Image via Complex Original
In popular music, singing anything but a love song can sometimes constitute a risk. And tackling complex issues like race, class, gender, or the environment in a song can be an especially hard sell. But whether a protest singer writes primarily and overtly about politics, or a pop artist sprinkles cultural commentary in with more traditional subject matter, music can be a powerful conversation-starter. In a time of intense national debate, with social issues driving the news cycle and presidential campaign talking points, art that dares to wade into these deep waters is more vital than ever. Here are 10 musicians who’ve delved into social issues in their music, some of whom will be performing at Shining a Light: A Concert for Progress on Race in America, airing on A+E Networks (A&E, HISTORY, Lifetime, FYI, LMN, H2) Friday, November 20th, at 8/7c.
John Legend
Following in the footsteps of his mentor Kanye West, John Legend has long been outspoken about his personal convictions. In 2010, Legend and the Roots collaborated on Wake Up!, an album covering socially aware R&B tracks of the ’60s and ’70s. And Legend has carried on that tradition with his own songs, including the 2008 single “If You’re Out There,” which was inspired by Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, and “Glory,” his song with Common from the film Selma that won an Academy Award and a Golden Globe.
Jamie Foxx
Given his background in comedy, Jamie Foxx having a serious side to his singing career might surprise you. While Foxx has sold millions of albums primarily with seductive slow jams and playful club songs, he has performed touching songs like “Wish U Were Here,” written about the values instilled in him by his late mother, and collaborated on the somber “Live in the Sky” with T.I. Even “She Got Her Own,” Foxx’s 2008 hit with Ne-Yo and Fabolous, was a heartfelt celebration of independent women and gender equality. Outside music, Foxx has occasionally taken roles in films like The Soloist and Django Unchained that address sensitive subject matters, and the actor/singer has gotten involved in charitable causes, recently helping to raise $2 million for the Global Down Syndrome Foundation.
Janet Jackson
Janet Jackson framed her breakthrough album, 1986’s Control, as a revolutionary act, breaking free of management by her famous family and the expectations that go along with her last name, while also expressing herself as a young woman. The enormous success of that album emboldened her to record Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814, an ambitious concept album that addressed racism, addiction, and poverty in songs like “State Of The World” and “The Knowledge.” Over the years Jackson would continue to write about a wide variety of topics, including “Together Again,” a song dedicated to a friend who died of AIDS, which topped the pop charts in 1998.
Kacey Musgraves
Although her songs take place in the same small town America that most country songwriters celebrate, Texas native Kacey Musgraves takes a sardonic view of religion and southern tradition on songs like her Grammy-winning 2012 breakthrough single “Merry Go ‘Round.” And as she’s come to the forefront of a new wave of rebellious country, Musgraves has continued to ruffle feathers with songs like “Follow Your Arrow,” an ode to individuality, and the freedom to smoke pot and kiss anyone of any gender you’re into.
Bruce Springsteen
Early in his career, Bruce Springsteen populated his songs with colorful characters, reflecting the seaside New Jersey music scene that helped develop his talent. But as he ascended to superstardom, Springsteen’s lyrics grew more and more concerned with the United States as a whole, putting the blue-collar struggles of the people in his lyrics into a political or economic context. The iconic title track of 1984’s Born In The U.S.A. lamented the country’s treatment of Vietnam veterans, but Springsteen had to fight to clarify and control his message when he became a talking point in President Reagan’s re-election campaign. In 2000, Springsteen faced the biggest backlash of his career when he became one of the first major artists to write about police brutality, with “American Skin (41 Shots),” inspired by Amadou Diallo.
Kendrick Lamar
With songs like “Swimming Pools (Drank),” a lament about alcoholism that became a club anthem, or the recent radio hit turned protest chant “Alright,” Kendrick Lamar has established himself as a unique voice in hip-hop who can embed serious messages in songs that penetrate the mainstream. His 2012 album good kid, m.A.A.d city offered a complex, panoramic view of his hometown, Compton, Calif. And this year’s To Pimp A Butterfly turned inward with Lamar confronting his own self-doubt, while also attacking racial inequality in America.
Against Me!
For over a decade, Florida’s Against Me! established themselves as a major voice in punk rock, tackling politics and social issues with intelligence and humor on songs like “Baby, I’m An Anarchist!” and “White People For Peace.” In 2012, Against Me! founder and principal songwriter Tom Gabel came out publicly as a transgender woman, taking the name Laura Jane Grace. With 2014’s Transgender Dysphoria Blues, Grace wrote bracingly emotional songs about her transition that were as fearless as anything Against Me! had recorded earlier in their career.
Miguel
Miguel Pimentel is one of R&B’s most exciting, young singers, in part for his vocal agility and energetic performances, but also for the sheer variety of sounds and subject matter that he incorporates into his releases. He sampled John Lennon’s voice for the darkly political “Candles In The Sun” in his Art Dealer Chic Vol. 3 EP, and re-recorded the song as the centerpiece of the 2012 album Kaleidoscope Dream. This year’s Wildheart featured thought-provoking songs like “What’s Normal Anyway,” which examined how Miguel, born to a Mexican father and an African-American mother, often felt caught between two different worlds, before embracing that as part of his identity.
Mary J. Blige
As the “Queen of Hip-Hop Soul,” Mary J. Blige brought a new sense of streetwise grit to R&B in the ’90s. But it was the painful, autobiographical moments of albums like My Life and Share My World that made Blige into an unusually forthcoming superstar, who could tell the world about her struggles with depression, addiction, and abusive relationships. Whether she’s singing frankly about the everyday issues of womanhood on songs like “PMS” or trying to rid the whole world of unhappiness on powerful tracks like “No More Drama,” Mary J. Blige has often used her big voice to take on big topics.
Nas
Whether trying to uplift the children of the world with the inspirational “I Can” or shamelessly rapping about government conspiracies, Nasir Jones is one of hip-hop’s boldest and most revered writers, tackling any topic he wants to on albums like the 1994 classic debut Illmatic or 2012’s acclaimed Life Is Good. He kicked off his career with Main Source’s 1991 track “Live At The Barbeque,” irreverently declaring that he “went to hell for snuffin’ Jesus,” and in the decades since Nas has remained a fearless and restless lyricist.
Tune in to A+E Networks (A&E, HISTORY, Lifetime, FYI, LMN, H2) to see John Legend, Miguel, Bruce Springsteen, and Jamie Foxx in action this Friday, November 20th at 8/7c.