John Lennon famously said, “My role in society, or any artist’s or poet’s role, is to try and express what we all feel. Not to tell people how to feel. Not as a preacher, not as a leader, but as a reflection of us all.” Lennon explains that artists reflect how the people feel and what state society is in. I believe that the Black Eyed Peas 2016 version of Where is the love accurately describes the current state of the world. The band describes the world not only through their words, but also in the video they made for the song. The 2016 version of Where is the love is a rendition of their original 2003 version. In the 2016 version, they decided to add lyrics that are geared towards current events. The lyrics read, “Black lives not now/ Everybody matter to me…’ (Where is the love, 2016). The Black Lives matter movement is a current even that is still unraveling. The band is trying to let everyone know that we shouldn’t be discriminating even if it’s in a positive light because discrimination isn’t equality. The lyrics read, “But if you only got love for your own race/ (Where is the love)/ Then you’re gunna leave space for others to discriminate” (2016). Though discrimination and hate did not truly begin currently, they are still present …show more content…
In the video, the singers are current musical artists like Justin Timberlake and DJ Khaled. Not only does using famous artists appeal to the younger audience, but it actually gets that audience to listen to what they are trying to say and make sure they know what’s going on in the world around them. Apart from the singers, the video also shows images of riots and battlefields. The riots are from the recent Black Lives Matter movement and the battlefields are from Syria. The song explains that there are many difficult and terrifying movements going on but in order to move past the fighting in and out of the USA, we need to find the