There are so many explanations as to what the Black Lives Matter movement is all about and what it stands for. While the actual organization has its own list of things that it wishes to accomplish, if you ask people on an individual level what ‘Black Lives Matter’ means to them, you will more often than not get varying responses. Personally, I think the idea of trying to verbally explain what BLM stands for is old and tired, because there will ALWAYS be that one person who will listen and still not understand what it means. I decided to be different and create a BLM playlist of songs that I feel are relevant to the movement and say so much more than what we as activists have been trying to say for the last four years.
Besides, music is a universal language and has the ability to transcend across all walks of life. Music is especially vital to the Black/African American community; we tend to make our best music in the midst of our pain or when celebrating a triumph. A perfect example of this is J. Cole’s “Be Free”, which was written in response to the death of Mike Brown. Also, while it’s not necessarily a song that is essential to the BLM movement, Young Jezzy’s song “My President”, which was written to celebrate the historic election of President Obama, became a theme song of sorts for Blacks back in 2008.
So here’s a list of 25 songs, in no particular order that I feel are relevant and essential to the BLM movement. Please note that while not all of the songs on this list speak specifically to the BLM movement, they are on this list because of the cultural impact the song or either the artist have had on the Black Community.
- Public Enemy-“Don’t Believe the Hype”
- Kendrick Lamar- “Blacker the Berry”
- NWA- “F the Police”
- Tupac- “Changes”
- Kanye West- “All Falls Down”
- Public Enemy- “Fight the Power”
- James Brown- “Say it Loud (I’m Black and I’m Proud)”
- Queen Latifah- “U.N.I.T.Y.
- Lauryn Hill- “I Find it Hard to Say (Rebel)”
- Beyonce- “Formation”
- Solange Knowles- “Don’t Touch My Hair”
- India Arie-“Video”
- Kendrick Lamar- “Alright”
- Notorious B.I.G.- “Juicy”
- Tupac- “Brenda’s Got a Baby”
- Chance the Rapper- “Blessings Reprise”
- Common and John Legend- “Glory”
- Nas-“ I Can”
- Tupac- “Keep Ya Head Up”
- Lauryn Hill- “Mystery of Iniquity”
- NWA- “Straight Outta Compton”
- Eryka Badu- “Window Seat”
- India Arie- “I am Not My Hair”
- J Cole- “Love Yours”
- Kendrick Lamar- “Don’t Kill my Vibe (Remix)”
Honorable Mentions:
James Weldon Johnson-“Lift Every Voice (National Black Anthem)”
Michael Jackson-“Don’t Really Care About Us”
Sam Cooke- “A Change is Gonna Come”
If you had to create a BLM playlist, what songs would you include? Let me know in the comments below. Feel free to create your own playlist and share it with your friends!