With fame comes great responsibility and, thankfully, these musicians have used their celebrity and their music as a vehicle to make the world a better place; we salute them.
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Common
When Iyanla Vanzant challenged rappers to step up in the wake of Mike Brown’s death, Common was the only one to answer the call. Soon after, the Chicago MC released the theme song to Selma, “Glory,” with John Legend, and during his Golden Globe acceptance speech for Best Song, the rapper delivered a poignant speech everyone needed to hear: “As I got to know the people of the civil rights movement, I realized I am the hopeful black woman who was denied her right to vote. I am the caring white supporter killed on the front lines of freedom. I am the unarmed black kid who maybe needed a hand, but instead was given a bullet. I am the two fallen police officers murdered in the line of duty. ‘Selma’ has awakened my humanity.”
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John Legend
“Glory” isn’t the first socially-conscious tune John Legend’s lent his voice to. In 2008, Legend sang vocals on the Will.I.Am — produced track “Yes We Can” for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign and one year later he and The Roots put out a collaborative album titled “Wake Up!” to reflect the temperature of the country at the time and the issues that needed addressing. The project won two NAACP awards.
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Michael Jackson
The King of Pop is regarded for his humanitarianism almost as much as he is his dance moves and what’s most impressive about Michael’s legacy is the way he wove messages of social responsibility and acceptance into his bodies of work. Michael’s music touched on racism (“Black or White), environmentalism (“Earth Song),”and poverty and social change (“Heal The World,” “Man in the Mirror”), not to mention love and having a good time.
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Lauryn Hill
“The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” remains one of the most lauded pieces of work in recent years for its brutally honest lyrics on life and love and its political statements encouraging everyone to wake up and get in touch with their true selves, not the images society wants them to buy into.
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Lupe Fiasco
Lupe Fiasco entered the music industry simply to change it after being disgusted by the rampant use of lyrics wrought with misogyny and vulgarity. His dedication to that mission shows with his content, particularly the song “B*tch Bad,” which encourages females of all ages to reject the B-word label and see themselves as women. The Chicago native has also lent his voice and time to eliminating the Black murder epidemic plaguing his hometown.
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Bob Marley
Reggae singer-songwriter Bob Marley brought the Rastafari lifestyle to the masses with his spiritually infused songs and the Pan-Africanist’s belief in the unity of African people worldwide was also apparent with such tracks as “Redemption Song.” Arguably one of his most popular songs, “Get Up, Stand Up,” was an unapologetic call for people to stand up for their rights.
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Public Enemy
Public Enemy symbolizes everything rap music was about in the late ’80s and early ’90s. Their socially-charged lyrics encouraged the disenfranchised to take their future into their own hands and their song”Fight The Power” was rightfully ranked number 288 in the “Songs of the Century” list compiled by the Recording Industry Association of America and the National Endowment for the Arts.
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Alicia Keys
As soon a Alicia Keys hit it big with “Songs in A Minor” she put her fame to good use. In 2003, she co-founded Keep a Child Alive, a non-profit organization that provides medicine to families with HIV and AIDS in Africa. She’s also used her voice musically and politically to call attention to issues surrounding poverty in Africa, Hurricane Katrina, gender oppression, and the earthquake in Haiti.
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James Brown
Most people recall James Brown’s music making them feel good but the Godfather of Soul encouraged far more than that during his time; he wanted people to live good. In the 1960s, Brown released the pro-education song, “Don’t Be a Drop-Out,” in response to the nation’s increasing drop out rate. Eight years later he recorded “America is My Home” against the backdrop of Vietnam and increasing anti-war advocacy, and no one can forget “Say It Loud – I’m Black and I’m Proud,” which became a pro-Black anthem among African Americans at the time.
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Nina Simone
When her song “Mississippi Goddam,” released as a response to the murder of Medgar Evers and the bombing of a church in Birmingham, was boycotted in certain southern states, Nina Simone took that charge seriously and from then on included a civil rights message in all of her recordings and performances going forward.
Though she spoke at many marches in Selma and Montgomery, Simone’s approach to civil rights differed from that of the leader of the time, Martin Luther King, Jr. Simone advocated violent revolution, insisting that, by force, African Americans could form their own separate state.
