The Sound Of Rebellion

When music says what no one else will.

In defense of the artists wreaking havoc on the mental capacity of the offended masses, what they are saying, and how they are saying it, should come as no surprise. Using music as a vehicle of rebellion and protest has been standard practice since the dawn of rhythm. Since the drumbeat of resistance first echoed through human history. Since sound became a sword.

From Billie Holiday’s Strange Fruit bleeding truth across segregated stages to Bob Dylan’s Blowin’ in the Wind floating through the veins of the Civil Rights movement, music has never been neutral. Never silent. Never safe.

So when today’s artists take the mic to speak out against genocide, systemic oppression, or the moral failure of silence, know this: they are not anomalies. They are part of a sacred lineage. Nina Simone risked her entire career to speak out against racial violence. Fela Kuti built an empire of resistance through Afrobeat. Rage Against the Machine said it plainly, “Some of those who work forces are the same that burn crosses.”What exactly did you expect protest to sound like? A polite email? No.

Let’s be very clear: censoring artists for telling the truth is not a new tactic. Revoking visas, blacklisting performers, and branding protest as “divisive” is a coward’s playbook, an ancient trick dressed in modern clothes. But it only proves how powerful music actually is. Because if it wasn’t threatening, they wouldn’t try to shut it up.

This is the part where an educated conversation should take place. It pisses you off? Good. Maybe you’ll talk about it. Maybe you’ll see past your programming long enough to remember that not all laws are just, not all governments are moral, and not all silence is noble.

I beg you to remember the role music has always played in shifting the tide of history. We Shall Overcome wasn’t just a song. It was a war cry. It marched through Montgomery and whispered courage into the ears of those who knew they might not make it to the other side. Every time that melody rang out, it slapped Jim Crow in the mouth and reminded this country of its promise.

Music has toppled tyrants. It has sparked revolutions. It has humanized the oppressed and embarrassed the comfortable. It is, and always will be, the loudest tool in the resistance toolbox. And in the hands of the right artist, it doesn’t just inspire change, it demands it.

Now, as an artist, you must be mindful that your audience might not have the discipline to not actualize the aggression. It is a great responsibility to express yourself without suggesting violence. Savages use free speech as a vehicle for destruction. Provoke thought but do so with precision and intellect.

So if you’re more upset by the protest than by the problem, the issue isn’t the artist. It’s the recipient. I encourage all sides to scream their beliefs from the highest of mountain tops, but make the intent one of solution and change and not a misguided call to arms.

Music should shake us from comfort. May it make you think, may it make you curious enough to find empathy. May it play loudly in your head so that you march in the right direction.

Written to “Know Your Enemy” by Rage Against The Machine