Whether you’re a music addict that can’t function without Spotify Premium or your only exposure to music is the kind you listen to waiting in line at Starbucks, music surrounds your life.
Because of its strong presence in everyone's lives, music is heavily impacted by what goes on in America. In turn, many of the US Top Chart songs describe the current state of America to a T.
1. “Pray For Me” by The Weeknd ft. Kendrick Lamar
“Pray For Me”, produced for the new movie “The Black Panther”, has lines so relevant to American news that Kendrick Lamar might as well be quoting The New York Times. One line, in particular, says, “...puddles of blood in the streets, shooters on top of the building, government aiding relief, earthquake, the body drop, the ground breaks...”
He is directly referring to the devastating Las Vegas shooting, hurricane relief efforts for Hurricane Harvey, and other world issues. Then, he calls us all to action saying, “You need a hero, look in the mirror, there go your hero…”
2. “God’s Plan” by Drake
3. “Sky Walker” by Miguel ft. Travis Scott
This song appeals to pop culture in America. The eighth main installment of the “Star Wars” trilogy, “Star Wars: The Last Jedi”, was released in the past year, and it was the fifth highest-grossing movie of all time. The reference that Miguel makes to the “Star Wars” character Luke Skywalker is the catchy line in the chorus, “I'm Luke Skywalkin' on these haters.”
4. “Young Dumb & Broke” by Khalid
Without even analyzing the lyrics, the title describes the state of America so well. America is 241 years old, just a fraction of the age of other countries like Great Britain and Spain.
As for our intelligence, this is entirely up to opinion, but the United States is ranked 31 in the world for their IQ, well-behind other developed countries. Finally, our debt totals up to about 13.6 trillion dollars. Generally, as a nation, we are young, dumb, and broke.
5. “These Days” by Rudimental ft. Dan Caplen, Jess Glynne, and Macklemore
This song is about nostalgia for the “good old days”. Let’s face it, the world we live in now is unstable, and the majority of news we hear is the bad kind. Despite all the bad things that are going on in America right now, we will always end up reminiscing about our past.
So far in 2018, the Winter Olympics attracted 61.8 million viewers, progress has been made to cure Celiac disease, women and men have participated in the Women's March across the country, and West Virginian teachers got a pay raise. Now, that’s progress.
6. “Stir Fry” by Migos
