“Where words fail, music speaks”
– Hans Christan Andersen, 19th century Danish author
Music has, and will always be, the medium that represents the human condition and innate creativity. While other creative mediums certainly allow self expression and representation, music remains special for its ability to move emotions beyond visual practices. Whether through rich oral traditions like Griots or through angsty breakup-pop songs, music creates a platform that allows those who listen to participate firsthand in the feelings, emotions, and experiences of an artist. Thus, music has been used for generations to advocate for groups, allowing voices to be heard and stories to be told.
For my Hack #4: Remix, I tapped into this inherent quality of music to create a product that pays homage to legendary songs of advocacy throughout different time periods. By using Logic Pro, a digital audio workstation, I combined and remixed the tracks “What’s Going On” (1971) by Marvin Gaye, “This is America” (2018) by Childish Gambino / Donald Glover, and “Water No Get Enemy” (1975) by Fela Kuti. These three songs all share a common theme of using music as a way of fighting oppression and injustice caused by institutionalized racism, prejudice, and government corruption. It is important to note that despite their different time periods, historical contexts, genres, and styles, music gave these artists a platform to spread awareness and advocate for the oppressed.
In 1971, Marvin Gaye, one of the most influential and important musical figures of history for his contributions to Motown and Soul, released arguably his most important project, What’s Going On. The album instantly gained attraction for its heart-wrenching melodies, applicable lyrics, and emotional grip, giving it both commercial and critical attention. The title track (by the same name) was mostly responsible for this overwhelming success. It topped the Hot Soul Singles chart for five consecutive weeks, remained at number two on Billboard Hot 100, and was ranked number four on the Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time magazine in 2004. What mainly inspired this single (and project as a whole) was through an experience with police brutality in People’s Park (Berkeley, California). On May 15th, 1969, Renaldo “Obie” Benson, a member of the Motown group, the Four Tops, encountered police brutality against anti-war activists who were holding a protest for the Vietnam War. Struck and bothered by what he saw, Benson wrote and composed a song about love and understanding in response, which he then presented to Marvin Gaye. Gaye then altered the song, adding new lyrics and melodies, forming it into a narrative rather than simply another musical track. Eventually, the track became just as monumental to Gaye as he had been inspired to advocate against war and hatred upon hearing emotional stories from his brother Frankie Gaye, who had served three years during the Vietnam War. Some lyrics that reflect these feelings include:
“You see, war is not the answer
For only love can conquer hate
You know we’ve got to find a way
To bring some lovin’ here today
Picket lines and picket signs
Don’t punish me with brutality”
Similarly, “This is America” by Childish Gambino uses tactics of music and art to advocate against hate and societal inequalities. In 2018, Childish Gambino, or Donald Glover, released this gripping single alongside one of pop culture’s most famous music videos. Both the single and the music video gained instant traction with over 12 million views / listens in the first 24 hours and over 950 millions views to date. It won all four of its nominations at the 61st annual Grammys: Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Rap Performance, and Best Music Video. Its popularity was not only due to its catchy rhythms, melodies, and bassy instrumental, but its reflections on the Black Lives Matter Movement, systemic racism, racial prejudice and injustice, gun violence, and the Black Experience. While lyrics like, “police be trippin’ now” or “guns in my area” explicitly offer Glover’s stance on these societal issues and his purpose of artistry, “This is America’s” music video offers a far richer commentary on the Black Experience in America. The music video has also been analyzed by countless scholars on institutional levels (even here at Davidson, FMS220), to unveil its depictions of historical inequality. From the allusions to Jim Crow caricatures, the 2015 Charleston Church Shooting, and even South African dances, Gambino relies on artistic musical and visual choices to deliver powerful commentaries on racism and prejudice within America.
Finally, Fela Kuti’s afrobeats track, “Water No Get Enemy,” also uses music and artistry to fight against systematic oppression and discrimination. Afrobeats is a genre originating from Nigeria in the 60s and 70s that features a blend of West African music with American jazz and funk. It emerged primarily through Fela Kuti, a crucial figure for the genre’s historical, social, and musical importance. Oftentimes, Kuti used his music to criticize and advocate against the Nigerian military dictatorship during the 70s, using Afrobeats as “a form of resistance” against pervasive norms, government structures, and colonial brainwashing. Through the genre’s blend of traditional Yoruba music (specific West African styles and rhythms), afrobeats relies on syncopated rhythms and complex percussive elements to act as method of self expression and storytelling. “Water No Get Enemy,” one of Fela Kuti’s most famous tracks, was released in 1975 in response to controversial actions regarding clean water sources. Alternatively translated to “water has no enemy,” the song is based on a Yoruba proverb that advises living in harmony with nature. Through the lyrics, the song claims that water, since it is an essential part of life, has no enemies; it is the basis of all life and provides sustenance to every corner of the earth. Kuti, however, is arguing that humans have become the enemy of water, polluting its sources, limiting availability, and destroying the harmonies of nature. By using jazz-inspired structures and methods of improvisation, Kuti (and the other musicians in the recording) freely advocate and criticize the systems that perpetuate the antagonization of water through music.
With this historical context of each song, my Hack #4: Remix exhibits the ways in which music has been used to advocate for or against a purpose larger than itself. By using intentional choices like resampling, chopping, splicing, stem-splitting, and MIDI recording, I combined each track to tell a new story of how music has and will always be used as a powerful voice for society.
Firstly, I used Logic Pro’s time warping ability to match the tempo of every audio track. Luckily, “What’s Going On,” “This is America,” and “Water No Get Enemy” are relatively around the same tempo, so time stretching and altering tempo wasn’t an issue. I then used the stem splitting ability in Logic for each track, which allowed me to isolate the vocals, drums, bass, and other musical elements of the song. Using this feature allowed me to blend the different parts of each song in a fluid, clean way. After each track was ready, I decided to juxtapose the smooth, orchestral instrumental of “What’s Going On” with the energetic vocals and trap inspired drums of “This is America.” This juxtaposition created an engaging product that thus recontextualized the meanings of each song. I also resampled vocal sections of “This is America” further emphasizing this idea of recontextualization and storytelling. I then combined a 4 bar looping instrumental section of “Water No Get Enemy” with vocal samples from both “What’s Going On” and “This is America.” “Water No Get Enemy” is in the key of D minor while “What’s Going On” is in the key of E major, so I had to transpose “What’s Going On” up by one semitone so they could fit together. Finally, I concluded the remix with my own recording of a neo-jazz, funk piano solo. I thought that adding my own language and voice in the form of a jazz inspired solo paid homage to the idea of music being a form of free expression for all. In conclusion, my Hack #4 combines these three very different, yet similar for their purpose in the context of societal contribution, songs to depict how music acts as a form of advocacy and voice.
I broke rule #2
Credits:
Marvin Gaye, Al Cleveland, Renaldo Benson. “What’s Going On” (1971), Tamala.
Donald Glover, Ludwig Göransson, Jeffery Lamar Williams. “This Is America” (2018), RCA.
Fela Kuti. “Water No Get Enemy” (1975), Knitting Factory Records.
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