In my younger days I remember telling my grandfather how I would move with the musical times, thinking back I was never really part of the times that I lied in. My music diet consisted of genius such as Hendrix, Dylan, the Zep, Bowie, Louis Armstrong, Marvin Gaye, Bob Marley, Michael Jackson (and guilty pleasures like Diana Ross and Tina Turner) mixed with a a dash of modern elements such as Guns & Roses, Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana, Chili Peppers and Blur. Still, these modern elements did not really serve to protest greatly against the system as they might have. They all shared one common factor, air time on the radio, today the chances of getting airtime for anyone challenging the system is extremely limited.
Have you heard of Bliss N Eso, Michael Franti, Flobots or Lowkey? If you are reading this then maybe.
I think there is a better chance of Jesus returning than hearing any of these artists on mainstream radio, save Michael Franti, who I suspect may have sold out or succumb to the brand Obama lies back in 2008. To get music today that has any meaning, with a greater selection of words than "I got the moves like Jagger", you have to trawl the Internet and find people that dare to buck the trend or party line. Shows like X-Factor have flooded the market with karaoke singers and people too afraid to buck the trend or go against the will of Simon Cowell. Then came Plan B.
In the Independent today music artist Plan B features as his new song 'Ill Manors' does the rounds with a project he hopes will be just the beginning of a plan to challenge the mindsets of people following the London riots last year. This song is receiving lofty comparisons to the late and great Marvin Gaye's "what's going on" and referring to "ill manors" as "the first great mainstream protest song in years" in a blog by Dorian Lynskey. The Independent writer Tim Walker claims that effective protest songs are rare, they are not, he is just looking in the wrong places for them.
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