It looks like pop stars are backing the democratic candidate – Hillary Clinton – on the campaign trail…
For the best part of 2016, humans have had one thing on their mind. No Brits, not what happens to the UK post Brexit (good guess though), but the US Election 2016. This is no less true for our musicians. Yes, the singers and rappers of the world, often the leading anarchists and protesters (think Lennon, Marley, The Clash), have had their say. No, they’re not wild like The Sex Pistols performing on the Thames, mocking the jubilee or releasing songs as iconic as Dylan’s ‘The Times They Are A Changin’’. But the music brigade are out in force. And it seems behind democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.
In the final days of Clinton’s campaign, she’s had many famous faces playing for her at the get-out-the-vote concerts, most notably Queen Bey and Jay Z. “I want my daughter to grow up seeing a woman lead our country,” Beyonce tells the cheering crowd. “We have to think about the future of our daughters, our sons… and that’s why I’m with her”. Powerful backing from a pop star with a following as large as Beyonce’s, proclaims unquestionable endorsement for the candidate. In what must be an effort to gain the support of black voters and millenials, Bey, along with her husband Jay Z, performed at the Cleveland rally for Clinton.
Beyonce backing Hillary seems to make sense. “I could have stayed home and baked cookies”, the superstar professed at the rally, relaying a Clinton quote from 1992. “But what I decided to do was pursue my profession.” These lines, fitting the Beyonce ethos, evoke Hillary- especially when your backing dancers are trussed up in blue trouser suits.
Jay Z, an avid supporter of Obama in the past, had words of support for Clinton himself, introducing her to the stage as “the next president of the United States”. He was careful not to throw specific shade at the opposition, Donald Trump, when he said, “This other guy, I don’t have any ill will towards him, but his conversation is divisive and that’s not an evolved soul to me.”
Clinton has seen the support of many other stars as well, including Bon Jovi, and, most vocally, Katy Perry. Perry dressed as the candidate for Halloween and can be seen on Instagram wearing a t-shirt reading “nasty woman”, a phrase Trump used to describe Clinton. It’s not radical by any means, but a pop star with a following of over 57 million on Instagram alone could certainly hold sway with young voters.
Yet, some bands are supporting Hillary simply because she feels the a lesser evil to Donald Trump. “What do you want your world to look like?” are the opening lines of the latest single from feminist activist group Pussy Riot. The video for ‘Make America Great Again’, a la Donald Trump’s campaign slogan, portrays a dystopian, Trump ruled society. In Donald’s world, officials wear blonde Trump wigs as they torture Nadezhda Tolokonnikova of Pussy Riot, brandishing her skin with her ‘faults’, including “outsider” and “pervert”. While this obviously speaks against the republican candidate, Puss Riot are not overtly pro-Clinton either, preferring the more progressive platform of former Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders. “Let’s just say his policies appealed to me more”, Nadezhda told Time Magazine, “but it’s not good to talk about that now. It’s harmful conversation.”
The lyrics for Pussy Riot’s song are not very controversial, particularly compared with their usual sound. “Of course we wanted to just say, F-k Trump…but we didn’t do that. We wanted to get our message across to people who might not be as aesthetically radical as we are.” It would seem when the republican candidate is a self proclaiming “pussy grabber” with heaps of controversy surrounding him, musicians may not be as protesting as we might like. Perhaps that’s because it’s easier to attack someone so openly offensive to so many.
But let us be clear that the singers have spoken (calmly) and the message is clear. Don’t vote for Trump.
Lynsey Rose Kay
[image: ABC News]