Tune-Yards - "ABC 123"

 

“The music never answered the question, ‘What should I do?’ In fact, it hasn’t provided any answers thus far. It does not answer the uncomfortable question about the role of art and artists in things such as dismantling racism, combating oppression, or halting climate change. I hope this album, which I am deeply proud of and consider our best, reaches people like our music hasn’t before. And I wonder, can it do so without erasing the work of others? I wonder if it can do so without reeking of the white supremacy and privilege that it intends to investigate. This album is what it is: a vessel for a cisgender, white woman in a heteronormative relationship to explore her place in the world. A vessel for exploring, out loud, the very concrete reasons why it’s this band, and not another, whose music you’re being offered by a record label. And I cherish this vessel” (Merrill Garbus/Tune-Yards)