Whether it’s helping you bear the depressing after-work commute or forget the latest girlfriend/boyfriend that dumped you, music is literally keeping your world sane. Fortunately, music is doing more that keeping your life together, cool artists from around the world are letting their music address global issues and inspire social change. Here are 8 global artists whose music I found are doing just that.
1. DUB FX
Crowds sprout spontaneously through word of mouth to see this street performer Dub FX, Born Benjamin Stanford in Australia, Dub FX rejects all forms of social control and sings/raps about peace and revolution. He is completely independent and works on his own terms and yet has managed to become one of most famous musicians in Looping genre. Building a sizeable fanbase on raw, dramatic, and emotionally vulnerable performances, Dub’s music moves from unpolished sounds to hyper arranged mini masterpieces. I think his blend of reggae, hip hop, drum and bass with themes of human psychology, carries you to some unknown place.
2. DENGUE FEVER
Dengue Fever is a seductive band that takes Cambodian 60’s pop rock and modernizes it with western stylings. Lead singer, Chhom Nimol was a star club singer in Cambodia before lending her powerful and intransitive voice to psychedelic sound of Dengue Fever. I love how the band’s music doesn't shy away from the political corruption and endemic poverty of Cambodia More than a third of Cambodia lives on less than a dollar a day and it is home to one the most malnourished child populations. One of their more popular singles, “One Thousand Years of Tarantula,” symbolically highlights the country’s corruption while it animates the story of an iconic Cambodian activist executed by the state.
3. SEUN KUTI
With a glorious lineage, socially conscious music runs in Kuti’s blood. His father and older sibling, Fela and Femi respectively, are back to back generations of famous Nigerian artists who have raged against poverty and political corruption in Nigeria. His father Fela is the most revered musician in the country’s history and a cultural icon for being an outspoken critic of corrupt Nigerian officials. His 1977 album Zombie nearly had him executed.
Seun is the now generation. He doesn’t face the same life threats as his father but he is equally passionate about using music to be critical voice for change. You won’t find an artist more brutally honest about Nigeria than Seun. His latest album entitled, A Long Way to the Beginning (2014) he sings “You bring pain, you bring tears, you bring suffering to my people.”
4. SOUL FRESH
This summer, the Liberian Hip Hop duo, Soul Fresh claimed Best “Group” at the Liberian Music Awards. What I appreciate about the music of Soul Fresh is that it’s dance driven, groovy, hardcore and socially aware at the same time. Songs like “Wake Up Call” and “Let’s Us Come Together” yearn for unity. Also cool, Soul Fresh is a member of the Hip Hop Accountability Network - a movement of popular Liberian Hip Hop artists committed to being a microphone for social change.
6. MARI BOINE
Fans know this Liberian born Hip Hop artist by 3 names. F.A. was born Faquama Anthony Deline in Monrovia, Liberia. Growing up during Liberia’s brutal civil war, he tragically witnessed the death of a few relatives. F.A.’s latest album “Foreign Affairs” was a highly anticipated project that continued his message of social change. At this very moment, the most played song on Liberian radio is a collaboration from F.A., Soul Fresh and DenG called “Ebola Is Real.” The song challenges widespread misinformation about the current Ebola crisis and encourages people to quickly get treatment for the deadly disease.
7. AKALA
From “black Shakespeare” to child genius, English rapper and poet Akala has earned a mountain of superlatives. His music is exclusively socially driven. Critics have described it as “heavily researched” data driven social commentary. Akala’s latest album, “The Thieves Banquet” is true to that form. The album is a sweeping analysis of the fraught legacies of the British empire.
Hip Hop is Akala’s medium for teaching young people about poverty, racism, and colonialism. In addition to conducting his own workshops, he is artistic director of the The Hip Hop Shakespeare Company which introduces urban youth to Shakespeare. Akala is also a writer whose work regularly appears in the Huffington Post and a sought after public intellectual who debates faster than he raps.
8. YOUSSOU N DOUR
Youssou was described as the most famous artist in Africa by TIME magazine. The Senegal native has been an star in African for decades but has more recently become a world icon. Early in his career, Youssou wasn’t all to interested in social issues. However, he has managed to build a impressive rolodex of social conscious music and social engagement. In 2009, he released "Wake Up (It's Africa Calling)" to bring open source health applications to Africa.The song was remixed by Nas, Peter Buck of R.E.M..., and Duncan Sheik. In 2012, the global community witnessed Youssou build a political movement to defeat corrupt Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade. His campaign inspired thousands of young people join a struggle for change in Senegal.