Music afficionados will like this questioning story in the LA Times today, looking at protest music for a new generation.
Is Chamillionaire's hit song "Ridin' " a political anthem? What about Shakira and Wyclef Jean's "Hips Don't Lie"? When seeking anthems for a new political age, should those critical of the Bush administration be turning toward a Dirty South rapper mad at the cops for disturbing his cruising game or a belly-bared dance music queen who slips a line about immigrant rights into a nightclub seduction? Or does today's political climate demand voices raised with an urgency that can be inspired only by old-fashioned protest music of the kind country stars like Toby Keith have produced for their conservative fans?
These are the questions bubbling up in the current debate over protest music, which has everyone from sociologists to bloggers weighing in on what constitutes effective agitprop. The argument's been brewing since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 and picked up steam during the last presidential campaign, when artists who'd never taken an explicit political stance (most famously Bruce Springsteen) joined old-time activists like Patti Smith and Michael Stipe in stumping for John Kerry. The disappointment felt by rockers who'd registered Democrat at President Bush's reelection, and their growing disquietude over the Iraq war, led some into retreat and others — notably Springsteen, with the red-diaper folk of his "Seeger Sessions" album — into politically confrontational projects cast in a very traditional mold.
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment...home-headlines
Cowperson