MUSIC

Lil Dicky and Grimes are Kickstarting a New Wave of Climate Change Protest Music

After a long period of silence, popular musicians like Grimes and Lil Dicky are taking notes from Joni Mitchell and have started to release climate protest songs—but will their efforts be enough to launch a movement?

Photo by Jayy Torres on Unsplash

For his new video "Earth," Lil Dicky managed to rally some of pop music's titans to form a truly unique visual and auditory experience.

Featured artists include Ariana Grande (as a zebra asking if she's black or white) and Snoop Dogg (as a marijuana plant); as well as Halsey, Justin Bieber, Ed Sheeran, and even an all-knowing Leonardo DiCaprio. It's a deeply disorienting animated journey across time and space, led by a caveman-esque Dicky.

But if you can get past all of the dirty jokes and layers of fluff, at its heart, "Earth" is a climate change protest song—and for that, it's revolutionary.

Lil Dicky - Earth (Official Music Video)www.youtube.com

Music, art, and activism have long gone hand in hand. In the 1960s, musicians sang tirelessly about bringing the boys back from Vietnam and taking down "the big man," and artists like Bob Dylan and Billie Holiday have long inspired activist movements. Today, artists like Kendrick Lamar and Childish Gambino are steadily releasing protest anthems that are sure to go down in history.


Childish Gambino - This Is America (Official Video)www.youtube.com

Still, though it is one of the most fundamentally pressing issues of our time, climate change has been largely ignored in modern protest music. Just Google "climate change protest music" and you'll find articles with headlines like "Where are all the climate change songs?"

In a way, this lacuna makes sense. Climate change can feel like an abstract and unimportant issue, especially for people who fear for their lives when simply walking down the street, or who are too concerned with finding their families' next meal to worry about impending ecological decline. However, climate change will disproportionately affect people of color and lower socioeconomic classes, making it an issue with profoundly intersectional consequences.

And it is no longer an abstract threat—a dire 2018 UN report proclaimed that we have twelve years to reverse the worst effects of climate change, which will effectively decimate the human race if it progresses at its current rate. The existential size of this crisis is unprecedented, and so it calls for unprecedented levels of unity and action—both of which have historically been facilitated by music and art.

Though environmental activism has yet to break through to mainstream popular music, climate change protest music does exist, and it seems to be gaining traction. In March, the singer-producer Grimes announced that her next project will be called Miss_Anthropocene, after an alter ego who personifies climate change. "It's a concept album about the anthropomorphic Goddess of climate Change: A psychedelic, space-dwelling demon/ beauty-Queen who relishes the end of the world," she wrote, adding, "She's composed of Ivory and Oil."

Regarding her inspiration behind the character, Grimes (who now goes by c) explained, "Climate change is something I'm only ever confronted with in a sad/ guilty way…. Reading news and what not. So my goal is to make climate change fun...(I mean, everybody loves a good villain… re: the joker, Queen Beryl)...so maybe it'll be a bit easier to look at if it can exist as a character and not just abstract doom."

Other musicians have tried different approaches to create popular music that raises awareness about climate change. Recently, the artist Maureen Lupo Lilanda collaborated with other Zambian musicians on a song called "Samalilani." The track was released alongside a video comprised of dire scenes of ecological catastrophe—charcoal burning, charred tree stumps, flames devouring a rainforest. Together, the song and film make a powerful, chilling statement.

Theresa N'gambi, James Sakala, Maureen Lilanda, Pompi & Shaps Mutambo - Samalilani (Official Video)www.youtube.com

"It occurred to me that things were changing," Lilanda said of her inspiration behind the song, noting the severe changes she noticed in the Zambian countryside, which a lack of rainfall had turned from a lush, verdant landscape to a barren desert over the course of her lifetime. "Once I understood it, it felt imperative that I change the mindset," she added.

"Samililani" was a collaboration with National Geographic-led initiative Conservation Music, a project led by geographer and musician Alex Paullin. His nonprofit, which has traveled all over Africa in an effort to work with musicians and artists on raising awareness about climate change, has also collaborated with a Zambian reggae group and collective called Yes Rasta! to craft a climate change protest song called "Sons of October."

Sons of October - Yes Rasta! | Zambian musicians teach climate change solutions!www.youtube.com

With its unique ability to access the deepest and most terrifying of human emotions, music is an important and largely untapped resource that might be instrumental in the fight against climate change. "There isn't any other tool [besides music] that you can use that is as effective," Paullin said of his mission. Indeed, music could be vital in helping us collectively move past a state of paralysis or chosen ignorance, into a more unified mindset that will allow us to band together to enact real change.

Before any of this happens, the music needs to be written. Luckily, from an aesthetic perspective, climate change is rich territory. Since time immemorial, artists have waxed rhapsodic about the beauty and power of the natural world, and the threat of its decline creates the kind of existential tension that has long inspired truly masterful works of art.

All this isn't to say that climate change protest music doesn't exist. If you do some digging, you'll find that there actually is a fair amount of music about climate change and environmentalism, stretching back nearly a century. A lot of the greatest music about climate change comes from the 1960s—before anyone knew the true extent of the damage we inflicting on our world in by ceaselessly pumping fossil fuels into the atmosphere. One prescient track is Joni Mitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi," which still frequently plays on radio stations, having long ago solidified its place as an environmentalist's anthem.

Big Yellow Taxi - Joni Mitchellwww.youtube.com

The early 2000s saw another wave of climate-change-inspired music. Increasingly alarming scientific reports had metalheads taking note: Metallica's song "Blackened" and Black Sabbath's "War Pigs" both explore environmental decline. A few of pop's brightest stars had something to say, too—in 2009, Selena Gomez, Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato, and the Jonas Brothers collaborated on a song called "Send It On" which donated its proceeds to environmental organizations. More recently, artists including Radiohead and Jack Johnson have been actively writing and speaking out about climate change, as have plenty of indie or lesser-known musicians.


Metallica - Blackenedwww.youtube.com


But the majority of new climate change-inspired music has received little significant commercial attention. Among the outliers are ANOHNI's "4 Degrees" and AURORA's "The Seed," both of which are promising hints at more to come. Weyes Blood's critically acclaimed new album is rife with meditations on climate anxiety, and activists Jimmy and Sid have also been steadily creating innovative protest songs, like many diverse musicians from around the world. Still, much of the most widely publicized recent climate change protest art has, ironically, been created by scientists. For example, in 2015, a young scientist composed a piece for a string quartet based on 133 years of climate change data. While projects like this one are impressive, they are also complex and somewhat inaccessible for those of us who are not scientifically inclined—and certainly, they are not as likely to gain media traction as, say, a song that features Lady Gaga or Beyoncé.

AURORA - The Seedwww.youtube.com

Scientific proof of climate change has been public knowledge for a long time, but clearly facts and figures have not been enough to spark widespread cultural and political action. What we need now is a never-before-seen level of collective support and unity, and this can only happen if climate change becomes an intersectional cultural movement.

Most likely, the next decade will be defined by intense protests across the globe. As activists flood the streets of London, as movements like Sunrise pack Washington, D.C. offices and chant their slogans to the sky during nationwide strikes, and as young kids stand before behemoth politicians and fossil fuel executives and ask them to stop destroying their futures, at the very least, they ought to have inspiring music to accompany them.

So for all its absurdity, Lil Dicky's "Earth" is, at least, a promising indication that climate change is being recognized by some of pop culture's most influential figures. In light of the literally apocalyptic threat that we collectively face—and considering the massive organizational efforts it will take to even start to heal some of the wounds we have inflicted on the earth—it has to be just the beginning.



Eden Arielle Gordon is a writer and musician from New York City. Follow her on Twitter @edenarielmusic.


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Popdust Presents | Shane Hendrix is Ready for His Close-Up

The Pop Newcomer Talks Nicki Minaj and New EP, 'Loyal.'

Hendrix shows us what he's made of.

August 25, 2018 | Stars in his eyes, Shane Hendrix glows from the inside out. His charm is radiant, and there is really no way of escaping it. When he sings, too, his silky tenor cleanses the palette, flooding the senses and wringing you until you've got nothing else left to give. To be truthful, he's spellbinding. "Final Call," as you'll witness below, is a tour de force moment, remarkable in its simplicity but intense and heartfelt and overpowering.

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INTERVIEW | Famous Dutch DJ & Producer Fedde Le Grand

This week we caught up with Dutch DJ Fedde Le Grand known for his chart-topping 2006 song "Put Your Hands Up 4 Detroit".

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Fedde Le Grand is considered to be one of the most defining figures in the fast-evolving genre of House music!

This talented producer has headlined shows ranging from Sensation New York to Ultra Music Festival to Tomorrowland, we were lucky to see him in action this summer at Tomorrowland & we even got a chance to catch up with him.

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What is Music? How would you define it?

Music is everything.

Where did your interest in music stem from?

It's kind of always been there I think. I remember my mom telling me that when I could just barely walk I was standing in front of the TV with my diapers on busting out some moves.

What do you love about creating music?

I think it's all about actually creating something from scratch to begin with, which is just something special, and of course being creative, no boundaries, just going with anything that feels right at that moment. And that definitely is something I have my fans to thank for, they've always been very supportive of me trying out new stuff and that keeps it interesting, I'd not be able to focus on a too narrow of a sound for too long, it'd drive me crazy.

How would you sum up your music in two words?

Energetic grooves.

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What feelings do you associate with your music?

Maternal feelings I guess haha.. Sounds so weird, but it really is, when you release a record, after having worked on it for hours and hours in the studio, then all of a sudden it's judgement time! That's when it really feels like your baby that you're all of a sudden throwing out into the wide world. What was your inspiration behind -- (choose two of your favorite songs)?

That is such a difficult question. Inspiration always comes from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. Like for instance with Cinematic http://flg.dj/cinematic-ytwhich definitely is one of my personal favorites, it all started with an incredible demo from Denny White, that really was where I drew all my inspiration from. More recently with collabs like Flex http://feddelegrand.lnk.to/FLEX and Hit The Club http://feddelegrand.lnk.to/HitTheClub you also vibe a lot of the ideas that your collaborating partners throw at you which I feel is a lot of fun too.

Where can readers go to find out more about you?

http://feddelegrand.lnk.to/findme

What do you love most about performing at festivals?

The whole vibe is just so much fun! I really like summer a lot!!


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What festivals are you performing in this summer? Where can fans see you perform live?

A lot! So enough to choose hopefully ;) Until mid-September below is where you'll find me!

Fedde Le Grande Tour Dates

08 Aug | Aurora, Primosten, Croatia

11 Aug | DanceValley, Spaarnwoude, Netherlands

11 Aug| Lakedance, Eindhoven, Netherlands

12 Aug | Luna Glam, San Teodoro, Sardinia

14 Aug | Solaris Sunset Festival, Praia da Rocha, Portugal

17 Aug | Marquee, Las Vegas, USA

18 Aug | Liv, Miami, USA

22 Aug | Hi, Ibiza, Spain

24 Aug | Creamfields, Daresbury, UK

25 Aug | SW4, London, UK

25 Aug | ASM Festival, Arnhem, Netherlands

25 Aug | Mysteryland, Haarlemmermeer, Netherlands

30 Aug | Strana, San Pedro, Mexico

31 Aug | Strana, Guadalajara, Mexico

01 Sep | Premier, Atlantic City, USA

02 Sep | Marquee, Las Vegas, USA

07 Sep | Marquee, Las Vegas, USA

08 Sep | Acadamy, LA, USA

15 Sep | Flying Friends, Eersel / Zwolle / Spaarnwoude, The Netherlands

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THE OPTION | The World Cup Semifinals Start Tomorrow

With Just Four Teams Left, We Look at Each Country's Chance to Win.

Unfortunately for soccer fans around the globe, the World Cup is coming to a close this week. That said, we still have a few more games left before a champion is crowned. Tomorrow, France will take on Belgium to determine which squad gets to play in the finals on Sunday. On Wednesday, England and Croatia will do the same.

This group of four is interesting when you consider the teams that have been eliminated so far. With Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Germany, and Spain all eliminated, almost every perennial frontrunner is gone. France has had a fair bit of World Cup success, but the other three teams have but one win between them, and it came from England in the 1960s. Belgium, by virtue of being in the semifinals has already tied their best World Cup run ever. Croatia has also never made it out of this round. We're likely to see something miraculous this week, but who's going to win this thing?

Croatia

When Croatia plays against England, Luka Modrić will probably be the single most talented player on the pitch, but it takes more than one guy to win at this stage of the tournament. In their game with Russia, Croatia looked exhausted, and if it weren't for Russia's horrific performance in PKs, Croatia wouldn't have made it this far. Luckily for Croatia, FIFA wipes the bookings of players after the quarter final round. This means the four players who collected yellow cards against Russia don't risk missing the final if they're penalized in this game. Still, Croatia is a team that very nearly got outmuscled by a Russian squad that had no business making it so far. It'll be interesting to see if they can turn it around against one of the tournaments' best teams on Wednesday, but the chances of them winning two more games seem pretty slim.

England

England - probably more so than any other team on this list - is a cohesive unit. This probably has something to do with the fact that every player plays in the EPL and the entire roster is only spread out between 10 professional teams, all of whom play each other twice every year. In short, the closeness of these players shows on the field. Led by Tottenham forwards Harry Kane and Deli Alli, the squad has looked dynamic throughout the entire tournament. Like France, they drubbed their quarterfinal opponent, and have yet to play a game in which they look like the lesser team. If they play to their potential, England will beat Croatia. The question that remains is whether or not they can beat France or Belgium.

Belgium

In a lot of ways, the Belgian team is like the English. They're a cohesive unit that relies on depth rather than individual star power. They left the group stage undefeated, and managed to outplay Brazil, the tournament favorites, in the quarter finals. Now, they'll face their toughest test. The French juggernaut, led by Kylian Mbappé and Antoine Griezmann has been eviscerating their opponents in the knockout stage, outscoring them 6-3 and consistently looking like the most convincing team on the pitch. That said, Belgian goaltender Thibaut Courtois is slightly better than France's Hugo Lloris, and France's defensive blunders late in their game with Argentina exposed a few chinks in their armor. For all their talent, the French team has trouble clamping down once they have a lead.

Unfortunately for Belgium, they'll be without defenseman Thomas Meunier who picked up a second yellow card against Brazil and has to sit out this contest. This game will undoubtedly come down to the wire, but without their full defensive unit, Belgium will be hard pressed to come away with a win. Should they beat France however, Belgium is a slight favorite against England and a huge favorite against Croatia.

France

France has been the most impressive team in the tournament so far. They haven't lost a match, and their two games in the knockout round were both huge displays of dominance. That said, while France has played against plenty of great players, (Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Sergio Agüero) they have yet to play against a truly stellar team. Belgium presents an interesting challenge for the Frenchmen. Eden Hazard and Romelu Lukaku are very good players, but neither of them are at the level of a Messi or a Suarez. The Belgian team isn't like the Argentinian or Uruguayan squads. They aren't missing any pieces. With players like Mousa Dembélé, Jan Vertonghen, and Nacer Chadli, Belgium's midfield and defense are solid. This means, Kylian Mbappé probably won't be able to run roughshod all over them, scoring at will. France is going to be forced to do something they really haven't had to do yet this tournament. That is, play a tight game that goes the full 90 minutes. If they prove themselves against Belgium though, France is the clear favorite in the finals, no matter who their opponent is.


Matt Clibanoff is a writer and editor based in New York City who covers music, politics, sports and pop culture. His editorial work can be found on Popdust, The Liberty Project, and All Things Go. His fiction has been published in Forth Magazine. Website: https://matthewdclibanoff.journoportfolio.com/ Twitter: @mattclibanoff


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THE OPTION | World Cup: Who's Still Got a Chance?

As Perennial Favorites Get Knocked Off Left and Right, it Seems Like it's Anyone's Game.

This weekend, Russia stunned Spain and knocked them out in the round of 16.

France also sent home Messi and his fellow Argentinians on Saturday. The Netherlands didn't make the World Cup this year, and the Germans choked in against South Korea in the group stage. There are no finalists from the last two World Cups left in this year's tournament, and because of this it's becoming increasingly difficult to predict what's going to happen next.

At the beginning of the tournament, no one would have predicted Russia making the quarterfinals, yet there they are. Croatia has absolutely dominated the field. And Belgium seems to be the team to beat. There are still too many teams left in this World Cup to narrow the story lines to one particular club. With this in mind, I've decided to look at everyone remaining and discuss their chances of becoming world champions.

France

France is flying high from their victory over Argentina this weekend, and for good reason. 19-year-old Kylian Mbappé singlehandedly demolished last year's runner-up, torching Argentina's plodding defense and going on to score a brace. If France has one problem though, it's closing out when it counts. Even when they took a two goal lead late in Saturday's match, it never really felt like they had control. Argentina was able to score in the final minutes and managed to setup several close shots. Speed alone won't be enough to beat Uruguay's stout defensive unit. France will need to grab the lead and hold it if they're going to make it out of the next round.

Uruguay

Of all the teams in the tournament, Uruguay is perhaps the most complete looking. When they beat Portugal, they grabbed the lead and let their defense do the work. When Portugal tied it back up 1-1 in the second half, Edinson Cavani authoritatively buried a second goal, putting a cap on his brilliant performance. Unfortunately for Uruguay, there are reports that Cavani could miss up to a month of playing time due to an injury he sustained late in Saturday's game. Uruguay still has Suarez, making them an incredibly formative opponent, but Cavani has been their leader on offense. His loss significantly hurts Uruguay's chances.

Croatia

When one thinks of soccer, Croatia probably isn't a country that comes to mind. That said, they have a very quiet roster of stars, including Luka Modrić and Mario Mandžukić. They steamrolled through the group stage and knocked off Denmark in PKs yesterday. They play Russia in the next round and don't have much legitimate competition on their side of the bracket besides England. Sometimes an easy path to the championship is just as important as having the best players.

Russia

The fact that Russia is still in this tournament is nothing short of a miracle. In a lot of ways, their team is like the American team, comprised of a bunch of players no one has ever heard of, most of which play in an inferior professional league. They beat perennial favorite Spain in PKs, but it's worth noting how Uruguay brought them back to Earth in the group stage. It's only a matter of time before the Russian team gets sent packing.

Belgium

As the tournament favorites have fallen by the wayside, Belgium remains, dominating the competition so far. These guys are the real deal, and have a relatively cushy matchup against Japan later today. That said, they're in a tough bracket. To get to the championship, they'll need to beat Brazil and then the winner of Uruguay v France. They certainly have the toughest road to the championship, but they also have one of the toughest teams. Still, they haven't faced a real challenge yet in this tournament. It will be interesting to see how they match up against the elite teams.

Japan

Realistically, Japan has no chance. They barely made it out of an inferior group and now they have to play Belgium, one of the best teams in the tournament. For some countries, making it to the world stage is a victory in itself.

England

This is the first English team in a long time that seems to have some teeth. Harry Kane has scored 5 goals so far, and is leading the entire tournament, and partnered with his Tottenham teammate Deli Alli, he's sure to score a few more. England plays Colombia tomorrow, and should have an easy go of it. They also ended up in the easy side of the bracket, and their only real competition moving forward is Croatia. These guys are a lock for the semifinals.

Colombia

Colombia made it into the knockout stage on a technicality. They committed two fewer yellow cards than Senegal and made it through the group stage on a bizarre tiebreaker. Their team is full of talented players, but they haven't really gelled this World Cup. If they beat England tomorrow, it'd be a massive upset.

Sweden

Sweden managed to smack Mexico around in the group stage and played a relatively tight game against Germany before losing in the 95th minute. They're on the weaker side of the bracket, but that doesn't necessarily mean they're safe. They play Switzerland next round in what should be, despite Switzerland's FIFA rank of 6th, an even matchup. Still, even if they win, Sweden doesn't have the fire power to go toe-to-toe with either England or Croatia.

Switzerland

Switzerland played what was perhaps their most important game during the group stage. Granit Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri came to Switzerland as Albanian refugees from Kosovo. When Xhaka scored Switzerland's first goal, he put his hands in the shape of the Albanian eagle, an act of political antagonization that FIFA later fined him for. While the Swiss team clearly has a lot of heart, they'll be hard pressed to get past Croatia or England. I do think they'll beat Sweden and head to the semi-finals though.

Brazil

After beating Mexico this morning, Brazil seems to be in top form, and are the clear favorites going forward. Between Marcelo, Neymar, and Thiago Silva, they have too much talent for most teams to handle. They're on the harder side of the bracket, and will most likely have to face Belgium next round, but Brazil remains the team to beat right now. That said, Neymar constantly rolling around the field crying is a bad look. Brazil is the best team in the tournament, but they're pretty tough to root for.


Matt Clibanoff is a writer and editor based in New York City who covers music, politics, sports and pop culture. His editorial work can be found in Pop Dust, The Liberty Project, and All Things Go. His fiction has been published in Forth Magazine. Website:https://matthewdclibanoff.journoportfolio.com/ Twitter: @mattclibanoff


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