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So often,
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I'll take a fitness class,
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or I'll go to a music venue,
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or really anywhere that plays
music in the background,
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and I'll find myself loving the rhythms
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and the melodies and the beats,
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and then I take a second
to listen to the lyrics,
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lyrics that, for example,
place us in a position of subservience
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that we would never tolerate
in any other context.
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And I'm aghast at the degree to which
we normalize sexism in our culture.
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I listen to this music and I'm like,
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I don't want to have to turn up
to the sound of my own oppression.
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You know, music is one of
the most powerful forms of communication,
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because it has the potential
to either uplift or oppress.
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Music caters to the emotions.
Music caters to the soul.
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Music opens up our soul.
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It opens up our channels
to receive information
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about somebody else's walk of life,
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to inform our own ??.
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And while I have no problem
with male fantasy,
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what I do have a problem with
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is that according to a recent study,
only 2.6 percent of all music producers
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identify as women.
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That means an even smaller percentage
identify as trans or gender nonconforming.
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And why does this matter?
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Because, if we don't own
and control our own narrative,
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somebody else will tell
our stories for us,
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and they will get it wrong,
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perpetuating the very myths
that hold us back.
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And I'm not here to tell other people
how to make their music,
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but I am here to provide
and design the alternative.
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One strategy I take in my music
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is making uplifting, energetic,
percussive global beats
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and placing lyrics on top of them
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that genuinely describe
my life's experiences
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without contributing
to the oppression of anybody else.
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It's funny because it's the same reason
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as to why we excuse
so many problematic lyrics.
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It's because we love
how the beats make us feel.
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An example of this is my song
"Top Knot Turn Up."
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[Music: "Top Knot Turn Up"]
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(Lyrics) I turned off my phone's
notifications so I have more time
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One thing to know
I'm not here to please
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Hair tied up I do it properly
My time is not your property
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When I'm productive like my ovaries, ayyy
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Give a grown girl room to breathe
Basic rights and her liberty
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Free from insecurity
That the world's projecting onto me
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Please do not trouble me when I am focused
The future is female you already know this
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I'm fighting against
the corruption on SCOTUS
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Turned up in my top knot
since when I first wrote this
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It's a top knot turn up
It's a top knot turn up, turn up, turn up
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It's a top knot turn up
It's a top knot turn up, turn up, turn up
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It's a top knot turn up
It's a top knot turn up, ayyy
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It's a top knot turn up
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Madame Gandhi: I want us to keep making
sex-positive, beautiful music
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about joy and freedom.
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I want us to embrace our own pleasure
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just as much as we embrace our own pain.
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I want us to celebrate the authentic,
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nuanced,
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multidimensional aspects
of our human existence,
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rather than perform false narratives
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of degrading sexuality
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in order to feel accepted or loved.
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And another strategy
that I take in my music
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to combat the misogyny
that exists on the airwaves
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is to visually depict the very world
I wished we lived in.
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In the music video
for my song "See Me Thru,"
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which is like a vibe-y,
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Queer electronic R&B song,
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I cast two of my dear friends, ??
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to play the role of the lovers,
because they're married in real life.
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But what you don't know
is that they also are behind the camera
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concepting and directing
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the entire video.
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(Video) Heyyyyy ohhhh
My emotions were tired
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MG: Music should be safe and accessible
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for all to experience.
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As you can see, it's not about
losing the sex appeal or swag
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that music has,
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it's about writing messages
that infuse tenderness and positivity
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into music that motivates us
and challenges us,
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and while we as musicians
absolutely have the responsibility
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to make music that isn't disempowering,
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the consumers can be
part of the change too.
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Firstly, we get to choose
which songs we want to mute
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and which songs we want to turn louder.
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We get to say I respect myself enough
to say I don't want to listen to this
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and I don't want this to be
in anybody else's space either.
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Secondly, we can simply ask ourselves,
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does this music or this message
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contribute to the oppression
of somebody else?
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Why am I tolerating it?
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And finally, we can all be choosing
to make playlists or DJing music
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that provides the right vibe or mood
that we're looking for in that moment
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without the problematic messaging.
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Why does this matter?
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Because it's teaching algorithms
in our streaming systems and our world
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exactly what it is that
we do want to listen to,
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creating long-term change
and a feedbacking mechanism
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that impacts the entire industry.
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This is not a message
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for just a small group of people.
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This is a message that affects everybody,
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because when we project and liberate
our most vulnerable genders,
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we liberate everybody.
Maurício Kakuei Tanaka
Hello,
I think she says "protect" at 5:41.
Could you please check it out?
Thank you!
Erin Gregory
5:41
project
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protect
Thanks!