics to these songs were accessible thanks to the webpage “genius” dedicated to song-lyrics, which thoroughly works to have the correct lyrics, and often work close with the musicians or their labels. I wasn’t familiar with all the spirituals in ch.4.1 on the other hand. These older songs were selected based on their occurrence in academic articles and how popular they were within the field in the previous research. The lyrics for these songs were harder to find since they weren’t published on “genius”, which is the world’s biggest collection of lyrics and musical knowledge. There are different versions of the spirituals and the lyrics change every now and then, I picked the version which agreed with and were alike the lyrics used in previous research in ch.2.
Entire songs won’t be presented, only certain parts of the chosen songs. Not every line or word from the songs are relevant or necessary to analyze for this study to be completed. Although, I am aware that this can be a problematic factor and affect the outcome of the results. Depending on what parts of the songs are analyzed, the results may take a different shape. The lyrics included in the following chapter are relevant to study in order to analyze the way music can convey and express the African American collectives’ experience of oppression, discrimination and human rights claims. These lyrics are also relevant to study in order to establish what kind of a role music can come to play and what significance it has had in the historical and current social movements, as the lyrics are brought up by musicians from the African American community. The songs presented from the earlier eras have been used through generations to articulate collective memories as well as identities. The contemporary songs, of the latest generations have taken inspiration from the past generations songs and are articulating collective memories from the past into the present and the future, which has created a sort of
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evolution of the genres when a new one is created from the previous one. Songs presented belonging to the musicians of a non-African America identity are an example of protest music and are brought forth, as said, for nuance.
The songs will be analyzed in relation to the context of rights violations such as discrimination and oppression. This study will analyze how the musicians articulate rights violations and lack of freedom through their lyrics and how experiences of discrimination and oppression are expressed. We will identify rights claim by studying the lyrics, the words used in the text.
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4. Material -
Songs of The African American Identity
This chapter will present the material in accordance with the chosen method. The material consists of songs stretching over time, covering the eras of slavery, the Civil Rights Movement and contemporary movements such as the Black Lives Matter movement. Because of this timeline, the material will be divided in subcategories of different eras, rather than the methodological processes, in order to follow the evolution of the musical genres of the songs. To avoid confusion, I won’t jump back and forth through the timeline, I want the text to be understandable and for the reader to easily follow the timeline chronologically.
4.1 Slavery
Starting from the first point of the timeline discussed in this study, era of slavery, a brief grasp of the historical context of the song texts is needed, as it is a founding brick of the following eras music to come.
During the era of slavery in the US, the slaves didn’t have any rights, and weren’t allowed to do anything besides labor. The only form of leisure activities allowed were such as attending some form of Sunday church ceremony. The slaves found their refuge in Christianity and the bible. The hymns and gospel songs of Christianity mostly spoke of virtues such as patience, faith and hope, all essential to the enslaved African Americans. The hymns and gospel songs and passages from the bible mentioning the enslaved Hebrews and/or Jews found their way into the slaves’ work songs and became the spirituals that we call them today. Even though the biblical hymns spoke of the oppression which the Jewish people went through and not the African American slaves, the slaves related to their messages, since their realities of enslavement was similar. The living conditions and the hope of salvation and rescues depicted in the bible gave the slaves hope of a better future, if not in this life then the afterlife. (White, 1983 p.254f)
The spirituals offered a safe space for expression of feelings, which the slaves weren’t otherwise permitted to express or convey to others. (White, 1983 p.260) Spirituals were used as a tool for making the painful work on the fields bearable. The caller (in the case of call and response songs) called out of pain through song and the other workers in the field responded, sharing his pain, expressing their feelings creating a collective spirit. (Wardi, 2012 p.511) The spirituals were produced during the oppressive and exploiting context by slaves, and targeted audience were other slaves being in the same situation. The contents of these songs mostly offered
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comforting messages and hope for justice. The spirituals expressed the injustice, human trade and abuse which slaves lived through, and called out a hope of justice in the future.
“Chained To The Land” otherwise known as “Hoe Emma Hoe” is an example of a call and
respond work song. The caller would sing one of the following lines and the responders would
sing back “Hoe Emma Hoe” between every call;
Master he be a hard hard man. Sell my people away from me. Lord send my people into Egypt Land. Lord strike down Pharaoh and set them free.
Interpreting this text in the contexts of the slaves realities, this spiritual depicts the slave owner/master as the pharaoh of Egypt, which held slaves and treated people tyrannically. It is a cry, a prayer to god, to “strike” this evil man, to stop his evil doing and give the people freedom.
Through the spiritual songs one reoccurring theme is hope and belief of a future where people won’t be judged by the color of their skin, but their actions and souls, whether it be in life or death. (Wardi, 2012 p.513) The memory of pain and brutal experiences through time is kept alive in the collective consciousness through blues. (Wardi, 2012 p.512) These songs served multiple purposes. Among other, they were prayers, giving comfort and hope to the recipients, workers in the field. They were work songs making the labor go by a little easier and keep everyone working in tact/on beat to avoid punishment. They were covert messages about how and where to escape. They were protests against the enslavement and the gruesome living conditions and horrifying treatment. Physical resisting led to punishment and death. The only way to get comfort and to resist was mental, which were actions suggested by song, even if they weren’t physical or explicit. (White, 1983 p.256)
The song "I Am Bound For The Land Of Canaan" was indirectly about the hope of escaping and going north, where the enslaved could be free. (White, 1983 p.260);
I have started for a city on that bright eternal shore
Where the saints of God shall gather and live on forevermore Tis a land of love and purity where my possessions lie And I am bound for the land of Canaan when I die
This spiritual conveys hope, it speaks of a better place where the enslaved would have better opportunities and be seen as free people with rights where they can own their own lives and belongings, have their own “possessions”, get paid for their labor.
“Follow The Drinking Gourd” was a spiritual which had cryptic directions in the lyrics, metaphors informing the slaves of where to go and find the right escape route;
Follow the drinking gourd,
20 Follow the drinking gourd.
When the sun comes back and the first quail calls, Now the river bank makes a mighty good road, The dead trees will show you the way.
Left foot, peg foot, traveling on, Follow the drinking gourd.
Now the river ends between two hills, Follow the drinking gourd.
There's another river on the other side, Follow the drinking gourd.
These lyrics are an encrypted message of the underground railroad, which was a network of people dedicated to help slaves escape to freedom (History). These lyrics are geographical directions, e.g. “the river ends between two hills”, of which rout the escaping slaves could take in order to travel safe and/or receive help from allies.
There were songs of frustration and helplessness such as “Nobody Knows the Troubles I've Seen”. Other songs are about hope of freedom and strength like “We Shall Overcome” and “Let My People Go” As previously mentioned, “We Shall Overcome” was a source of comfort and hope as the enslaved sang;
We shall overcome
Oh, deep in my heart I do believe We shall overcome someday
Used in the context of slavery it was conveying the resilience of the collective, how they will overcome this oppression and someday live, maybe not individually but collectively, to see better times. All these spirituals inspired by biblical stories conveyed the slave/master relationship, where the masters were represented in the spiritual’s texts as the tyrants. For instance, in the spiritual “Let My People Go” or also known as “Go Down Moses” the pharaoh of Egypt is a metaphor for the slave-owners/masters. This song was a call for freedom and justice to be served;
When Israel was in Egypt's land. Let my people go Oppress'd so hard they could not stand. Let my people go Go down, Moses Way down in Egypt's land
Tell old Pharaoh Let my people go
The Lord, by Moses, to Pharaoh said: Oh! let my people go If not, I'll smite your first-born dead—Oh! let my people go Oh! go down, Moses Away down to Egypt's land
And tell King Pharaoh To let my people go
The song lyrics always changed depending on the context of where the song was produced and received. The slaves improvised while singing and altered the lyrics to fit in personal experience and convey it to the recipients’ collective mind and memory. The singing was simultaneously both an individual and a collective experience. (White, 1983 p.261)
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The spirituals sung in the field as work songs, evolved into blues, which fit better those slaves who didn’t believe that praying to God was a solution in order to improve the slaves actual living conditions and end their suffering (White, 1983 p.262). African American slaves produced and reproduced the spirituals to capture and convey their individual and collective experiences. The spirituals were sung in order to express the emotions and thoughts of the enslaved people, exposed to bondage and oppression for over 200 years during the time slavery was legal in the US, between 1650 and 1863. (Small, 2009 p.46) Even though the spirituals evolved from biblical songs and gospel, spirituals convey and make a strong claim on human rights and better life standards, unlike the gospel songs which rather focused on salvation and God (Small, 2009 p.48).
4.2 Civil Rights Movement
Through time, as the era of slavery passed and the era of Civil Rights Movement started to take shape, blues music and the popularized version; jazz, came to be significant for the era, the way spirituals were significant to the African American that lived during the era of slavery.
Even though slavery was abolished in 1863 in the US, people were still enslaved by the system, which can be seen in cases like the threat of violence and underpaid jobs. The times may have changed, but so has slavery. It hasn’t gone away, just taken a different shape, like debt, labor and human trafficking. (Small, 2009 p.48f)
The rights that once might have been separated as ICCPR and ICESCR came to be very intertwined as one was needed to achieve the other. What started as a fight for Civil and Political Rights came to be a fight for the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights as well. In order to vote for instance, you had to be a citizen, but this reached beyond the civil rights when you couldn’t be a citizen if you didn’t have a home, a house or land, which you couldn’t afford when you were underpaid or not paid at all for your labor. Even though slavery got abolished, there were still laws allowing segregations and oppression of African Americans in the Jim Crow era, and the African Americans didn’t have any civil rights. A way to fight and resist the segregating laws of Jim Crow was for musicians to refuse performing at segregated venues which didn’t allow attendance to every group of the society or if they were discriminating towards a group, e.g. African Americans. (Ward, 2010 p.23)
Billie Holiday’s song, “Strange Fruit” paints a hair-raising picture of the extreme punishments African Americans got simply for the color of their skin;
Southern trees bear strange fruit
22 Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees Pastoral scene of the gallant south
The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth Scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh Then the sudden smell of burning flesh Here is fruit for the crows to pluck For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck For the sun to rot, for the trees to drop Here is a strange and bitter crop
The “southern trees” and “southern breeze” conveys that this is happening in the southern US, the states that declared themselves as the Confederate States of America. These states were the last states to abolish slavery, and they did not do it until the civil war took place. Even after slavery got abolished, it wasn’t safe for African Americans to be by themselves out and about amongst white Americans, even less so in the southern states of the US. The battlefield of the fight for human freedom during the 50’s and 60’s took place in the south of the US (Griffin, 2004 p.546). Considering the context and time when this song was produced, it can be interpreted that “black bodies swinging” in the trees is common enough that it, in some twisted way, might have been a fruit. African Americans were killed, lynched, and burned, and then left to decompose by the white Americans, like they weren’t people, or human bodies. This song conveys to the audience that African Americans weren’t treated humanely or as people. Even though the spirituals and the blues sometime express similar feelings and have the same themes and produce similar content, there is a distinction between them. The spirituals were produced during a time before the civil war, when slavery was still intact. They were slave songs describing the historical injustices, sung collectively. The blues did evolve from the spirituals on one hand and reproduced the messages conveying oppression and discrimination, but on the other hand they are songs of the post-civil war era. The blues depicted social issues of that era, such as segregation laws during the Jim Crow era. (Gussow, 2017 p.84) Nina Simone’s song “Mississippi Goddam” emerged as a gunshot during the era of the Civil Rights Movements in the US. Simone tackles the issues straight on in her lyrics:
All I want is equality
For my sister my brother my people and me Yes you lied to me all these years
You told me to wash and clean my ears And talk real fine just like a lady And you'd stop calling me Sister Sadie Oh but this whole country is full of lies You're all gonna die and die like flies I don't trust you any more
You keep on saying 'Go slow!' 'Go slow!' But that's just the trouble 'Do it slow' Desegregation 'Do it slow'
23 Reunification 'Do it slow'
Do things gradually 'Do it slow' But bring more tragedy 'Do it slow' Why don't you see it Why don't you feel it I don't know I don't know
You don't have to live next to me Just give me my equality
Her frustration and anger over the bad treatment and injustices that African Americans are living with are apparent. Blues music emerged with a cry as an undertone, produced in the context of horrifying and painful experiences which black people lived through, and for this reason there is a claim on blues; it is black music. This theory which Gussow called bluesism says that white people couldn’t possibly understand and feel the pain of historic experience that is still to this day in circulation, which black people face. Hence, white people can’t play the blues in its true way of meaning, they are just trying to replicate and appropriate them. (Gussow, 2017 p.84) The blues were/are an important part of the African American community since it has the power to numb the pain and despair, replacing it with a good feeling, even if so momentarily for the short time it takes to listen to a song. (Gussow, 2017 p.97)
During the post-Civil Rights Movement era in the 70’s “color blind” music dominated the clubs, or discos, where people of different races could meet and integrate, as if the society was “color blind” as well. Still, society faced racial issues and injustices. Out of this popular disco music, funk emerged as a counter to the false image of a “color blind” society, producing songs which contained the topics of racial and economic issues, connecting them to the surrounding society and discourse. James Brown was considered the king of funk, and his song “Say It Loud” was of big significance when expressing the black people’s dissatisfaction and frustration over the racist white society after the Civil Rights Movement. (Morant, 2011 p.73-78) In the following lines of the song, a certain dissatisfaction with the Civil and Political as well as the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights can be noted, e.g. underpaid and/or not paid work. The underlining message of the song, directed at the African American audience, is to make a claim on one’s own individual life, which nobody owns;
I've worked on jobs with my feet and my hands But all the work I did was for the other man And now we demands a chance
To do things for ourselves
We tired of beating our heads against the wall And working for someone else
Say it loud,
I'm black and I'm proud […]
We rather die on our feet, Than keep living on our knees
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The line “all the work I did was for the other man” refers back to slavery as well as unpaid/badly paid labor. Spending one’s life working and struggling for nothing in return. This song is claim on rights such as life, education, and in turn getting a job with a salary, in order to lead a decent life as any other citizen of the US, be able to have a home and vote.
The music started focusing on empowerment of the collective identity as well as individual identity, rather than only oppression and rough lifestyle. Through music the musicians tried to convey to the audience that black culture is beautiful and deserving of equality and tried to get the audience to realize their power through self-definition.
4.3 Contemporary
Even after the era of Civil Rights Movements, self-definition continued to be important, and it was continued by musicians to try to offer better representation. Moving on with the time, from the Civil Rights era we find ourselves in, what in this essay is referred to as, contemporary era, and with it, the contemporary movements.
It is of utter importance for a social movement to change the audiences’ mind and their perception of the past, present and future. After the Civil Rights Movement some African Americans improved their economic statuses and many became members of the middle class, hence they didn’t consider the history of slavery to be very relevant to the context of their own life, their current issues and injustices that were occurring in the lower classes. Social movements are there to raise collective awareness, make the audience realize that the racial problems and injustices are still occurring, only they have taken another form, and/or switched in which area they get expressed. (Morant, 2011 p.77) Racism shapeshifts, as does music. Funk protest music evolved beyond just funk and reinvented itself into rap and hip-hop music, which came to be the new generations tool for making their voices heard. (Morant, 2011 p.80) Joey Badass is one of those musicians who use hip-hop as a tool in order to convey what he is feeling and point out issues in society. In his rap song “Land Of The Free”, Americas history of slavery is portraited as well as the current racial issues in the US;
The first step in the change is to take notice Realize the real games that they tried to show us 300 plus years of them cold shoulders
Yet 300 million of us still got no focus Sorry America, but I will not be your soldier
Obama just wasn't enough, I just need some more closure And Donald Trump is not equipped to take this country over Let’s face facts 'cause we know what’s the real motives In the land of the free, is for the free loaders
25 They disorganized my people, made us all loners Still got the last names of our slave owners
This song was produced during the shift of presidency in the US, when a white racist replaced the former first black president of the US. The song conveys dissatisfaction with this change, which was for the worse and not better. In order to make sure our changes are for the better, the better future we are fighting for becomes real, we need to become aware of the obstacles that are preventing it from happening, we need to “take notice”. The line “Obama just wasn’t enough” expresses the disappointment and frustration over how the first black president of the United States didn’t actually do what was expected from him, to deal with the oppression of African Americans, or at least approach the subject more explicitly. Obama becoming the president was an important milestone and meant a lot for the representation of the African American people. But his actions were falling short when it comes to the improvement of living standards and the treatment of African Americans, as can be concluded from this song and the song “High for Hours” which will soon be presented in this essay. The next president of the United States following up after Obama, Donald Trump, is known for expressing racist (as well as sexist and homophobic) views, especially on the social medium called Twitter, which is the place where the contemporary youth spend their time and connect to each other. It is a common critique that he isn’t “equipped to take this country over” considering his ignorance and neglection of the many issues the country is facing, gun violence among other.
“They disorganized my people made us all loners” can be interpreted in many ways. One way is to interpret it in the context of slavery, meaning that it refers to people being stolen from their homes and sold as slaves all over the world, and when these slaves got families of their own they were sold separately to different slave owners/masters. Another way to interpret this is in context of racial segregation, the division of people and breaking up a collective identity, making people feel like they don’t belong anywhere. Institutional racism segregates people and creates division even internally in the black community. These internal conflicts are created and become a distraction for the bigger picture of structural racism which characterizes the state.
Black on black crime becomes the go-to excuse and diversion of attention when people try to
bring up racism, oppression and the crimes white Americans carry out or let happen. (The Root, 2017)
Criticism of Trump being unfit to be a president is also presented by the metal band called “Stray From The Path” through their song “Good Night Alt-Right”;
It’s 2017 but in a 40’s trend
With a racist president that’s “making everything great again” But tell me when this was fucking okay
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You want the peace? uh-uh, nah that will not fly here ‘Cause if you blink they’re pushing you back 300 years
Trump being the president and expressing racist ideologies, socially legitimizes racism. People see him allowing it and are encouraged to carry on with their oppressive behavior, like carrying around KKK signs, rather than be shamed for it. The message being sent here is that we have stepped back into the 40’s, the era of Jim Crow, where there were segregation-laws, and the oppression of African Americans was legal, by having Trump as the new president.
Racism, police brutality and gun violence go often hand in hand and many musicians are trying to shine light on it. African Americans all over the US get falsely charged and stopped on the streets for simply walking. They look suspicious. Why? Because of the color of their skin. People are being shot and killed, even children like the 12-year-old Tamir Rice (The Nation, 2014) because some white policeman felt threatened by their skin color which he associated with violence and criminality. The fury over these reoccurring killings is also expressed in the previous song discussed “Land Of The Free” in the line “leave us dead in the street then be your organ donors”, which conveys, interpreted in the context of police brutality, that African Americans aren’t seen as people by the authorities, until they die and become “organ donors”. Until other people exploit their human biology. As if their lives didn’t matter. A movement started emerging, protesting the violence and oppression directed at the African Americans, called “Black Lives Matter”, which have consisted of peaceful demonstrations. Marching in peaceful protests and chanting “we can’t breathe” meaning that the racism, oppression and discrimination is suffocating them both as a people and as individuals. The phrase “we can’t breathe” is based on Eric Garner’s last words “I can’t breathe” which he repeated over and over, as he was held down on the ground, unarmed, in a chokehold by policemen until he died. (CNN 2014) (The Nation, 2014)
These cases of police brutality, murder of innocent and/or unarmed African Americans, and racism are also conveyed by the metal band “Body Count”, in their song “Black Hoodie”;
Got on a black hoodie, its hood up on my head I didn't have a gun so why am I dead
You didn't have to shoot me and that's a known fact And now I'm laying face down with bullets in my back […]
Maybe some justice, someone got it on video They say do something, he used to gang bang
They made my homie look like fucking shit on everything Had on a black hoodie, that's all it took
The DA portrayed him as a dirty fucking street crook They let the cops off, nobody fucking marched Nobody had a clue, it's never made the news
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The production if this song followed the large number of shootings of African Americans during the last couple of years (The Conversation, 2017). African American people are criminalized in the mainstream media, portraited as bad people with bad attributes doing bad things. Bad
people being shot doesn’t have the same ring as innocent people getting murdered. Very rarely
do these cases get attention in the news media, their murders never “made the news”, being considered insignificant. No justice is upheld, and people’s lives were taken. The mainstream media is racist in such extent that we can only rely on getting a just and fair reportage of police brutality if “someone got it on video” when it took place.
A musician that is vocal about oppression, racism and things that are wrong in our society is J. Cole. The majority of J. Coles songs seem to be of relevance for this subject. He is one of the contemporary musicians that is aware of the impact he can make on his audience on the receiving end, he uses his words to convey messages and to affect people’s emotions. We can see this by looking at the lyrics of his songs, which will be discussed in short, and what words he uses. His songs say something about oppression and discrimination, which according to the theories discussed in ch.2, can have a powerful influence on collective mobilization and rising collective awareness. Being a popular musician in this era, his words are received by both the youthful and the older generations. When he sings about oppression, discrimination and violation of one’s rights, people in the audience can connect their own experiences to the song. One thing the entire audience has in common and can connect through is his words, all these people relating to the same thing, their struggles are recognized and conveyed, a collective identity is created. His song “High For Hours” deals with racism and its consequences, such as police brutality, and murder of innocent black people;
I thought this was thou shalt not kill
But police still letting off on n****s in the Ville Claiming that he reached for a gun
They really think we dumb and got a death wish Now somebody's son is laying breathless When I was a little boy my father lived in Texas Pulled up in Toyota, drove that bitch like it was Lexus Put my bag in his trunk and headed off for Dallas Out there for the summer feeling just like I was Alice Lost in the wonder land where n****s still suffering Just like they was back home and that's wrong
So now its fuck the government, they see my n****s struggling And they don't give a fuck at all and that's wrong,
Police brutality and the killings of innocent African Americans is a major theme through this song. We can also see the reference to the south of the US, “Texas” and “Dallas”. As discussed previously, the southern states of the US were the last ones to abolish slavery, and even after the abolition, the white Americans were violently racist and narrowminded. Still to this day this
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ignorance and racism can be experienced. The line “I was Alice lost in the wonder land where n****s still suffering” portraits how surreal it feels that this oppression and discrimination is still going on in reality. How people don’t seem to care even though they have a long clear history of what happened, which they are so quick to claim repulsion of, but still are turning a blind eye to the current racism. This song was produced during Obamas presidency and the discourse surrounding the disappointment the African American community felt. J. Cole discussed Obama, further on in the same song;
I had a convo with the president, I paid to go and see him Thinking ‘bout the things I said I'd say when I would see him Feeling nervous, sitting in a room full of white folks
Thinking about the black man plight, think I might choke, nope Raised my hand and asked a man a question
'Does he see the struggles of his brothers in oppression? And if so, if you got all the power in the clout as the president What's keeping you from helping n****s out?'
Well I didn't say n****, but you catch my drift
He look me in my eyes and spoke and he was rather swift He broke the issues down and showed me he was well aware I got the vibe he was sincere and that the brother cared But dawg you in the chair, what's the hold up? He said there's things that I wanna fix
But you know this shit n****, politics Don't stop fighting and don't stop believing
You can make the world better for your kids before you leave it
Like Joey Badass, J. Cole also discusses of Obama being the first black president of the United States but still not living up to the African American community’s expectations of doing what it takes for “his brothers in oppression”, Although, J. Cole has a less of an accusing tone than what is expressed in Joey Badass’ song, as he gives room for the presidents answer in his song. When singing about the conversation between him and the president the lyrics go “he said there's things that I wanna fix, but you know this shit n****, politics” meaning that all of the decisions are made through different political processes and not one man, even if Obama has “got all the power in the clout as president”. The power is divided between the House and the Senate, which together have a lot of different people and representatives of the US. The president’s power to affect the decisions is limited. (The White House) Instead, the message that the musician is trying to convey through the song is rather that the ordinary people, the civilians, are the key to change, and that they are the ones that change the way society works. The people on the receiving end of the song are encouraged to take action against the oppressive system.
Protest music is an important tool of recruitment and solidarity in a movement. It helps bring a movements discourse to the outside and raises attention as well as makes the people outside of the movement support and sympathize with the movements discourse. (Morant, 2011 p.80)
