I just love storytelling. I write music to tell stories. So when I’m done writing a song, I take it and go, ‘Okay. How can I interpret these lyrics differently?’ I love taking lyrics that were so close to me at a certain point in my life and then revamping them. I always want to take things to the next level. – Hayley Kiyoko (American singer, songwriter, actress, dancer, and director)

Trends always come back around…

In all of today’s media forms, an old popular trend seems to always make a comeback. Vintage-style fashion became a big thing with celebrities, like the Kardashians with tiny sunglasses and Selena Gomez with 80s era ruffles and sequins. Stealing looks from the 1990s and other bygone eras has become a standard 2018 fashion choice. And honestly, I personally love the vintage 50s look, and I can appreciate a stellar pair of bell-bottom jeans. Meanwhile, video game producers turn back to pixelated games, and art typically varies between past and present styles. For music, the old way of actually telling a real story, either by the lyrics or the visuals, returns full force, often addressing multiple contemporary issues.

In the past, the majority of music focused on the world around the artist, or actually conveyed a storyline. Take Chuck Berry for example. One of the most influential rock and roll performers in history. His music transcended racial bigotry of the 1950s to reach the top charts for being purely relatable entertainment in the form of lyrical mastery and catchy tunes. “Johnny B. Goode” has often been stated to be about Berry’s early enthusiasm in the spotlight and the feedback he received from the world.

However music like this and artists like Berry, The Andrews Sisters (a majorly successful war-time female group #GRLPWR), and The Temptations (a powerhouse Motown 60s group), have become part of days long past. And although people like me still listen to these legendary talents, people have since moved on. Since the late 1980s to around 2010, music consisted of repetitive lyrics, lack of a rocking beat, and no story whatsoever, or worse, a story of sexual escapades or thoughts, with zero substance.

However the genre of hip-hop and rap has always had artists who would discuss current issues in their music and be very vocal in political issues. For one, Kendrick Lamar tackles many issues in his music.  Kendrick Lamar had previously visited to our school in 2015. He recently released his song, “Sit Down, Be Humble” in 2017. The lyrics relate heavily to today’s world and Lamar has been hailed as a modern day poet for his excellent lyricism and ability to tell a very contemporary story in his music.

LYRICS: …I’m so fuckin’ sick and tired of the Photoshop
Show me somethin’ natural like afro on Richard Pryor
Show me somethin’ natural like ass with some stretchmarks
Still will take you down right on your mama’s couch in Polo socks, ay…

Those lyrics address a huge issue in media and the beauty standard for both men and women. So many people feel insecure due to societal pressure to conform to Western beauty standards of being thin, white, perfect skin free of blemishes, tall, and yet curvy for women and muscular for men. And I can say with almost all certainty, nobody in this massive world feels they encompass that beauty standard. People like Kendrick and Hayley Kiyoko, who advocate for the ones who society ignores, the “unattractive,” the LGBTQIA+ community, POCs, and everyone else in between embody the spirit of a musical storyteller, as they tell the story of today.

Another artist, Donald Glover, aka Childish Gambino , tackles political issues, such as gun control and Black Lives Matter, with his release of “This is America.” Gun Control and Black Lives Matter movements have become more active in recent years, due to numerous amounts of mass shootings, and civil discourse between unarmed African American peoples and armed officials. Both Childish Gambino and Kendrick Lamar have a huge outreach and give back as much as they can around the world, and use their platform for good.

Even across the seas, music storytellers relate the state of the world around them, like BTS and Bollywood. They tell of both the good and bad in the world, and though the time of tribal storytelling with music has long past, humans still attempt to keep using music to tell the story of humanity. So, has storytelling activism come back? I truly believe it has, and hopefully it’s here to stay.