Designer: Nick Alonzo (Architecture)
Editorial When it comes to political art, there’s an easy trap to fall into: thinking that because it has a distinct “real world” intent, it’s more meaningful than other art. This applies across all mediums, but it’s especially noticeable with music. After all, so much of popular music is relatively shallow, simply meant to be enjoyed for its danceability or exciting energy. This isn’t just a critique of genres I personally dislike: much of metal or punk music is entirely just frenetic toughguy theatrics meant for head-banging. All of this is to say that I’ve personally been guilty of this line of thinking, which is steeped in a kind of juvenile elitism. Spring 2021
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Only embracing music that has a good “purpose” is a deeply joyless worldview, one that ignores the inherent politics of every work, which can often go unspoken. For example, jazz often has no lyrics, but especially in its early development, was a fairly revolutionary genre: primarily created by Black musicians subject to discrimination and segregation, rejecting the regimentation and organization of traditional western music. That’s very threatening to a certain kind of person, which is exactly why Henry Ford sank a lot of money into promoting square-dancing across the nation while jazz was ascendant.
