Protest Music

AWKWORD ft. Chaundon – “Melting Pot (Made In America)” (prod. by Numonics)

On February 6, 2013, The DJ Booth world premiered Melting Pot (Made In America), “a dope new track (with) AWKWORD sharing his mic skills with Chaundon over top of some infectiously smooth production done by Numonics” (stupidDOPE.com).

As the one-and-only Hot 97 put it:

It’s always good to hear some MCs rap about our nation and its current state.

And that is exactly what this song — and the whole World View project — is about: connecting us globally through Hip Hop by spreading timely truths via ENTERTAINING music.

In agreement: the biggest and best websites and DJs worldwide, including stupidDOPE; Hot 97; 2DopeBoyz; Rap Genius (1 x 2 x 3); DJ Bobby Trends; Emilio Sparks; LiveHipHopRadio; The Sermon’s Domain; Versos Perfectos [Spain]; Peace! Magazine [Canada]; Kevin Nottingham; Khal and RockTheDub; Amanda Bassa and BrooklynBullshit.com; Music Wars; Hype Magazine; and many more.

BONUS: CLICK HERE for more rave reviews, lyrics, etc.

AWKWORD ft. Wordsmith, Jasiri X, Jus Daze & Capital X – “Notorious” (prod./cuts by Amin PaYnE [Australia])

On December 29, 2012, four days before the one-year anniversary of the death of his mother, a lifelong activist and social worker until her death a few months short of 60, AWKWORD released the World View single “Notorious“, produced by Amin PaYnE of Australia and featuring Wordsmith, Jasiri X, Jus Daze and Capital X.

As AWKWORD explains:

This song was originally inspired by the shootings and stabbings at the premieres across the United States for the Biggie biopic, Notorious — when we should have been celebrating one of our best and remembering the needless violence that caused his tragic death, we were busy perpetuating negative stereotypes. For me, and for Wordsmith, Jasiri X, Jus Daze and Capital X, these events became symbolic of a greater societal, cultural problem: one that impacts the Hip Hop community, specifically, and needs to be solved now. Chicago in 2012 says it all: a record number of murders; regular reports of police abuse; and a now-famous gang-affiliated 17-year-old rapper Chief Keef laughing on twitter at the shooting death of a local rival. And the massacre at Sandy Hook shows the problem extends beyond ‘the hood’. For BIG, for Hip Hop, for our communities, all our communities, let’s change what it means to be Notorious.

“Notorious” premiered online as a stream only via ALlHipHop.com and had already received radio love from the likes of Chuck D of Public Enemy. On January 14, AWKWORD released the free download through his soundcloud and made it available for purchase — on iTunes and other major online retailers; and with a ‘Name Your Own Price’ option through his bandcamp – with all proceeds going to charity.

Since its release, “Notorious” has appeared on many of the leading sites worldwide.

KevinNottingham.com said:

The homie AWKWORD is on a straight mission to serve up dope Hip Hop with a message, and that mission is so far very successful as he always catches my attention with his thought provoking tracks… This shit is just all the way dope and should not be slept on. AWKWORD does it again.

Other sites to feature the song include: Vibe, 2 Dope Boyz, DJ Booth, Ashley Outrageous, Barrelhouse BKLYN, Nodfactor and Versos Perfectos (Spain).

BONUS: CLICK HERE for more rave reviews, lyrics, etc.

AWKWORD – “Throw Away The Key (No More Prisons)” (prod. L. Ment [Canada]

On July 30, 2012, a couple days before his first birthday without his mother (RIP), AWKWORD released a song close to his heart, “Throw Away The Key (No More Prisons)“, his first overtly political song in about 18 months, via The DJ Booth.

The NO MORE PRISONS song is an attack on racism, inequality and the (in)justice system in America, as well as a tribute to the people who live a life in constant defense mode — from the police, from the courts, from the Man.

AWKWORD and “Throw Away The Key” were introduced by the legendary Chuck D of Public Enemy on his international radio show ANDYOUDON’TSTOP; he called the song “quality music that deserves to be heard” from “the one and only AWKWORD“.

Since it’s release via DJ Booth, the NO MORE PRISONS song from AWKWORD, “Throw Away The Key” has been featured — and critically acclaimed — by the leading Hip Hop sites worldwide, including The Urban Daily, Wendy Day and Rap Coalition, Okay Player, Hip Hop Wired, 2 Dope Boyz, Kevin Nottingham, EARMILK, Go Where Hip Hop and Andreas Hale‘s The Well Versed; major prison (and other progressive) groups such as The Sentencing Project, The Prison Policy Initiative, Prison Reform Movement, CreepCops.com and USPrisonCulture.com; and leading figures in entertainment and politics, including rap icon Chuck D, actor Isaiah Washington and The Nation publisher Peter Rothberg.

Additionally, “Throw Away The Key” made DJBooth.net’s Top 20 Indy Singles chart; landed at number-six on Spellcast Radio’s Top 10 Cuts of the Month list; is on regular rotation on Info Wars affiliate Music Wars Radio; and was featured on buzzing online political talk show Radio Dispatch — during a prisons segment, alongside an exclusive interview with The Nation editor Liliana Segura. (For more information on AWKWORD’s prison song and related writings, interviews and grassroots activism, click here. For a preview of the forthcoming video, click here.)

BONUS: Song lyrics; select song reviews; an interview with AWKWORD on the song and the Prison Industrial Complex; and an editorial by AWKWORD on prisons, injustice and inequality. CLICK.

UPDATE: Click here for a PREVIEW of the “Throw Away The Key” video.

AWKWORD ft. Y-Love – “Mr. President (The Wisconsin Song)” (prod. The White Shadow [Norway])

On March 22, 2011, AWKWORD and fellow New York City-based emcee Y-Love released via RockTheDub.com (RTD) “Mr. President (The Wisconsin Song)”, a WORKERS RIGHTS ANTHEM produced by The White Shadow of Norway. This song — the lead single from RTD’s 5-Year Anniversary Compilation FiF has been featured by Huffington Post, The Nation and Daily Kos. [FREE: Song Download. Customizable Ringtone - Send to Phone. Youtube Video (featuring exclusive live Wisconsin protest footage!).]

A Note About #WorldView:

ALL proceeds from AWKWORD’s music goes to charity. And AWKWORD doesn’t just rap and blog about it, he lives it. So, in a way, everything he releases is a song of protest, at least against the cutthroat, materialistic mainstream music industry.