Monae and Co.: Hell You Talmbout

"Staying after school, Cause you wanna go to college"

Janelle Monae's song "Hell You Talmbout" is a protest song about police brutality. The word Talmbout is a condensed version of the phrase "talking about", so the song is called basically called "What the hell you talking about". The song is powerful and meaningful. Although not included as lyrics the song is recorded with people chanting the names of those killed by police recently, with the crowd shouting "say his name" or "say her name". The song discusses the struggles young POC face during time of inequality.

"But we keep on jamming on
Red, white, and blue
Here come the sirens
Only to dance
With the little girls on the corner
There's a war in the streets
Nobody speaks
And now a boy laying on the ground"

The lyrics are talking about the protests that have occurred during the deaths of various people. Throughout these protests, protesters were met with some police brutality. The lyrics can also allude to how police brutality supposedly  killed Freddie Gray back in 2015.

"And dream about, The day you're finally free at last"

For me these types of songs send shivers down my back. Its essentially the same message that is seen on songs form their civil rights era. We have yet fully reached equality. What are your thoughts on this subject?

The link to the sound cloud of the sing (click on the picture)

Muse: Drones Album Review

Muse is one of those bands that have been around for ages and has a large audience, but they are still not considered "popular". The UK band has transformed the way of political music. With influences from the punk generation, Muse continues to break through barriers. Their album Drones is captivating. Front man Matt Bellamy states  that Drones "[is] a metaphor for what it is to lose moder
n empathy, and start to not really care what going on in the world" He related it to using drones in warfare. Humans are using drones and are not really seeing or feeling the consequences. They are controlling and killing with a push of a button, with no real consequence. This also relates to people. people are just living through their phones and not really living. They are becoming mindless sheep due to social media.

The song Dead Inside starts the story. The protagonist loses all hope inside this can be heard in the lyrics "on the outside, you're ablaze and alive but you're dead inside." The next song leads to Psycho, which is about dark forces taking over the protagonist. The dark forces are turning him into a mindless killing machine, a drone. "Your mind is just a program and I'm the virus, I'm changing the station." the album continues the story, the songs following 'Psycho' are fighting the dark forces that have taken over.  The songs 'Revolt' and 'Defector' the protagonist is fighting back and taking control of his life again. The album is a work of art, that shows the struggles people in today's society are facing.

Lily Allen: It's Hard Out Here

"You'll find me in the studio and not in the kitchen"

Allen's song Hard Out Here is about the struggles women encounter in their daily lives. Rolling Stones magazine called Lily Allen's song "a feminist anthem through and through"

The lyrics and the music video are empowering messages on gender roles and body issues regarding

women. The beginning of the video starts with Allen getting liposuction. The doctors are heard saying "we need to get more fat off from the legs". Her "manager" stands over her and proclaims " how does someone let themselves go like this". Allen is overheard saying "I had two babies". The synthpop music starts to play and Allen starts singing. Throughout the video Allen's "manager" is seen telling her to sexualize common things such as, eating, washing dishes, and dancing. The whole video is telling the a story of how women in the industry and in real life get treated. They are seen as sexual beings.

Lyrically Allen's song brings a synthpop feel into a hard hitting subject.

"If I told you 'bout my sex life, you'd call me a slut
When boys be talking about their b******, no one's making a fuss"

The lyric suggests that men are given a more lenient term for having multiple partners(whether sexual or nonsexual). In fact, a term for men with multiple partners was not coined until 2013. However, a women who has had the same amount encounters is called a slut. It is a double standard society has for women.

"If you're not a size six, then you're not good looking
Well, you better be rich, or be real good at cooking
You should probably lose some weight 'cause we can't see your bones
You should probably fix your face or you'll end up on your own"

Women are seen as "pretty things" they are meant to be at home or doing "womanly jobs". teaching, nursing, or even flight attending are the traditional women jobs other than stay at home mom. In addition the lyric discusses how women are perceived as pretty objects. Women are supposed to be a certain weigh, if not then they should be good housewives in order to make up for their lack of looks.

Queen Bey: Formation

Beyoncé on a sinking NOLA police car

"Okay, ladies, now let's get in formation"

The music video for Beyoncé's Formation song alludes to various problems African Americans face in today's society. Throughout the video the camera pans to a New Orleans(NOLA) police vehicle submerged in water with Beyoncé on the top of the car. The video also shows clips of houses submerged in water. One concludes that the clips reference to Louisiana during  Hurricane Katrina. The hurricane devastated Louisiana  and displaced millions of citizens.

Blue Ivy (Beyoncé's child) and co.
 running around with natural hair

 Not only does Beyoncé reference the problem in NOLA, she also references the problems African American girls face with western beauty ideals. She sings " I like my baby heir with baby hair and afros I like my negro nose with Jackson Five nostrils", which references the problem many women face with scrutiny on their natural hair. In today's job market women who conform to western ideals of hair are more likely to be hired for a job then women with natural (Afro-like) hair (Janin).

 

boy and policeman with hands raised
Black Lives Matter

At the end of the video, the camera pans to a boy breakdancing in front of a line of police men. The little boy then stops and raises his hands in the air, the policemen follow and put their hands in the air. The camera then pans to graffiti on a wall , the graffiti states "Stop Shooting Us". This references the Black Lives Matter movement. The movement was created after the fatal shooting of Trayvone Martin by George Zimmerman. The movement "is a call to action and a response to the virulent anti-Black racism that permeates [today's] society (About black)"

Link to Beyoncé's video:

"AboutBlack Lives Matter." Black Lives Matter RSS2. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 June 2016.

 

Janin, Alex. "What the Perception of 'Professional' Hair Means for Black Job Seekers." TakePart. N.p., 13 Apr. 2016. Web. 04 June 2016.