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Image via Frank Leone
I made [‘Across The Earth’] for the World Cup this year, and if I’d been asked to do the theme instead of Pitbull and J-Lo this is what I’d have given them. I sampled a Bulgarian Show-Choir and wanted to make it feel as powerful and adventurous as possible…
—Frank Leone
Confusion has already written succinctly and poignantly about the role of publications like P&P in times of great social unrest. I won’t harp on it, though I wholeheartedly agree. While musicians (and actors, and celebrities, and, really anyone) with ill-researched or misguided opinions should also heed Confusion’s tactful lead, we do need artists in deeply troubled moments. At its best, music can give cathartic, hopeful voice to strife.
Chicago rapper Franke Leone’s “Across The Earth” won’t end the violence in Ferguson, Missouri. It won’t heal the deep rift at the heart of the Gaza crisis. It won’t speak to everyone. In its driving rhythm and its simple, sing-song refrain—”I’m not ready to die, I’m not ready for death/I am young and alive/I’ve got mud on my neck”—”Across The Earth” creates a bold, hopeful energy, all the more poignant given the embattled state of the city Leone currently calls home. Enough of my words. Let “Across The Earth” speak for itself below.
