When Music Becomes Political Protest

The Pitchfork Review

Pitchfork

Music, Music Commentary, Music Interviews, Music History

3.3 • 844 Ratings

🗓️ 30 October 2020

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In a year of historic protests, on the eve of a critical election, we’ve been thinking a lot about the place of music in movements for social and political change. In this episode, Pitchfork Editor Puja Patel speaks with Jason King, professor at NYU and founding faculty member of the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music, and Allison Hussey, Pitchfork Associate Staff Writer, about the changing role of protest music across American history, from 19th-century Black spirituals to Public Enemy, Lady Gaga, and Janelle Monáe. They also touch on the secret history of a Bob Dylan classic, and the new ways pop stars have engaged with activism in the social media era.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is the Pitchfork Review. I'm Pooja Patel, the editor of Pitchfork.
0:08.3	So we'll get right to it. All that anyone can think about right now is the upcoming election,
0:15.4	which is arguably the most important one in recent history. The stakes were already high going into 2020,
0:22.7	and this year's whirlwind of historical events has heightened them even further. And for many of us
0:28.7	at Pitchfork, we've been asking ourselves, what does the role of music play in the midst of social
0:35.0	and political upheaval? We turn to music for comfort and
0:38.7	cassarces, sure, but how and when does music also have the ability to make a real change?
0:45.0	And as musicians have become more influential than ever, what's their role in it all?
0:50.6	So today we're going to try to get at those questions and maybe answer some of them with the help of some friends.
0:56.1	With us, we have Allison Hussey, an associate staff writer here at Pitchfork, and contributor Jason King, who is an associate professor at NYU and a founding member of the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music.
1:10.0	Hey, guys. How's it going? Hey, you. Hey, Recorded Music. Hey, guys.
1:10.9	How's it going?
1:11.7	Hey.
1:12.4	Hey, Pugia.
1:13.3	Hey, Alison.
1:14.3	So I feel like we should just start with, do you remember the first time that you were
1:21.3	aware that a song or a piece of music that you were listening to was infiltrating your social consciousness
1:29.0	as well or kind of bringing out values or ideals or political feelings or leanings within
1:37.6	yourself that you might not have tapped as clearly before?
1:43.5	Yeah, I mean, one thing that was absolutely formative for me was when
1:48.3	I was about 15, I took guitar lessons for a year from a guy named Max, who had really deep, deep
1:55.3	background in performing blues and country music. And that obviously informed a lot of his teaching.
	...

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