NPR’s Tiny Desk concert series podcast puts on music that makes common sense.
In 2016 NPR held their infamous Tiny Desk Concert at the White House Library. Starting in 2008 TDC has expressed the need for real raw music to come to the limelight. With all their success, they were invited to perform at the White House Library. The founder, Bob Boilen, thought there was no one better to perform than this Emmy award winning podcast.
American rapper, Common, born on the southside of Chicago, has learned to let his music be the cries of pain, love and hope for a better world. His raw friendship with the musicians he works with rings through his lyrics as he allows the french horn to be the cry for a second chance,the flute be the cry of a worried mother,the piano the soundtrack to a world where women rule and a bass plays the sound of his father's life. Common started his career as CommonSense and has stayed relevant since he got his start in 1992. His raw lyrics and ability to make people think brought him to the White House library to participate in NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert. The traditional hip hop artist makes a testament to the past of hip hop and how it has become about secular topics like gun violence, drugs and the objectification of women. He speaks of when he first met hip hop, when it had no secrets, when it was truly raw and unapologetic. For him, hip hop used to have soul. After speaking of the creative love he met at such a young age he speaks of the evolution of hip hop and how she has been stolen by thugs and abused throughout her life. He justifies his anger for what has happened to hip hop by saying “Once the man got to her he altered her narrative”. By speaking to the past and current stage of what hip hop is, he reminds hip hop fans that she wasn't always the fiend they know her as today. After attesting to his old love, he keeps his rythms old school as he speaks about the thirteenth amendment: “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” I'm sure you can find the problem with that for yourself, but Common brings sense to those who might not understand. He starts the song by singing of freedom and makes it sound very similar to old slavery songs, ending this verse by saying it won’t be long till everyone is truly free. Common challenges his listeners to think by saying “Prison is a business/ America’s the company investing in injustice, fear and long suffering.” This music is not for the closed-minded or for those who sympathize or empathize with the point of view of a black man or boy living in America. Common lets people hear the pain of injustice through horn player, Keon Harold. His ability to make the french horn sound like a cry for help from a system set against him echoes as the flutist known simply as Elana lets her flute be the strong support of a mother's pain in the event of unlawful incarceration. This song was based on Ava Duvernay’s movie The 13 which explains the realization that the nation's prisons are disproportionately filled with African-Americans.
Even though Common lets you hear the hurt, he also encourages you to listen to the hope. In his song, “The Day Women Took Over”, he expresses the fantasy of a world where women rule. He establishes the life most women dream about. The feel good music depicts women as strong, happy and sassy. Happiness exudes from Bala Oliver as he sings with Common, “maybe one day we will see peace and unity the way it's supposed to be''. The feel good music appears sassy and strong as Rober Glasper plays the voice of women everywhere on the piano. Glasper projects a world of free fun where chivalry certainly isn't dead.
Although critics heap praise on Common's mother for definitely raising him right, he says he learned his respect for women from his dad. Common’s last song is one he holds close to his heart because it is about his father. “Little Chicago Boy” goes back to the time of his father Lonnie Lynn. The music instantly sounds like Chicago, and Common once again uses his poetic soul to cut through to the listener. He plays to his father's perspective and how he lived his life. He even says “ our Father takes care of my father as far as he went/ may I go farther/our dreams and legacies grow through our children/ though I can't touch him, I can still feel him.” Common makes a connection between him and his dad and says this song is like “his bio”. He goes on to have bassist Derek Hodge play to his dad's presence. The bass gives an illusion of a strong black man who took care of his business and his family. Common’s music is different from every other artist because of its raw content. Some critics have called it “Grown Folk Rap” because of the issues Common chooses to speak to, but I believe it's better to learn young than be confused and old, which is why I urge everyone to listen to Common’s Tiny desk concert recorded at the White House. Because THIS is what music is supposed to sound like.
Image source: by Eslah Attar
https://www.npr.org/2016/10/03/496433228/common-tiny-desk-concert-at-the-white-house
Opmerkingen