It’s been happening in the music industry for years, famous musicians taking their stance on certain political issues & singing it out to the masses. We’ve gone thru the folk era of Dylan, Seeger, Guthrie, Baez, & Mitchell, all lending their voices to the revolution. Other have included, the punk & hardcore exploits of, The Dead Kennedy’s, The Clash, Black Flag, Bad Brains & the mighty Sex Pistols, the rock shaking of, The Boss, & Rage Against The Machine, plus the blazing bravado of Hip Hop legends, De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest & Public Enemy. All have used the stage as a platform to speak how the feel, but has their influence caused social positive change or negative effect. Can it be said that when a celebrity lends it’s name to a cause or issue, we listen more & if so why.

I remember the first time I heard something really shake a social platform, & it was “N.W.A” & their debut record “Straight Out Of Compton”. They were young, they were angry, they were black & they caught the attention of a nation that had never seen anything like it. How did N.W.A impact not only America but how did the new genre of music affect the world? Some could argue the negative affects & influence the group had on the masses, especially young youth. The lyrics were brash, aggressive & degrading to women, but they made no apologies for the content of the lyrics or their actions, they were storytelling; but for people who grew up in South Central L.A – their story was one of reality.

While N.W.A covered the social & economic struggles of living in the hard streets of Compton, another band from L.A took a different approach. Rage Against The Machine challenged both political & social economic issues in the USA Government.They touched on subjects such as, social equality, social injustice, foreign policy & much more. The band’s debut record stormed & stung with songs like “Killing In The Name”, “Take The Power Back” & “Know Your Enemy”, they ruffled feathers of every kind, being called revolution communists, anti- American & hate mongers. They shut down Wall Street, stood nude in public protest, & verbally called out for the hanging of American leaders. When Rage took the stage people listened, but were those listeners tuning in because of the “brand’ of Rage, or were they tuning in because of the influence?

Just what is it about the voice of the celebrity that makes us listen. I’ve always wondered if Arnold Schwarzenegger hadn’t previously been a box office action Hollywood superstar, would he really be the Governor of California, would Bono really show up to every social issue on the table today & would Angelina Jolie be adopting babies from 3rd world countries. It has almost come to the point where it’s expected for a celebrity to endorse a political candidate or support a political issue & while I agree that it occasionally can help bring the issue at hand to the forefront, I’m mostly skeptical of the reasons behind such endorsements. It leaves me to wonder what the lasting effect music will have mixing with politics.

What has been the drastic change in the last 15 years with the musical influence? The Punk movement of the 70’s is nowhere near that of the punk movement today, the change in Hip- Hop we all expected has grown into a Ferris wheel of studio gangsters, fancy cars & gold teeth. I’m not seeing the sincerity with the mix that was once there, or maybe I’m just not looking hard enough. While the music integration into politics seems at an all time high, the sincerity & influence seems like it’s at an all time low. I can’t help but think of these music endorsements as mere photo opportunities, a way to rub the ego of this odd world of celebrity. We continue to be fascinated by this world of celebrity influence, all the while missing out on the reality of substance. Influences are a part of the social wave, constantly changing with the times; choices are left up to the individual & it’s up to us to see if those influences are really worth listening too……………isn’t it…….

Give your thoughts

The art of writing is a difficult concept that many fail to grasp. Myself included. Yet I try or at least fake my understanding very well. In reality, in order to be a good writer you have to be a master of bullshitting. I do this very well. I'm writing this introduction minutes after witnessing my beloved Pittsburgh Steelers fall to the Indianapolis Colts. But I digress.

 Let me tell you a little about myself. I am currently a third-year student attending college in, if you haven't guessed it yet, Pittsburgh. GO STEELERS! I am majoring in business, entrepreneurial studies to be exact, and once I graduate, I will be embarking on a journey around the world hopefully to solve mysteries but most likely I'll become one of those dirty people you see on the street eating out of the trash, begging for your loose change, and rambling about how things used to be back in the day.

 In the coming days, weeks, months, years, I will be posting some articles here and there. Most will be papers that I have submitted for a grade, as I am too lazy to create any coherent thought that isn't for a class. 

Now that I have managed to make myself seem like a moron with less than a high school education, I will leave you with these words that serve as my unofficial motto:

"Sleep is the best meditation." ~Dalai Lama