The first song that I would like to do for this podcast assignment would be “We the People…” by A Tribe Called Quest (ATCQ). This song was released in 2016 and this is significant for many reasons. The first of these being that the rap group became one of the defining groups of the 90s, releasing classic albums like The Low End Theory and Midnight Marauders. However, the group had been on and off hiatus since the late 90s, so this song/album was a major comeback for the group. Earlier in 2016, prominent ATCQ member Phife Dawg tragically passed away, meaning that they would have to finish their upcoming album without him. This death meant that upcoming album We Got It From Here…Thank You 4 Your Service would be the group’s last. The final reason why 2016 is important would be the election of Donald Trump. The album would come out a few days after the election and We The People… was the lead single and is explicitly ant-Trump. Sonically, the beat is different from their earlier music; which had a major jazz component. We The People’s production is in the same vein as the boom-bap beats from New York in 90s, but with a modern twist. How this song becomes a protest song in the lyrics. The first thing said in the song is “We don’t believe, cause we the people”, which is a play on the opening of the US Constitution. This lyric establishes the tone of the song. The rest of the lyrics touch on issues in America like police brutality, the exploitation of young black rappers, religious discrimination, deportation, and the wanting of equality for women. Where this song becomes explicitly a protest against the president is the chorus. Q-Tip says “All you Black folks, you must go, All you Mexicans, you must go, And all you poor folks, you must go. Muslims and gays, boy, we hate your ways. So all you bad folks, you must go” These lyrics highlight all of the things Trump has said about minorities. This chorus is performed in a tongue in cheek manner because they obviously in opposition to the things they are saying. I’m considering this song because a. I enjoy listening to it and b. it is extremely relevant (especially in an election year). Listen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vO2Su3erRIA

The second song that I would like to do for the podcast assignment would be “Americans” by Janelle Monae. This song is the closing track from her 2018 album Dirty Computer. The production on this track is similar to a lot of the other songs on the record. This means that it is a mixture of RnB, electronic, and neo-soul with a distinct Prince influence (they collaborated on this album). This song becomes a protest song in its lyrics and themes. Janelle does an interesting thing with the structure of this song. The verses of the song are politically left and the pre-chorus and chorus are in direct opposition to the verses. For example in the first verse, Janelle makes direct reference to the police killings of black people. She says “hands go up, men go down…die in church, live in jail, say her name, twice in hell”. Just in these few lines, she makes reference to police brutality, the prison industrial complex, the 2015 Charleston church shooting, and Sandra Bland (who died in jail under questionable circumstances). The song is so interesting because the lines that follow go against everything she has previously said (“I like my woman in the kitchen, I teach my children superstitions. I keep my two guns on my blue nightstand. A pretty young thang, she can wash my clothes, But she’ll never ever wear my pants. I pledge allegiance to the flag, Learned the words from my mom and dad.Cross my heart and I hope to die with a big old piece of American pie…Don’t try to take my country, I will defend my land.I’m not crazy, baby, naw, I’m American). These lines are from the perspective a conservative male who would not want Monae, a black, queer woman from protesting racial and gender discrimination in the country. The second verse brings up gender pay discrimination and adds to the protest aspect of the song. Lastly, the song has a spoken word bit that is relevant to the song’s protest message (written below). I’m heavily considering this because I love the album it’s on and every listen I have to the song gives me new information about it. Listen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POZNheF-KdY

Let me help you in here
Until women can get equal pay for equal work
This is not my America
Until same gender loving people can be who they are
This is not my America
Until black people can come home from a police stop without being shot in the head
This is not my America
Until poor whites can get a shot at being successful
This is not my America
Until Latinos and Latinas don’t have to run from walls
This is not my America
But I tell you today that the devil is a liar
Because it’s gon’ be my America before it’s all over