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From Sanctimony to Spectacle: Madonna vs. Marine Le Pen
If there is anything that Madonna has become known for, it’s spectacle. Spectacle in the truest sense, the sense defined in the dictionary as “a public show or display, especially on a large scale.”...
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Kicking Fascism Out of Music
Wade Michael Page was, among other things, a musician. The man who on August 5th stormed into a Sikh temple outside Milwaukee and opened fire, killing six worshippers and wounding several others, was...
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Pussy Riot: The Struggle Continues
Chaotic and dramatic. That definitely seems the best way describe the August 17th action in front of Chicago’s City Hall. If for no other reason than its inclusion of the brightly-colored balaclavas,...
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The "Pop-Washing" of Apartheid?
First came the news that Lollapalooza, one of the world’s biggest and best-known alternative music festivals, was headed to Israel next year. And with it, producer Perry Farrell is likely bringing...
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Who's Afraid of Pussy Riot?
This article was written in collaboration with the editorial board of Red Wedge magazine. Pussy Riot have gone to jail. Maria Alyokhina, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Yekaterina Samutsevich -- three of...
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The Chili Peppers Paradox
There is something incredibly frustrating about the fact that the Red Hot Chili Peppers played a concert in Israel, ignoring international pleas for them to cancel and observe the Palestinian call for...
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Cultural Workers Strike Back
Written in collaboration with the editorial board of Red Wedge magazine.“There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen.” So wrote the Russian revolutionary VI Lenin....
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On the Further Decline of the Hipster
Subcultures can never truly die. Even when it looks like the last nail in the coffin is firmly in place, there is always some last group of hangers-on and true believers, convinced that the way they...
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A Hundred Years of Guthrie
On January 19th, 2009, a crowd of thousands gathered in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC. It was the day before the inauguration of Barack Obama as President of the United States, a...
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Boots Riley's Rhyme and Reason
I spoke with the Coup’s Boots Riley at an auspicious time. Right before calling him, I’d returned from a downtown rally of thousands of striking Chicago teachers and their supporters. It was arguably...
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Don't Dream It, Be It
It’s got cross-dressing, orgies, a fair share of skin and lots of ugly, nasty rock and roll. Forget the candy; for us adults, The Rocky Horror Show is the most fun you can have on Halloween. There’s no...
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What Artists Won't Get This Election
Written in collaboration with the editorial board of Red Wedge magazine.It’s not often that people talk about artists as an “interest group.” The way that the very process of creation -- to say nothing...
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Keep a Culture Alive
Co-authored with Brit SchulteThe world would surely be a much poorer place if not for the many songs, poems and paintings of struggle and solidarity that have been produced over the past hundreds of...
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Will Israeli Apartheid Steal Stevie Wonder's Soul?
There are a few moments in Stevie Wonder’s career when droves of fans have thrown in the towel on him. To many it was “I Just Called to Say I Love You” (seriously, a lot of people hate that song). To...
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Listening to Music While Black
Jordan Davis was shot to death because his music was too loud. It wasn’t because he was aggressive toward the man who killed him. It wasn’t because Davis had a shotgun; police have found no such gun....
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The Spirit of Strummer
Five years ago it was a lot easier to find crude hagiography dedicated to the late, great Joe Strummer. It’s still easy, but the proliferation has slowed a bit. The music industry and all its...
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Lupe Against the World
There’s been a lot of controversy, debate, and straight up drama surrounding Lupe Fiasco around the release of his most recent album, Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album Pt. 1. This is,...
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Thanks, Stanley Jordan, For Pulling Out of Israeli Jazz Fest
It appears that the movement for a cultural boycott of Israel can claim another victory. On Saturday (5 January) guitarist Stanley Jordan announced he will not be performing at the winter installment...
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What Became of the Hip-Hop President?
It all seems so far away now. In 2008, “hip-hop president” was floating somewhere right behind “hope,” “change,” and other buzzwords ushered in by the Presidential candidacy of one Barack Hussein...
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No Jobs, No Masters
"Look, the people you are after are the people you depend on. We cook your meals, we haul your trash, we connect your calls, we drive your ambulances. We guard you while you sleep. Do not... fuck with...
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