100 songs for 2010s: A Tribe Called Quest’s ‘We The People’ #1

Hello!

And welcome to the 1st of the planned 100 posts this month. More details about my December project here.

The song that we are starting the month with is A Tribe Called Quest’s ‘We The People’. It is an interesting song to start a decade overview with because I have heard it for the first time literally 5min ago. But, as I have mentioned in the introductory post, this project is all about learning and that includes being exposed to ‘new’ music.

A song for the resistance, released mere days after Trump’s election and completed during the final days of the election, ‘We The People’ doesn’t name drop Trump but it certainly exposes the anger directed towards his politics. Featuring the lyrics that hope for the better future but also denounce the horrors of today, this song certainly deserves the spot on this list. It’s a shame that the song never entered the mainstream consciousness in 2016, making me miss it then but I am glad to have been introduced to it through this list. While not the song that I can personally talk a lot about, ‘We The People’ is an important entry on the list, showcasing the more sophisticated side of music – one that is all about political power. While popular music – and I am including rap and hip-hop underneath this umbrella – tends to be overlooked in its importance, ‘We The People’s message is loud and clear.

Have you heard of this song/artist before? What are your thoughts on the importance of politically charged music?