Yeah I think people are super irony poisoned and afraid of being earnest which is why it feels like there’s an absence of stuff like this, but at the same time I think the tides are sloooowly turning.

People gotta realize not everybody is gonna like you, people will make memes out of you but you will reach some people earnestly and that’s the point. The idea of your intended message reaching EVERYBODY is outdated but that shouldn’t stop artists from trying

Kendrick's Alright was the last song in this vein that went crazy

HM to Cole's Be Free

no one because information acess and subsequently political statements dont work the same way anymore

u open ur phone and get 6 million political takes no one can make a political statement in that environment and have it feel like someone who only can get political takes from the tv books or people around them talking at work

Actually... I forgot...

Good example is that one conservative dude who was singing in a forest and he got #1
But the whole song sounded like u were watching a republican politician talk

That is the genuinely the worst song i ever fukin heard if anyone knows what im talking abt

Talking about that Oliver Anthony fella?

Idk about outside my state but there's a pretty huge connection between it and protest groups out here, as well as large (for local areas) fundraising events.

this only a fun question when u relegate it to r&b. the onus is already on rappers to be that

Cole performative but not Kendrick?

There’s a reason the hood bump Cole over mid stepper

She might be woke but is Dan Nigro? That's what actually matters

PTA zio ass not doing s***

Hmmmmmm

frank immediately came to mind.

otherwise;

• lianne la havas
• sza
• yves tumor
• sade
• koffee

feel like i've heard glimmers of it in their music and would be intrested to see them take it further. everyone else has baggage or they're too caught up in being Black Excellence Bourgeois™

draws an aspirational comparison to mj and kendrick's {tame} political statements here. a whole decade later all he has to show for it is 80s synthpop revival, vanity projects as a showcase for his acting and a forthcoming image rebrand while allegations of SA quietly build in the background. frank's lyrics have done more for me personally

every now n again i come back to this one. felt like she was gearing up for an album but it didnt get much fanfare.

I really don’t think he has the articulation or perspective nuance to not make it what he already did on blond

Miguel

Kendrick Lamar

someone which hasn’t blown up yet

frank is a completely out of touch super rich weirdo, why the hell would he have anything to say about politics worth listening to

might as well end thread then cus that goes for everyone whos been named and anyone with enough cultural / famed cache that will be named

eh. one of the best songwriters of his generation and clearly tries to reinvent himself with each major release so i disagree. even some of the old stuff (channel orange / prior) is arguably more potent so his mind has never struck me as a dull knife.

ITT: nobody watching the @op video and just addressing the question because op pretty much says why we wont really see a What's Going On ( @Andre_Mackonen hit it on the head)

When Marvin Gaye dropped What's Going On, he wasn't competing with the goddamn internet lol. He wasn't competing with the goddamn King Bachs of the world nor was he dealing with the IShowSpeeds and Kai Cenats of the world neither. When What's Going On dropped niggas still was calling houses and you aint know who was on the other line til you picked it up.

What you get is a blank slate and an audience with an attention span + some quaaludes and next thing you know, you got an audience that is ready to receive a What's Going On type of project.

There are artists that are making What's Going On type of music. Music about the times that we are living in and very pro-active music. The problem is, where's the farming system? Where's the promo? Where's the A&Ring that used to cultivate these kind of acts into a position where they have enough pull behind their product versus now you gotta be (like op said) both socially economically aware while also somehow as captivating as a million dollar worth streamer?

Marvin Gaye himself was a recluse especially during the what's going on era because of Tammi dying. How many modern audience woulda been like "man this nigga seems boring I aint gon check out his music bro got no rizz."

Music before cocaine was the perfect time to be a hella talented while un-charismatic type of nigga because all folks cared about was the music and not the image as much.

ALSO when Marvin Gaye was popping you aint have social media/cameras/etc to watch everybody's missteps (which is crazy cause Marvin Gaye did have televised missteps later on in his career) like can you imagine a viral "this you?" tweet about him and Janis' age difference?

It's hard to put yourself as an artist today in that space because if you do it, and you have at least one error in how YOU live your life? Oh, everyone picks it apart and tears you down quicker than you can say "do as I say not as I do." It's not so much of a what artist can make a what's going on level project, is it "worth" it in the long run?

Cause the irony to @op thread, is that we DID have a what's going on type of level political project, last decade to be precise (yall know what it was)

Annnnnnnd what did it really accomplish?