Mixtape - "Voices Breaking the 'Anechoic'"
Mixtape - "Voices Breaking the 'Anechoic'"
March 1, 2025
Mary Daniels-Shepherd
Introduction
The title comes from the concept of an anechoic chamber, a room designed to prevent sound waves from reflecting off the walls. It is the quietest place on Earth. Through this project, I aim to explore how music and art give a voice to minorities and justice movements. Music has long been used as a powerful tool for advocacy, breaking silence, and delivering a compelling message to neutral audiences.
The main inspiration for choosing this project is to explore and acknowledge how, over the years, Black communities have continuously fought for change and justice. In this fight, they have found a powerful way through art to break the indifference of people and deliver a message of action that impacts neutral audiences. This idea was inspired by my readings of Frederick Douglass' The Claims of the Negro and how he delivered a powerful speech to the neutral scholar—the "ignoble man." The tracks I am looking to include have proven to be a powerful way to reach those audiences.
This project is also inspired by Douglass and Martin Delany’s exploration of what it means to be Black. From Delany, I take the pride in African lineage, blood, and ancestors, while from Douglass, I take the context of their experiences in American society. I believe artists have perfectly portrayed the best elements of these two authors by using music to acknowledge their heritage and roots, while at the same time giving a voice to their communities and expressing the day-to-day experiences they have lived through.
Another element that inspired my choice of music tracks is the desire to reshape the concept of Black identity. One powerful way to do this is by using music and artistic expression to establish a seat at the table within the arts. A quote from Alain Locke deeply resonates with me: “The migrant masses, shifting from countryside to city, hurdle several generations of experience at a leap. But more importantly, the same thing happens spiritually in the life-attitudes and self-expression of the Young Negro, in his poetry, his art, his education, and his new outlook.” This quote continues to touch me deeply, and it serves as inspiration for finding a narrative through the mixtape. The mixtape will act as an example of how, over the years and in different contexts, Black communities across the USA have found through art—including music—a way to give voice to their self-expression and, in some ways, claim a new identity. This identity is not based on white oppression or what others may impose, but rather it is grounded in their community, their internal struggles, their African ancestry, and their lived experiences.
Track list and contributions
"Mississippi Goddam" - Nina Simone
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJ25-U3jNWM
Through this song, I feel that the artist is using her voice to protest what is happening in society. The music fuses with the violence and racism in the streets, serving as a powerful form of protest. In the lyrics, she sings:“Oh, but this whole country is full of lies/ You're all gonna die and die like flies/ I don't trust you anymore/ You keep on saying 'Go slow!'/ 'Go slow!'”This is a way of expressing to her people that they cannot continue to go slow and that action must be taken.
Harry Belafonte - Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5dpBWlRANE&list=RDH5dpBWlRANE&start_radio=1
This is a classic! The song is a great example of how the Civil Rights Movement validated using the experiences of their ancestors. It is a tribute to those who worked in the Jamaican banana fields and a way of connecting the struggle for justice in America to global experiences. No doubt, the reach of this song is worldwide.
Sam Cooke - A change is gonna come
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPr3yvkHYsE&list=RDfPr3yvkHYsE&start_radio=1
Another classic that gives hope— and I believe hope keeps people moving and fighting. Through this song, Sam Cooke is able to help different people identify with each other and create unity, using his art as a way to fuel a movement. He mentions his origins in a way that resonates with all the Black communities fighting for civil rights.
Personally, I love when he sings:
“Then, I go to my brother / And I say, 'Brother, help me, please' / But he winds up knockin' me / Back down on my knees, oh.”
These lines are not only a call for unity within the Black community but also a protest against how divisions can weaken efforts for civil rights. On a personal level, it speaks to how these divisions can affect individuals in deep, emotional ways. I don’t want to be that “sister” who ends up knocking others down.
Kendrick Lamar - Alright
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-48u_uWMHY&list=RDZ-48u_uWMHY&start_radio=1
This contemporary song feels like a modern version of Sam Cooke’s message, giving hope and resilience through a hard time, especially when police violence has become a tragic reality in Black communities across America. “Do you hear me, do you feel me? We gon' be alright” asks for resilience, using a genre born in Black communities to spread the message to a new generation.
Beyonce ft Kendrick Lamar - Freedom
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBDiuo8-PvQ&list=RDEBDiuo8-PvQ&start_radio=1
I love how this song opens by referencing MLK Jr., both as a tribute and as a way to advocate for the movement in contemporary America. This is another song where two superstars use music to give their communities a platform to protest, to raise their voices—especially against the violence Black communities face.
“Ten Hail Marys, I meditate for practice / Channel 9 news tell me I'm movin' backwards / Eight blocks left, death is around the corner / Seven misleading statements 'bout my persona / Six headlights wavin' in my direction / Five-O askin' me what's in my possession / Yeah, I keep runnin', jump in the aqueducts / Fire hydrants and hazardous"
perfectly describe the experience of a generation, how they've been portrayed, and their struggle. It remains a powerful way to communicate what these communities want: freedom.
Billie Holiday - Strange Fruit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DGY9HvChXk
Another classic that, just by listening, makes you aware of a terrible situation and denounces the violence and killings against Black communities. It’s a powerful way of calling out injustice, but also making it personal through the artist’s interpretation. Not only does it highlight the injustice, but it also creates sympathy and expresses the deep pain felt by those affected.
James Brown - Say it Loud- I'm Black and Proud
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hj1iWqoYEc&list=RD4hj1iWqoYEc&start_radio=1
This song is a musical masterpiece. It brings joy and is easy to connect with audiences beyond just Black communities. It celebrates resilience, strength, and identity, and the beat is extraordinary! The song makes it clear that we are people as everyone andas people there is pride and there is dignity. “Now, we're people/ We're like the birds and the bees/ But we'd rather die on our feet/ Than keep living on our knees” This song not only breaks silence but invite to move.
2Pac - Changes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXvBjCO19QY&list=RDeXvBjCO19QY&start_radio=1
This song has so many layers, and touches different situations and audiences. A hip hop legend using this genre to express the feeling of a whole generation, to invite them to change, to inspire them when things around seem difficult. This song invites change, calls to action and raises a voice against the system. This song should be more discussed by new generations.
Eddie Harris and Les McCann - Compare to What
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdDZXKe9QPA&list=RDQdDZXKe9QPA&start_radio=1
This song describes the struggles faced by a generation, not only rising against the issues affecting Black communities but also addressing problems that affected white people as well. For example, when he talks about “unwed mothers needing abortion,” he is using music to give a platform to other movements, such as women's rights, and blending them with the civil rights movement.
Nas - Get Down
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGcWhJiIv1c&list=RDHGcWhJiIv1c&start_radio=1
I think this song tells a narrative that expresses the experiences Black youth faced in the late 90s and early 2000s. It creates empathy, describing their fears and hopes. It ends by asking for change, which is a common theme in the songs we've included in this playlist. “All I really gotta say, is that...If that's how our people gon' get down, how we ever gon' get up?/ How we ever gon' get up if that's how we get down?/ A shame when you really look at it/ My folk against your folk, but we all kinfolk/ Somebody got to make a change”
Public Enemy - Fight the power
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmo3HFa2vjg&list=RDmmo3HFa2vjg&start_radio=1
Another classic that emerged at a time when hip hop was giving a new voice to a generation still experiencing systemic injustice. This song calls to action in a powerful way, and it has since been used as a symbol of resistance around the world and across various movements and situations. It’s a great example of using music to make social and political statements.
“'Cause I'm Black and I'm proud/ I'm ready and hyped plus I'm amped/Most of my heroes don't appear on no stamps” it is a song that denounces the past, the present and helps building up a collective identity for a group searching for heroes to represent them not only in politics but in the arts and music and streets.
Gambino - This is America
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYOjWnS4cMY&list=RDVYOjWnS4cMY&start_radio=1
This song goes beyond the lyrics; it’s a great example of how music and video can combine to create a message that leaves the audience breathless. Direct and to the point, the song protests racial injustice in the United States and calls out the systems that continue to exploit and oppress minorities, including Black communities. It portrays the violence at different levels. This is an example of how art can reach global audiences and I love how it says “I am just a black man”. The song touches areas that all of us can relate to in a certain way.
Through these songs, we've seen how the arts have joined the battlefield for civil rights and social justice for Black communities. No matter the time period, there are still things that need to be changed, and it's encouraging to see these amazing artists using their voices and talents to comfort, encourage, and protest injustice.
In America. In our communities the Anechoic is broken!
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