Political R&B
“Before they lay your body down / you got to change the world before you six feet under the ground.”
Martin Luther King Jnr. and Malcolm X.
Singer Novel takes R&B back to its political roots in the song and music video for “Body Down.” Sample lyric: “Before they lay your body down / you got to change the world before you six feet under the ground.”
The music video references Malcolm X and Martin Luther King as it points to the part-political roots of this musical genre in the 1960s.
“Body Down” is a remix of an indie pop song by English singer Jack Peñate. In Novel’s hands–aided by the video–it becomes a comment on violence (police brutality, gun violence, assassinations, Islamophobia, militarism, etcetera). Troy Davis’ execution also makes it into the video.
As one Youtube viewer commented: “… this song makes me want answers to questions that the government refuses to answer or even acknowledge.”
Remix culture sometimes has its benefits.
Watch.
Via Eddie STATS Houghton
