 Music has always been a tool artists have used to express how they feel about politics and the state of current affairs. So, in honor of today's momentous election, we've asked several of the Audible Treats clientele to select songs that put them into that political mind-state and motivate them to go hit the voting booths. Here are the responses we gathered about which songs Freeway, Pac Div, Roach Gigz, Linus Pauling Quartet, Rah Digga and many more have chosen to be part of their soundtrack for the election, and their reasons why.
Check out Audible Treats' Voting Vybez Playlist here: http://open.spotify.com/user/1217046405/playlist/1uFkyQzJOSwK8ythukKBoP
Roach Gigz – "Till I Die"
I choose this song because I feel like it represents the American mentality. We are all in search of a good life, money, a future for our kids—and along the way we hit bumps that slow us down. We make mistakes that we regret for a while, then hopefully learn from, and we push on. I also feel like Barack Obama could listen to this song and understand from a personal level. I feel like Mitt Romney has no idea what the average person in this country goes through, or feels like.
Pac Div – "Mayor," "The Greatness," "Truth" & "Letter To The President" (by 2Pac)
"Mayor" - The reason I chose mayor is because the song embodies the whole campaigning theme, and its just a fun, timeless joint.
"The Greatness" - The reason I chose "The Greatness" is because it's a motivational song that pretty much says that beyond circumstances, greatness breaks through.
"Truth" – Describes the times and trials of ambition in pursuit of accomplishing goals.
"Letter To The President" – The song poses different circumstances to the president from the everyday man/urban perspective.
akaFrank – "Black Superman" (by Above The Law)
I chose this song because Barack Obama is our "black superman" willing to do what it takes to protect our country. And this song is super hard and Westside all the way.
Yonnas Abraham – "I'm Afraid of Americans" (by David Bowie)
Mitt says he's going to make America "The Hope of The World" again. It seems like the last four years is the closest we've been to that since Clinton was in office. I think the world is pretty terrified we're going to make the wrong decision and elect Mitt Romney—Lord knows I am.
Rah Digga – "Harriet Thugman"
This was my album intro from Dirty Harriet called "Harriet Thugman." Pay attention to the last paragraph – I called it back in 2000. Legal weed and a black president. Of course, back then (only a decade ago) neither of the two seemed possible, but thoughts become things, so if you want something to happen in this world, you have to SPEAK ON IT!!
Full |REBEL| Jacket – "Propaganda" (by Dead Prez), "If I Ruled The World" (by Nas feat. Lauryn Hill) & "Ghetto Heroes" (by Master P)
"Propaganda" - This song represents so many people that I know. It's so hard to believe what is being said during debates when there is no real-time fact checking and there are no consequences for lies. It seems like both sides say what is conveniently "accurate". Statistics can be manipulated in so many ways that the actual data can become propaganda. They'll ask 3 people a question, 2 give an answer that they agree with and they say "66% percent of Americans agree that..."; shit is crazy.
"If I Ruled The World" – Elections always make me think about what I would do if I was President and this song is kind of a grandiose rendition of what I and many other people in my community would do.
"Ghetto Heroes" – While this record doesn't really speak directly to elected officials, every elected official should listen to this record and ask the question "Why are our heroes pushers and dealers and not presidents?"
Freeway – "What We Talkin' About" (by Jay-Z feat. Luke Steele [of Empire of the Sun])
I picked this song because in it, Jay says, "And now that that's that, let's talk about the future. We have just seen the dream as predicted by Martin Luther. Now you could choose ta, sit in front of your computa, posin' with guns, shootin' YouTube up. Or you could come with me to the White House, get your suit up."
Double A.B. & Dub Sonata – "Revolution"
"Revolution" is a song about the world's ills and the corruption that plagues our government. This song was made in 2005 but unfortunately is still eerily relevant today.
Lightouts – "Suspect Device" (by Stiff Little Fingers) & "Going Underground" (by The Jam)
Our two choices for election day jams are two seminal post-punk works from UK giants The Jam & Stiff Little Fingers. They both perfectly channel the youthful political angst that is sorely lacking in today's musical landscape. We chose them as a reminder of how music can be political without being preachy. Rock the vote!
Copywrite (of MHz Legacy) – "Mechanical Me"
This song is about complacement in society and going through the same routines over and over. Wanting to be cut from the puppet masters strings, so to speak. We don't want Mitt's mits on the people's puppet strings.
Tez McClain – "My President Is Black" (by Young Jeezy feat. Nas) & "If I Ruled The World" (by Nas feat. Lauryn Hill)
"My President Is Black" – It's pretty self explanatory why I picked this song...
"If I Ruled The World" – The first line of the song says enough in my opinion: "Imagine smoking weed in the street without cops harassing; Imagine going to court but no trial."
Dee-1 – "Win Today" (featuring Jor'dan Armstrong)
This song embodies the mentality I live with, and it applies to candidates running for office as well. Yesterday is done and tomorrow hasn't come...so WIN TODAY.
Western Medicine – "The Guns of Brixton" (by The Clash)
We are skating a very fine line in civil rights and privacies issues that should never be taken from us. This song represents the strike back against the big men in charge and reminds us that we are not powerless to others greedy desires.
Linus Pauling Quartet – "Freedom of Choice" (by Devo) & "American Ruse" (by MC5)
"Freedom of Choice" – That's a pretty obvious one... "in ancient rome... there was a poem... about a dog... who had two bones... he licked the one... he licked the other... he ran in circles, and he dropped dead...." pretty much sums up my personal sentiments about the Presidential election. Plus it uses near-rhyme, adding to its brilliance.
"American Ruse" – Ramon and I had a gag going for a while, where we wanted the Nixon-Tyner ticket, where Richard Nixon and Rob Tyner (of the MC5) come back from the dead and run for president and VP, bringing the best combination of politics possible: ruthless cunning, total lack of integrity, and megalomania, plus dope, guns and f*cking in the streets! What could go wrong?
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