Louder: Art That Confronts and Challenges Racism

June 5, 2020

By Caryn Ganz

Pop Music Editor

“This country manufactures only one product powerful enough to interrupt the greatest health and economic crisis it’s probably ever faced,” writes Wesley Morris. “We make racism, the American virus and the underlying condition of black woe.” In a week when once again, ghastly camera phone footage documented the mistreatment and death of black Americans, Wesley was overcome by Patti LaBelle’s cover of “If You Don’t Know Me by Now” from 1985. I hate that I even just told you what song he writes about, because it’s a spoiler for an impeccable piece of writing. Please read it, and this guide to works that illuminate and tackle police brutality, social injustice and racial inequity.

Jim Wilson/The New York Times

Critic’s Notebook

The Videos That Rocked America. The Song That Knows Our Rage.

Awash in the ghastly video mosaic shot by black people’s cameraphones, I found myself doubled over the kitchen sink. Then a lyric gave me strength.

By Wesley Morris

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Art That Confronts and Challenges Racism: Start Here

Our writers suggest works that illuminate and tackle issues of police brutality, social injustice and racial inequity.

By Melena Ryzik, Wesley Morris, Mekado Murphy, Reggie Ugwu, Pierre-Antoine Louis, Salamishah Tillet and Siddhartha Mitter

#BlackoutTuesday: A Music Industry Protest Becomes a Social Media Moment

What began as a proposed day of reflection after the death of George Floyd morphed into something broader, leading some to complain that #BlackLivesMatter posts were being silenced.

By Joe Coscarelli

Musicians Push Industry to Support Justice With Money, Not Hashtags

After the day of reflection #BlackoutTuesday, Warner Music announced a $100 million fund. Additional labels and tech platforms have promised unspecified contributions to other groups.

By Ben Sisario

Breaking Down ‘Those Color Lines’ in a Music Industry That Drew Them

The first black person appointed president of a major U.S. record label talks about race in the industry, and what has and hasn’t changed.

By Nabil Ayers

JAZZ AND THE PANDEMIC

Vincent Tullo for The New York Times

Live From New York, It’s Jazz at a Distance

The Greenwich Village club Smalls is booking bands inside the venue again, but audiences will still have to stay home.

By Alan Scherstuhl

INTERVIEWS

How Zane Lowe Became Pop’s Unofficial Therapist

The D.J.’s interviews on Apple’s Beats 1 have gone from promotional stops to opportunities for deep thoughts, anchored by an impulse to share his own story.

By Melena Ryzik

What Tracee Ellis Ross Worried About in ‘High Note’ (It Wasn’t Her Mom)

Her character, a glamorous singer, might remind others of Diana Ross, but that’s not what the star was thinking. Really.

By Melena Ryzik

my ten

Norah Jones Enjoys a Weekly Christmas, and Sweating to the (Not So) Oldies

The musician shares the movies, podcast, book and music that top her list of cultural essentials.

By Giovanni Russonello

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A Documentary for the #MeToo Era

“On the Record” implicitly addresses longstanding criticism that black women have been overlooked in the conversation about sexual assault and power, but the film could have gone further.

By Salamishah Tillet

A PLAYLIST AND POPCAST

playlist

Need More Nature? Listen to 12 Essential Field Recordings

Albums featuring chattering animals and roaring weather systems have blurred the boundaries of music and chance, new age and noise.

By Christopher R. Weingarten

After Missteps, Pop Stars Apologize … and Sometimes Push Back

Lana Del Rey, Doja Cat, and how some in the limelight bristle at social media condemnation.

NEWS

europe dispatch: a continent reopens

At Drive-In Disco, It ‘Feels Like Saturday Again,’ Even Without a Dance Floor

To stop the spread of the coronavirus, nightclubs are still shuttered as Europe emerges from a lockdown. But one German club has found another way to host a party. Honk if you’re having a good time.

By Patrick Kingsley and Laetitia Vancon