8 Anti-Establishment, Anti-Trump Tracks to Listen to Over the Next Four Years
It is going to be a long four years
Tomorrow. Tomorrow is the day that Donald Trump will be sworn in as the 45th president of the United States of America. As president-elect, he started to lay out his plans and filled out his staff. Many of us see where this is heading, and it isn’t looking good for people who have loved ones that are Latino, Black, Gay, Muslim, Believer in Science, etc…
In the coming years, it is going to be very important for us as citizens to stand firm against the oppression and tyranny any American Fascist dares to impose on our rights as Americans.
However, four years is a long time, and there will be days where it will be hard to stay strong and keep your head up. But it is important to stay strong and stay motivated for our neighbors and loved ones around us. One thing that has historically helped disparaged people through hard times is music.
Music has the beautiful capacity to lift us when we are down, unite us when begin to fracture, and keep us steadfast and strong. Now more than ever, music will play a key role in voicing the state of our country and speaking for those who don’t have a voice. It also serves as a motivator to help us when we get tired of being mistreated and having to constantly defend equality in our country.
With that in mind, here are eight tracks to help us all get through a Trump presidency.
Mick Jenkins; “Drowning”
This track is for those of us who are still coming to terms with our new America, or for those days in the near future when we just feel defeated by situation in our country.
Mick Jenkins is one of the best new artists to burst onto the rap scene in recent memory. This song encapsulates perfectly in just a few bars what it takes most of us pages to get across. The feeling of chocking and helplessness is so beautifully captured in the echo of his lyrics. He really explores all the emotions a human being can feel in the lowest of times.
There is something empowering when he spits the verse:
“When the real hold you down, you supposed to drown right? When the real hold you down, you supposed to drown right?
Wait, wait, that don’t sound right
Just wait, one second, that don’t sound right.”
That feeling of helplessness followed by the epiphany of perseverance is why this song is on the list. This is a reminder in the coming times that as dark as it may get, we should never let the “real” of the situation drown us out. Also, the video really says it all.
Tune Yards; “My Country”
This one is for when you get that feeling of your country not representing what you believe makes it a great place to be. During this time of wall building, religious registrations, and stop and frisks based on race, it may be tempting to want to leave. This song really drives home that feeling.
Tune Yards is a force of nature that carries powerful messages into high energy, drum and vocal laden tracks. Merrill Garbus, the lead singer, has vocals that will shatter your windows as well as your perceptions of of our country. There are many other songs I could have gone with (Honorable Mention: Doorstep, Bizness, Water Fountain), but “My Country” makes this list for vocalizing that frustration that sometimes makes us want to just pack up and go.
Father John Misty; “Bored in the USA”
Here is one that should reach across party lines. No matter who you voted for, we can all agree that there is something wrong with the way things are. That might be what motivated you for voting for your particular candidate. But lets all take a minute to sit together and enjoy the ridiculousness of the situations some of us may find ourselves in.
Father John Misty, ever the cynicist with songs like “Hole Shit,” takes us back to church with this one and reminds us all that no matter which side of the party line you fall under, if your not rich, your fucked. So let us toast to White Jesus, and may El Trumpo “Drain the Swamp,” with all the lobbyists and family members who profited of this system in the first place (seriously though, he is bringing pyromaniacs to help him out with forest fire. How does anyone think that would work?).
Kevin Abstract; “Miserable America”
The racist, homophobic, intolerant picture President Elect Trump has been painting for our country since the campaign trail has alienated many Americans and made them afraid of the consequence of being themselves in public. Keven Abstract captures this feeling of despair of being on the wrong side of that picture in the track “Miserable America,” off his sophomore album “American Boyfriend.” In it, he echos powerful verses like:
My best friend’s racist
My mother’s homophobic
I’m stuck in the closet
I’m so claustrophobic
I just wanna know shit…Miserable America…Assassinate my character.
Music has the wonderful ability to create empathy and connections to others different from yourself. If you find yourself as someone who doesn’t really understand the consequence of what this election means for minorities, gays, muslim, etc., pull up a set of headphones and let Kevin Abstract tell you all about it.
A Tribe Called Quest; “We the People”
At this point in this list, you must be feeling pretty down about our collective situation. But that’s okay! It is all a part of going through the stages of election grief. It functions a little different than regular grief does. At this point, you have accepted what has happened and are filled with anger. That’s good. Your going to need that outrage for the next four years. Having a killer soundtrack to go along with that anger will help keep you motivated and ready for action. With that in mind, we begin with this incredible single from return of A Tribe Called Quest:
All you Black folks, you must go
All you Mexicans, you must go
And all you poor folks, you must go
Muslims and gays, boy, we hate your ways
So all you bad folks, you must go
“We the People” from A Tribe Called Quest’s final album, “We Got It From Here…Thank You 4 Your Service” was made for this moment. The whole albums lyrics is laced with the sentiment that many of us are feeling. “We the People” expels its disbelief and distrust of the rich, racist fascists that have taken control of our government. A Tribe heard the anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim, anti-anyone who doesn’t have my skin color and do as I do. This album is spitting their hypocrisy back in their face.
Thievery Corporation; “Culture of Fear”
The message is in the title, but you owe it to yourself to listen to the verses laid down on this track by Mr. Lif on another classic Thievery beat.
Thievery Corporation is a group from DC that has a penchant for music from all around the world. No two of their albums sound the same, creating a wonderful smorgasbord of sounds from all around the world every time they release something new.
Their sixth studio album was crafted during the Occupy Wall Street movement. As this is a very American situation, so to is the influences and sounds of Hip Hop featured on the album “Culture of Fear.” The lyrics carry heavy tones of distrust towards the powerful and wealthy.
Being that the situation has only gotten worse with our country about to be run by the wealthiest cabinet in our countries history (why would they drain the swamp they live in?), this song has only gotten more powerful. “Culture of Fear” narrates wonderfully how the rich elite use fear to instill complacency in the rest of us peasant citizens who live here with them. And if you are anything but those rich elites, these lyrics will definitely resonate with you.
The Prodigy “Their Law”
If our president elect has his way while in office,there is going to be times over the next four years where laws and mandates will be enacted that will infringe on your rights as an American and have the Founding Fathers rolling over in their grave at the utter disrespect of the constitution.
Well the same thing happened to our founding fathers when the British imposed unfair policy on them. So they revolted, and you best believe they would have been rocking this shit while riding up and down the colonies if iPhones were a thing.
Prodigy has a been making hardcore electronic music since the 90’s, spanking angry beats to pissed off listeners for years. “ Their Law,” from the album “Music for the Jilted Generation,” is one of those tracks that works perfectly for this time in our country. The intro sound bite is eerily similar, in language and inflection, to the things president elect Trump spews from his mouth. Its as if the sound of tyranny sounds the same no matter what decade it is.
Metal guitar riffs, big beats, and samples of someone yelling blast down those words and replaces them with the perfect response of “Fuck em, and their law.” The lyrics in this song are primarily a repetition of the aforementioned, but you really don’t need more than that and the arousing, abrasive beat to get you pumped to defend your freedoms and your rights as an American.
LCD Soundsystem ;“Us v Them”
This track is essential for any organized protest. This is the pre-game track to get you hyped and ready to march. LCD Soundsystem’s “Us v Them” from the album “Sound of Sliver,” is a masterpiece in tempo whose beat mirrors the crescendo a movement follows. It starts as a mummer of discontent, announcing the moment is now:
The time has come, the time has come, the time has come today
The time has come, the time has come, the time has come todayAnd so all the good people wanna rescue
All the small people wanna talk to you
All the clever people wanna tell you
All the little people wanna dance its true
Midway through the track, singer James Murphy starts to sing the lyrics louder, the drums begin to get unruly, and the bass rattle of funk groves while the guitar.
By the end of the track, Murphy is announcing to the world at the top of his lungs:
Us and Them
Over and over again
Us and Them
Over and over again
Us and Them
Over and over again
Us and Them
Over and over and over again
Those of us who believe in an America that treats citizens from all walks of life equally, are in for a long four years. Music is an important part of our lives that can help keep us from going crazy, as well as keeping us engaged in what is happening all around us.
So grab your signs, put this playlist on, message other friends to mobilize, and get ready for the long fight ahead to defend your freedoms.
