the 10 most unapologetically black songs of 2017

1. Kendrick Lamar – “DNA”

The only thing controversial about including something from Kendrick on a year-end roundup is which song and where. Damn wasn’t just one of the best records of 2017, it was one of the most definitive 2017 records of 2017. “DNA” shines with its lyrics of strength, rebellion, and power. “I got power, poison, pain and joy inside my DNA.”

2. Algiers – “Walk Like A Panther”

Algiers’ Underside of Power is an absolute masterpiece of industrial-tinged gospel punk. Turning up the volume on everything that worked about their self-titled debut, the songs crackle with a defiance determined to call down divine retribution. Opening with a sample calling for revolution, singer Franklin James Fisher answers the call. “I will not be led to slaughter!”

3. Jus – “Black Power (ft. Georgia Anne Muldrow, Declaime, Roman Lee Norfleet and Rob Milton)”

These days it seems like everything Georgia Anne Muldrow touches turns to gold. The singer / producer / revolutionary joins Jus and the crew of Soulvember Records on “Black Power” and the results are legendary. “I feel it my heart, my soul, my eye / I glow with black power.”

4. Rhiannon Giddens – “Better Get It Right the First Time”

Folklorist Rhiannon Giddens is in rare form on her latest record, Freedom Highway. Though the album mostly focuses on tying together the history of black music in America, the song that brings the timeline up to now is also the album’s best. “Better Get It Right the First Time” finds Giddens trading her bluegrass strings for a soul horn section and throwing in a devestating guest verse from bandmate Justin Harrington. The album openly pays tribute to the Staple Singers with its title, but on “Better Get It Right the First Time,” it earns the comparison.

5. Fantastic Negrito – “Push Back”

The triumphant reinvention of Xavier Amin Dphrepaulezz as Fantastic Negrito is one of the greatest stories of 2017, and “Push Back” is his defining creation. Drawing on vintage soul, classic blues, indie rock, and punk, Fantastic Negrito’s The Last Days of Oakland is the realization of 20 years of hard work and struggle. “Push Back” is a declaration of defiance from an artist who knows more than a little about winning against the odds.

6. Chaka Khan – “I Love Myself”

Chaka Khan is a goddamn national treasure. End of sentence.

7. Benjamin Booker – “Witness (ft. Mavis Staples)”

Speaking of goddamn national treasures, look, it’s Mavis Staples. Singing with Benjamin Booker! The Mavis Staples revolution has been one of the brightest spots of 2017, between her new solo record and her guest spot on what’s arguably the best song in Benjamin Bookers’ songbook. The song plays with the many definitions of “witness” and poignantly asks how active a participant in your life and in your community. “Am I gonna be a witness? Just a witness?”

8. Young Fathers – “Only God Knows”

Transpotting 2 may have been something of an ill-advised contribution to the ill-advised 2017 trend of years-late sequels to movies no-one asked for, but let’s talk about that soundtrack. Featuring some of the best tracks Young Fathers have written to date, the ambitious trio create a gospel song that urges you not to worry about the afterlife with “Only God Knows.” It’s a song of hope hiding beneath the rage.

9. DUCKWRTH – “XTRA”

“This sound like some Fred Hampton / This sound like some Nirvana.” On his XTRA UGLY mixtape, DUCKWRTH has no fucks left to give and it is glorious.

10. Cody ChesnuTT – “Africa the Future”

“Come on children, we’re on the front line today” Cody ChesnuTT sings on this song celebrating diasporic unity. The song brings in elements of soul, hip-hop, and high-life with the passion and creativity Cody ChesnuTT brings to everything he does. “Black African descendants, wherever we are, we are bound globally by this declaration; our humanity and our contributions to this universe will not be undervalued!”