How can music disrupt oppression & bring about social change? - Highlights - JAKE FERGUSON, ANTHONY JOSEPH & JERMAIN JACKMAN

SOCIAL JUSTICE & ACTIVISM - The Creative Process & One Planet Podcast

How can music challenge systemic oppression and bring about social change? How can we envision alternative paths while avoiding the pitfalls of past paradigms?

Jake Ferguson is an award-winning musician known for his work with The Heliocentrics and as a solo artist under the name The Brkn Record. Alongside legendary drummer Malcolm Catto, Ferguson has composed two film scores and over 10 albums, collaborating with icons like Archie Shepp, Mulatu Astatke, and Melvin Van Peebles. His latest album is The Architecture of Oppression Part 2. The album also features singer and political activist Jermain Jackman, a former winner of The Voice (2014) and the T.S. Eliot Prize winning poet and musician, Anthony Joseph.

JAKE FERGUSON

I think as humans, we forget. We are often limited by our own stereotypes, and we don't see that in everyone there's the potential for beauty and love and all these things. And I think The Architecture of Oppression, both parts one and two, are really a reflection of all the community and civil rights work that I've been doing for the same amount of time, really – 25 years. And I wanted to try and mix my day job and my music side, so bringing those two sides of my life together, but because I'm not a spoken word person...well, I can write a good story. I can write a good essay, but my ability to write stories or write lyrics is very limited, hence why I was so keen to get Anthony and Jermain involved.

And Jermain is somebody I've worked with for probably about six, seven years now. He's also in the trenches of the black civil rights struggle. We worked together on a number of projects, but it was very interesting to then work with Jemaine in a purely artistic capacity. And I think the bringing together those two worlds really created the album. You know, I wanted to create a platform for black artists, black singers, and poets who I really admire. And it was a no-brainer to give Anthony a call for this second album because I know of his pedigree, and he's much more able to put ideas and thoughts on paper than I would be able to.

JERMAIN JACKMAN

There's something raw about The Architecture of Oppression, both part one and part two. There's a raw realness and authenticity in those songs that AI can't create. There's a lived experience that AI won't understand, and there's a feeling in those songs. And it's not just in the words from the spoken word artists, if it's not in the instruments that are being played. It's in the voice that you hear. You hear the pain, you hear the struggle, you hear the joy, you hear all of those emotions in all of those songs. And that's something that AI can't make up or create.

ANTHONY JOSEPH

I've known Jake for many, many, many years, probably since the nineties. Yeah, it's going all the way back. There's a lot of spillover between me and Jake in that way, both personal and music – which is the same thing, I think. So, I'm coming from that context. And in terms of the sort of political underpinnings, you know, you can't be a Black British artist and escape the sort of stuff that Jake is talking about because that's the kind of the mess that we work in. It's the mess that we sort of inherit and the mess that we try to push through to make art. We can't escape the sort of political ramifications of colonialism or racism.

They are the things that sort of underpin a lot of our lived experience, and I think Jake says it quite eloquently. I mean, he says he's not a writer, but he's definitely a thinker, and he knows what he's talking about. So, exactly as he said, "We're still dealing with these things in 2024." We shouldn't be, but I think records like the two volumes actually of this record are quite important because a lot of Black art, you know, there's hardly any sort of black artists are sort of directly addressing these issues in a very concentrated, focused way. You know, at the beginning you said, Mia, that it's not something you want to listen to before bed. And yeah, they're difficult records. I think the new one is a lot more accessible in a way than the first one was. The first one was...is a scary listen. You know, absolutely. It's not easy. It's not easy listening, but then the experience is not easy.

This interview was conducted by Mia Funk with the participation of collaborating universities and students. Associate Interviews Producers on this episode were Sam Myers and Lyle Hutchins. The Creative Process is produced by Mia Funk. Associate Text Editor was Nadia Lam. Additional production support by Sophie Garnier.

Mia Funk is an artist, interviewer and founder of The Creative Process & One Planet Podcast (Conversations about Climate Change & Environmental Solutions).
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