political | Musicosity

political

Michael Franti & Spearhead

Michael Franti is a gifted and much-heralded spoken word artist and political activist from San Francisco, CA. As leader of the politically and socially-charged group Spearhead, Franti is at the forefront of hip-hop's renaissance, expanding the music's boundaries as he draws on funk and soul-driven beats. Through his music and poetry, Franti tackles a range of issues--the criminal justice system, corporatization of our daily lives, AIDS, gay rights, homelessness, the death penalty, drug addiction and suicide.

Artist Type: 

Noam Chomsky

Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is the Institute Professor Emeritus of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Professor Chomsky is credited with the creation of the theory of generative grammar, often considered the most significant contribution to the field of theoretical linguistics of the 20th century. He also helped spark the cognitive revolution in psychology through his review of B. F.

Artist Type: 

Vin Garbutt

Vin Garbutt (born in South Bank, Middlesbrough, United Kingdom), though second generation Irish, is an English folk singer and songwriter. A signifant part of his repertoire consists of protest songs covering topics such as "the Troubles" in Northern Ireland (Troubles of Erin), unemployment, and abortion. At the age of 21, in 1969, he threw caution to the winds and became a professional musician. Armed with the rich repertoire of songs he had amassed, he spent the first summer busking his way around the bars of Spain's Mediterranean coast, and on to Morocco via Gibraltar.

Artist Type: 

Gil Scott-Heron

Gil Scott-Heron (born April 1, 1949 in Chicago) is an American poet and musician, known primarily for his late 1960s and early 1970s work as a spoken word performer, associated with African American militant activists. Heron is perhaps most well known for his poems/songs "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" and "What's the Word - Johannesburg" a movement hit during the 1980's South Africa college and national divestment movement in the United States of America.

dead prez

dead prez is a hip-hop duo from the United States, composed of stic.man and M-1, and formed in 1996 in New York. They are known for their sometimes confrontational style, combined with socialist lyrics focused on both militant social justice, and also positivity. The duo maintains an ethical stance against corporate control over the media, especially hip-hop record labels.

Artist Type: 

Bad Religion

Bad Religion is a punk band from Los Angeles, California, known for poignant, erudite lyrics, and biting social commentary. The band was formed in 1979 by high school students Greg Graffin (vocals), Jay Bentley (bass guitar), Jay Ziskrout (drums), and Brett Gurewitz (guitar). In 1981, they released their eponymous debut EP on their own newly-formed label, Epitaph, managed and owned by Gurewitz. 1982 saw the release of their first full-length album, How Could Hell Be Any Worse?, which gained them a sizable following.

Artist Type: 

Dead Kennedys

Dead Kennedys are a punk rock band from San Francisco, California. During the 1980s the band gained a large underground following in the international punk music scene. Their music mixed the more experimental elements of English 1970s punk with the raw energy of the 1980s American hardcore punk scene. Dead Kennedys' songs mix the deliberately shocking lyrics of punk with a humorous, acerbic, satirical, and sarcastic left-wing commentary on current social and political issues.

Artist Type: 

Spearhead

There are, at least, three artists with the name Spearhead: 1) A UK metal band. 2) '90s hip-hop project, of US singer-songwriter Michael Franti. SEE MICHAEL FRANTI'S PAGES SEPARATELY. 3) A UK RAC band. 1) A UK black/death metal band formed in 2005. Their first album, ‘Deathless Steel Command’, is essentially a raw & fast death metal album with a black metal atmosphere/feeling. It was first released in 2005 on tape, but released shortly afterwards on CD format through Invictus Productions (Ireland).

Artist Type: 

Public Enemy

Four groups share this page: American hip-hop group, white power group, American hardcore band, and English oi band. 1) Public Enemy, also known as P.E., is a seminal Golden Age era Hip-Hop group known for their densely layered production and politically charged lyrics demonstrating their interest in the concerns of the African American community. PE formed in Long Island, New York, in 1982 around a WBAU radio show as Spectrum City.

Artist Type: 

Immortal Technique

Felipe Andres Coronel (born February 19, 1978), better known by the stage name Immortal Technique, is a Peruvian rapper, and an urban activist. He was born in Lima, Peru and raised in Harlem, New York. Most of his lyrics focus on controversial issues in global politics. The views expressed in his lyrics are largely a mixture of socialist commentary on issues such as class hierarchy, poverty, religion, government and institutional racism.

Artist Type: