The Power of Color in Music
By: Juan Martinez
Tags: Equality, Blm, Music, Protest, BlackLivesMatter

Throughout the course of history, people of color have been highly mistreated. Racism targets many nationalities, especially those from the African-American and Latinx communities. To fight against these injustices, many musicians and artists use their art to address racism. Kendrick Lamar, Marvin Gaye, and others write music depicting racism and the negativity surrounding racism, and not only do they write music, but they have also created events and donated money in order to help. For these reasons, we can make an educated guess that music indeed helps spread awareness to dismantle systemic racism. If enough people can spread the music of these artists and the artist’s accomplishments, it may be possible for people to realize the evil realities existent in our nation, and wider world, because of racism.

Music has been connected to the cause of fighting against segregation for many years, from rock to rap. Even though it may appear as if discrimination has decreased, it still exists in today’s world and needs to be ended. As stated previously, many artists fight against racism and because of their large audience, their message spreads faster than any other means. Not only do artists speak on the interactions that they as people of color have dealt with, but they also highlight the poor and dangerous communities they have to live in because of their identity. Although there are going to be people who disagree with the artist’s message, there will still be other people that are connecting to the music. Artists should keep on making musical masterpieces about their personal experiences to share the continuous trauma and struggles people of color are forced to deal with because of racism.

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

Kendrick Lamar is one of the best-known artists, and is recognized for the powerful messages in his music. He is an African-American rapper. Raised in a poor community dealing with gang activity every day, Lamar managed to create a better and safer life (Smuskiewicz). Unfortunately, not everyone is lucky enough to get out. Lamar acknowledges this and uses his platform to say so. Some of his songs that speak on social issues include “DNA”, “King Kunta,” and “I.” Out of all the songs listed, “DNA” is one of his most well-known songs. “DNA” is about the way the world views the color of his skin versus the way he views it. In addition to his music, Lamar has used his Grammy performances to speak on racism and gang violence. In his 2018 performance, he strung together many of his songs in one beautiful and stunning performance (“Grammy Rewind”). With this incredible performance Kendrick Lamar was able to spread the importance of stepping out of one’s own world to understand that of others.

Excerpt | Full performance available on Grammy Rewind.”

Marvin Gaye was an African-American singer and songwriter commonly known as the “Prince of Soul.” He had a pretty rough childhood, mainly because of his abusive father (Talevski). In one Marvin Gaye’s songs called “What’s Going On,” he spoke about racial issues. This song blew up, won a Grammy, and was covered in the Rolling Stones magazine (Perone). In an article, James E Perone explains the legacy of Gaye’s song more clearly. “Despite the fact that ‘What’s Going On’ essentially is a protest song, Gaye’s musical setting features a lush, spacious arrangement, something that was disarming and highly unusual for a politically and socially motivated song of the time period.” To summarize, Gaye’s song was extremely motivational and his legacy should continue more in music, due to the fact that racism still exists as well through unemployment and such. We can assume that, because of its popularity, this song helped a lot of people. With the information we have on Marvin Gaye, we can tell that he used his platform to spread his message on racial inequality. His music worked really extremely well for that purpose.

Music has a way of connecting to many listeners, so much so that it can even touch the soul. Because of this, an artist’s audience members want to share their interests with different people they know. This is how music gets spread around the world. If the music is good enough, it becomes mainstream; if the artist is lucky enough, they awards. As mentioned in the previous paragraph, Kendrick Lamar is perhaps one of the most influential musical artists in the realm of social equality. With Kendrick Lamar’s music being mainstream, and others as well, we may be able to use their actions as an example. The more that award-winning artists use their platforms to support causes, the more awareness people have. To continue, artists like Kendrick Lamar are fighting hard to spread the message of what people of color are going through. This is why artists should join the fight for equity. The fight is yet not over.

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History plays a huge role in today’s world, from racial inequality to massacres. Knowing and understanding what has been done, we are able to learn from these past experiences, reflect and grow from them to become better than we were. Unfortunately, there are still people in today’s world who do not understand this. By spreading positive messages, using things like music and media, people may understand different perspectives and realize how they can evolve and become more compassionate. We may be able to use history to gain information or to recreate something and make it our own. One of the most important parts of history that still continues today is segregation. Segregation was a major and more noticeable issue in the past. One of the most common places for segregation were the schools. Children were not able to get the proper education because of their skin color. Even after segregation ended legally in the U.S, many people of color still are discriminated against because of their skin color and may still face the repercussions of segregation such as redlining. Joe R. Feagin wrote a journal article in the year 1992, speaking on discrimination in universities. People in the article were interviewed and all spoke about how they were discriminated against. “Perhaps because she was inadequately prepared for her encounters with campus racism, she at first did not want to believe that she was being labeled in a derogatory way. The student quoted above also commented on the racist jokes that are part of the White campus subculture: “I hate to say that I’ve gotten bitter, but I’ve gotten bitter . . . last summer, I can remember people telling jokes, that’s what I remember most, everyday there was a racial joke”(Feagin). Since the article was written, society has greatly improved for the better, however there are still minority groups that feel discriminated against. This is because of the spread of awareness in today’s society resulting from the easy accessibility of media and music. If it were not for the spread of awareness, there may be even more racism than we have today. We as people need to continue to spread awareness, because racism still exists today.

To wrap up, music on social issues is extremely important, because without it, people would not be aware of issues that are going on around the world, mainly racial issues. Artists such as Kendrick Lamar are very important because they’re making powerful music and using their platform to spread their message. Today’s world is changing; the difference from today and the 20th century is astronomical. We are on the path towards ending racial inequality, however the fight is not over, and there is still a long way to go.

Photo by Mélodie Descoubes on Unsplash

This topic means a lot to me because I come from a minority family who worked extremely hard to have a better life. Even though I am privileged to have the life that I have now, I will always remember where my family came from. In addition, I love many types of music. It’s a huge part of my life. This writing is from the heart, and I have put a lot of thought into this piece. This should as well mean a lot of other people, since it is an issue that many people are currently fighting hard for. Racial inequality needs to be fixed and addressed. There are a lot of ways people can support the cause, such as donating money, participating in events, or just simply talking about the issues to family members or friends. Always remember that there is a way to help; any action, small or large, will mean something to someone.