Tag: Justice Through Music

OCT 24, 2011 - L.A. musician rapper Everlast writes a song for these tough economic times singing "I barely get by" while he hits on cops, government, subprime mortgages and more.

"I Voted for some change and its kinda strange cause thats all i got in my pocket. I bought a few LEDS and I'm growing some trees its a sweet thing the DEA don't come knocking. I told y'all before that i would break the law to put food in my baby girls belly cause the senator man took a bribe in hand and shipped my job to New Delhi."

Check it out:

OCT 24, 2011 - Ry Cooder is a musical activist that is not afraid to speak out on issues, and his latest album, "Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down" hits on the bailout, immigration, war and more. From his website:

"His latest album, Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down grew out of this information void—and the pervasive political and corporate double-speak that began swirling in its absence. Snaking through it are familiar themes—the struggle toward real democracy, the trials of the working man, the elusive goal of equality—set against the mayhem of contemporary front page news. [It] has been Cooder’s way to consider some complex questions, to pull back the curtain on the “official stories” by applying a healthy dose of reporter-style skepticism. The album gives “voice” to those affected by corporate greed, self-serving legislation, a culture of fear and hate—and the corrosive nature of apathy.

Consequently, these 14 songs—voices from the wreckage—work as a meditation on not just the state of the union or of the world, but really the state of our hearts and minds—our priorities and values. What happened to the concept of community? Who are we behind our fences and multi-billion dollar homes? What have we—or are poised to—become? Cooder sets these questions in motion, some as “eyewitness” soliloquies, others as allegories—in “El Corrido de Jesse James,” the erstwhile-bank robber asks God if he can have the .44 he checked at Heaven’s gates so he can clean up Wall Street. In “John Lee Hooker for President,” Cooder, fully inhabiting Hooker’s pace and flow, the musician re-appears to make a run for the presidency after being turned away from the White House door."

OCT 24, 2011 - Willie Nelson and his wife Annie wrote a poem, and then made a video together and released it on the Internet in a show of solidarity with the Occupy movement that is sweeping the country. In the video Willie says he, "We stand with humanity, against the insanity." "We're the seeds, we're the core. We're the ones we've been waiting for," Annie says in the video. You can check it out below:

OCT 22, 2011 - Rapper Immortal Technique spoke his mind in a WeAreChange video hitting on politics, war, immigration, race and more from Occupy Wall Street. He said, "This is one of the best expressions of democracy that people have seen in America for the past few decades. Unlike the Tea Party, this is organic; it's not corporate-funded, it's not funded by the Koch brothers. This isn't a re-election campaign for Obama. We're willing to put his second term on the altar of democracy and sacrifice it if we need to." He said everyone should do that to send a message that the movement demands real change, not superficial. Check out the interview below.

OCT 21, 2011 - Musicians at Occupy Boston have helped spark discussion at Dewey Square in downtown Boston it says an article by TheCrimson.com, and requests for bands to perform on the stage have swamped the organizers. In the article media representative Philip J. Anderson says, “[Music] boosts morale and builds community, especially on rainy days. Music is just one of those things that can galvanize movements—especially with songs that everyone knows and can connect with.”

Organizer Kelley P. said, “[Performers] are fighting for the same causes and the same rights that we are. It’s not as easy for a band to get nationally signed to a worldwide record deal anymore. The music industry has changed so dramatically and a lot of these artists struggle with their art and their music. They write songs about situations like these and they’re there [at Occupy Boston] because they are part of the 99 percent.”

Read the rest of TheCrimson article here.