Donald Trump explores tech-house and jazz poetry on new song – The Michigan Daily

The Michigan Daily
One hundred and thirty-three years of editorial freedom
When Kendrick Lamar closed his epic 2015 album To Pimp a Butterfly with a reconstructed conversation with the legendary Tupac Shakur, he wasn’t just talking to the late rapper — he was talking to all of the United States. Shakur may not have been alive to hear Lamar recite his poem on the perils of stardom in an unmerciful society ignorant of its racist past and present, but Americans heard him. We listened to Kendrick, and we were inspired.
Donald J. Trump (“Home Alone 2: Lost in New York”) was clearly inspired by Kendrick, too — look no further than Trump’s new single “Justice for All,” which fuses spoken-word delivery with crisp, modern production. Sure, Trump’s overarching message doesn’t quite capture the noble struggle for equality the same way To Pimp a Butterfly did. It is, in fact, emblematic of the forces and institutions that have necessitated such an ugly battle for basic civil liberties in the first place. However, Trump partially makes up for his ethnonationalist tendencies with some absolutely killer synth pads that give “Justice for All” a chill, spacey vibe. Trump may be a newcomer to the music scene, but it’s inspiring to see his deep reverence for the legends of dream pop and shoegaze that preceded him, from Cocteau Twins and Slowdive to Beach House and Alvvays.
In addition to his atmospheric synths, Trump samples a performance of “The Star Spangled Banner” by the J6 Prison Choir, a collective comprising of convicts serving time for their alleged roles in the Jan. 6 Capitol riots. With regard to their National Anthem performance, the J6 Prison Choir is no Jimi Hendrix or Whitney Houston. In fact, their performance of the song is quite poor overall, with few redeeming qualities. Nevertheless, Trump uses his keen ear for samples to intricately weave the prisoners into his reverb-heavy, Tame Impala-esque recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance, channeling lo-fi aesthetics (although maybe a little too much — the prisoners’ vocals are incredibly muddy and sound like they were recorded on a Bass Pro Shop wildlife camera as opposed to studio technology, though maybe that’s the best they could achieve within the confines of a prison). It’s refreshing, if wholly unsurprising, to see Trump pay such brilliant homage to Gil Scott-Heron’s jazz poetry genius, to see our 45th Commander in Chief embrace his love of ’90s tech-house and interpolate Daft Punk’s 1997 Essential Mix for his anti-intellectual neoconservative cause.
Since rising to fame, Trump has been portrayed by the media in just about every light imaginable. But with “Justice for All,” Trump takes authority and reveals another intimate layer of himself: a Donald Trump who scours indie music forums to find the freshest Bandcamp releases every week; a Donald Trump who took a small loan of a million dollars from his father to a garage sale and bought a MacBook with Ableton, a Juno synth and a 909 with which to jumpstart his music career; a Donald Trump who grew up in the ’80s acid rave scene and wants to bring those halcyon days to the 21^st century; and a Donald Trump who is chasing his sky-high dreams of making it big in the music world.
Senior Arts Editor Jack Moeser can be reached at jmoeser@umich.edu.

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