With the Democratic National Convention in Chicago kicking off Monday, Aug. 19, and with the Harris-Walz campaign criss-crossing the country promoting a message of joy and freedom, I thought it would be fun to pick out some songs that match the upswing in mood that is sweeping the nation.
In 2023, we posted Vice President Kamala Harris’ Africa trip playlist, and back when she was a senator, she released a playlist for African American Music Month. There is now a playlist on Spotify called “It’s Kamencing,” which includes a wide selection of music from multiple genres. Compiled by RepresentWomen, the new playlist reflects how a lot of us are feeling. Former President Barack Obama has also posted his summer playlist.
”Black Music Sunday” is a weekly series highlighting all things Black music, with 225 stories covering performers, genres, history, and more, each featuring its own vibrant soundtrack. I hope you’ll find some familiar tunes and perhaps an introduction to something new.
I’m opening with “Oh, Happy Day,” which is how a lot of us are feeling about the campaign and the selection of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris’ running mate. Today also happens to be the birthday of gospel vocalist, pianist, choir master, composer, and arranger Edwin Hawkins, who was born on Aug. 18, 1943 in Oakland, California.
Jason Ankeny wrote about him for AllMusic:
A trailblazing force behind the evolution of the contemporary gospel sound, Edwin Hawkins was best known for his 1969 classic “Oh Happy Day,” one of the biggest gospel hits of all time and a major pop radio smash as well. Born in Oakland, California in 1943, he began singing in his church youth choir while still a toddler, and by age five was playing piano; just two years later, he assumed full-time piano accompaniment duties for the family gospel group, making their recorded debut in 1957. A decade later, Hawkins and Betty Watson co-founded the Northern California State Youth Choir, drawing on the finest soloists from throughout the Bay Area to build the 50-member ensemble, which soon entered the studio to cut the 1968 LP Let Us Go into the House of the Lord, its modern, R&B-influenced production pointing the way to a new era in gospel recording.
You do not have to be religious to feel the joy and inspiration from this classic gospel tune:
The aforementioned playlist was covered by Eliza Powers, writing for Ms. magazine in “We Heart: This Kamala-Harris Themed Spotify Playlist, ‘It’s Kamencing’
An empowering, playful blend of 56 songs triumphantly bookended by Charli XCX songs “brat” and “365” is the perfect playlist for the polls.
In the past two weeks, America has exploded with newfound energy for Harris to take on Trump—from a record-breaking $310 million fundraised in July, to social media support from Gen Z icons like Charli XCX and Olivia Rodrigo, to the booming gleeful meme-ification of “Project Coconut.” Project Coconut—an antithesis of Republicans’ proposed Project 2025, and a triumphant reclamation of Harris’ question, “You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?”—is officially a go.
Enter RepresentWomen’s new Spotify playlist “It’s Kamencing,” an empowering, playful blend of 56 songs that represent the overwhelming energy of young America right now.
At 77 years old, I’m not a “young” American. However, the tunes on the playlist are rejuvenating and powerful.
Since Harris has chosen Beyoncé’s “Freedom” as her campaign song (with Beyonce’s permission!), here it is:
Network NoVA did a video mashup of “Freedom,” blended with clips from Kamala’s campaign:
Also on the Kamanencing playlist is Janelle Monáe’s “Americans,” which opens with these words:
Hold on, don’t fight your war alone
Halo around you, don’t have to face it on your own
We will win this fight
Let all souls be brave
We’ll find a way to heaven
We’ll find a way
…the opening verse contains a number of references to examples of violence against black people in America. “Die in church, live in jail, say her name, twice in hell” is a line that arguably refers to Dylann Roof’s shooting of black parishioners at a church in Charleston, the prison-industrial complex that disproportionately affects black Americans, and Sandra Bland’s death while in police custody. Monáe follows up with references to prejudices specifically against women: “I like my woman in the kitchen /… A pretty young thang, she can wash my clothes / But she’ll never ever wear my pants.” In a similar vein, the second verse references unequal pay—“Seventy-nine cent to your dollar”—and racism—“You see my color before my vision / Sometimes I wonder if you were blind / Would it help you make a better decision?”
These lyrics suggest that racism and misogyny are as central to American society as, in Monáe’s own words, “a big old piece of American pie,” and that people will continue to “defend [their] land” to maintain their warped, 1950s-era conception of society.
At this point, Monáe once again includes the voice that evokes King, but this time the voiceover speaks words the civil rights leader never actually said:
Until women can get equal pay for equal work
This is not my America
Until same-gender loving people can be who they are
This is not my America
Until black people can come home from a police stop without being shot in the head
This is not my America
Until poor whites can get a shot at being successful
This is not my America
…
Until Latinos and Latinas don’t have to run from walls
This is not my AmericaThis harsh indictment might at first feel dissonant when you consider its upbeat tempo and its role as the background music for the visual album’s triumphant final scene. But, importantly, it parallels the structure of the “emotion picture” as a whole, and it also ends on a hopeful note. The King-like voice finishes by saying: “But I tell you today that the devil is a liar / Because it’s gon’ be my America before it’s all over.” Through those lyrics alone, Monáe leaves open the radical possibility of a future in which all the different parts of her identity are accepted and valued on their own terms.
My last selection from the playlist is by Keb’ Mo’, featuring Rosanne Cash.
“I may be turning 70,” Keb’ reflects, “but I’m still breathing and I’m still hungry. I’m still out there going for it every single day.”
Born and raised in Compton, Keb’ began his remarkable journey at the age of 21, when he landed his first major gig playing with Jefferson Airplane violinist Papa John Creach. For the next 20 years, Keb’ would work primarily behind the scenes, establishing himself as a respected guitarist, songwriter, and arranger with a unique gift for linking the past and present in his evocative playing and singing. Though he recorded a one-off album in 1980 under his birth name, Kevin Moore, it wasn’t until 1994 that he would introduce the world to Keb’ Mo’ with the release of his widely acclaimed self-titled debut. Critics were quick to take note of Keb’s modern, genre-bending take on old school sounds, and two years later, he garnered his first GRAMMY Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album with Just Like You.
This Rolling Stone review from Stephen L. Betts has some background:
Grammy-winning artist Keb’ Mo’ has enlisted singer-songwriter and fellow activist Rosanne Cash for the anthemic and timely “Put a Woman in Charge.” A lively, upbeat tune backed by a driving rhythm, the song was penned by Keb’ Mo’ with Beth Nielsen Chapman (“This Kiss,” “Happy Girl”) and John Lewis Parker (“Hard Habit to Break,” “Can’t We Fall In Love Again”).
Opening with lines about man’s initial accomplishments (fire, the wheel) to the building of automobiles right through to setting borders and building walls, the lyrics note “he won’t stop ’til he owns it all” and then warn, “here we are standing on the brink of disaster.” In the background, Cash can be heard singing the line, “Enough is enough is enough is enough.” The answer, of course, is right in the song’s title, delivered as a vibrant gospel chorus that’s simple yet extraordinarily powerful.
“‘Put a Woman in Charge’ is about trying something else,” Keb’ Mo’ says in a release. “There have been a lot of great achievements made by men or by the masculine, but maybe, just maybe, we’ve gotten too comfortable with the imbalance of men in power and have fallen short by not listening and embracing what women have to offer when they lead.”
Some oldies but goodies didn’t make the playlist, but I play them and sing along for the simple joy they bring on a good day. Here are a few of my personal selections.
Al Green’s “Love and Happiness” was released in 1973 in England, and here in the U.S. in 1977.
Also in 1977, Bill Withers released “Lovely Day.”
RELATED STORY: RIP, but remember: We will always have Bill Withers’ music to lean on
For those of you who remember the disco era, “Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now” was a big hit from McFadden & Whitehead in 1979.
In more recent tunes, I defy anyone to not feel happy when hearing Pharrell Williams’ “Happy,” recorded in 2013.
Pharrell Williams went from teenage prodigy to a 13-time Grammy winner while carving out a path as one of the most original and versatile figures in the music industry. He has been part of the famous production duo The Neptunes and co-founded and sang lead vocals for the alt-rock/hip-hop band N.E.R.D. Williams also produced songs for some of the biggest music stars, including Nelly, Jay-Z, Britney Spears, Busta Rhymes, P. Diddy, Snoop Dogg, No Doubt, Usher and Limp Bizkit. He’s written scores and songs for movies, including the animated Despicable Me and its sequels. His song “Happy,” written for Despicable Me 2, was a top Billboard Hot 100 chart hit for 10 straight weeks and was nominated for an Academy Award for best original song. “That song would never have been the same song if it had been for my album,” he said, “but because it was for an animation, the only thing I could do was to put pure emotion into it—make a song for a man just walking down the street with pure happiness because he fell in love for the first time.” In 2014, Time magazine named him one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World.
Though Nina Simone originally recorded “Feeling Good” for her 1965 album “I Put a Spell on You,” this video featuring dancer-choreographer Raianna Brown was released in 2021.
Nina challenged boundaries and throughout her career, encouraged empowered expressions of Black culture and beauty. Created in partnership with Dove, the new music video for “Feeling Good” aims to continue Simone’s important legacy by telling a story of Black female empowerment and rejecting imposed expectations. The video follows four generations of Black women living their truths, loving each other, and feeling good.
RELATED STORY: Nina Simone was blunt about hand-wringers advising Black folks to ‘go slow’
I look forward to hearing what songs are on your uplifting playlists. Please post them in the comments section below, and make sure you are registered to vote!
