An article inquiring about
the absence of protest music, so prevalent during past conflicts such as Vietnam and the Gulf War, but all but nonexistent during Bush Jr.'s global adventure. There are protest songs on MP3 websites, but none appearing on new albums next to the "tribute to heroes" compilations; meanwhile, anti-war songs like John Lennon's
Imagine have been pulled from centrally-controlled airwaves, and former dissenters from Neil Young to the Wu Tang Clan have recorded patriotic war anthems.
Is it because the US recording and broadcast industries are now controlled by a handful of corporations who see no room for unpatriotic (or unmarketable) material, that nobody wants to be the commie ratfink who's first to stop singing God Bless America and cheering on the daisycutters, or just that music these days (including the independent labels) is purely about consumerism and lifestyle, and dissent doesn't shift enough units?
consider the question that Bay Area anti-prison activist and Freedom Fighter Music co-producer Ying-Sun Ho asks in reference to rap: "You don't think a song that talks about nothing but how much your jewelry shines has a political content to it?"
(via Unknown News)