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Artists React to the Election of Donald Trump to United States Presidency

November 9th, 2016 - 7:38 PM

Artists React to the Election of Donald Trump to United States Presidency
Photo: Mauricio Alvarado

Photo Credit: Mauricio Alvarado

After a long night for many people, the polls are in and the decision is made, Donald Trump has officially been elected as the President of the United States of America. There are people who are happy, people who are sad, people who are shocked, and people who are apathetic towards the decision. According to several news sources, plenty of artists in the music world have shared their thoughts and feelings towards the results and the expectations they have regarding the upcoming four years.

There are those who chose to take a comedic route as an approach to the election results, according to NME, Canadian singer-songwriter Mac DeMarco offered people his condolences, tweeting out a photo of a wedding ring with the caption “Trying to move to #Canada?” offering to marry anyone who is looking to relocate to Canada after the shock they received from the election. However, the tweet has already been taken down, perhaps due to poor taste in a joke, or perhaps because once the joke was made it was time to forget about it and move on.

Brooklyn Vegan reports that several artist commented their opinions on the matter. Several angry tweets were sent out by rapper YG, saying things like “Kant believe this muhfucka won” and a picture of him gesturing the middle finger to one of the Trump tower buildings.

Electronic hip-hop producer Flying Lotus made comments regarding the next elections and Kanye attempting (and winning, according to FlyLo) the following presidential race, tweeting “U already know Kanye gonna be the next prez. U gonna see all types of voters u never knew existed. All broke af but wearing supreme.” Going on to blame the press in a follow-up tweet “The press knew they were creating this monster. Only late in the game when shit got real were they trying to discredit him.Send in the memes”.

Many in the hip-hop community had tweeted out their dismay regarding the results, from Talib Kweli, to Snoop Dogg, to Roots drummer h, each of them sharing their disappointment with the results and the Americans people who are responsible.

I was gonna stress myself to sleep. But fuck that (I’m cussing sorry) I’m NOT letting this stress me out one bit. Don’t get me wrong I am MAD AS HELL. But I have to practice what I preach. The amount of time I devote to meditating and not letting speculation or bad energy rule my life—for me to just spazz out would be counter productive. I’ll be honest I went through 6 drafts of this. Erasing every last word cause I didn’t even believe it as i typed it. I’m just saying: I got a laundry list to the top of Mt Fuji of things I’ve overcome and still managed to survive—I’m just praying whatever strength I was given to make it through the hard times of yesteryear, that this strength and power revive me and all of my people (women, those of different religious background, LGBTQIAs, prisoners, the poor, the imm—look it’s 4am…—I don’t feel like doing an 8th draft—some of my friends gonna be angry as all hell. Some will point fingers—nevermind….I got nothing. Right now. —nothing

A photo posted by Questlove Gomez (@questlove) on

A photo posted by snoopdogg (@snoopdogg) on

P.O.S. of Doomtree took a more humorous approach to his obvious disappointment:

It was not only the hip-hop community who shared their thoughts, according to Pitchfork, big names like Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger, Disclosure, Macklemore and many others released their opinions on the matter, many of which seemed to lean towards unhappy results.

I am disappointed, shocked and shaken at my core by what has transpired tonight. I gathered around the TV with my family and loved ones, ready to celebrate history being made. My daughter had this little blue dress on. I was ready to pop the Martinelli’s and hold her, watching Hilary Clinton become the first female president of the United States of America. But…It didn’t happen. I had a sick feeling in my gut, riddled with anxiety as the polls started coming in. After hours of a growing pit in my stomach, it was over. I left the TV, grabbed my daughter and took her to bed. But now, as I’m laying next to my her as she sleeps, I remember. Remember what I have control over and what I don’t. I don’t have control over Donald Trump becoming president. That has been decided. But what I do have control over is where I go from here. I will teach my daughter to love. All people, regardless of the color of their skin, gender, religious beliefs, sexual orientation or where their birth certificate says they’re from. I will teach her how important it is to be an advocate for humanity. Not just the portion of humanity that benefits her. I will teach her non violent communication. That in the face of hatred we must love each other even harder. Not give in. Not get discouraged or feel like our progress in the past is void. Keeping fighting for all of us, with an emphasis on those that and have been the most affected by systemic oppression. I will teach her that when she is silent during moments of injustice, she is siding with the oppressor. I will teach her that walls divide people, and by their nature cannot bring us closer. And that just because someone holds the most powerful position in the world, does not make that person right, just or fair. Donald Trump is not raising my daughter. I am. I get to encourage and nurture her to be who she wants to be. Teach her that her voice and actions can change the world. Teach her that she can do anything that a man can do. And one day, even become president of the United States of America. I have work to do. It starts now. And that work is the only thing bringing me peace at the moment A photo posted by Ben Haggerty (@macklemore) on

Laura Jane Grace:

Meanwhile, Laura Marling retweeted this:

Thom Yorke of Radiohead cryptically posted lyrics from the band’s new song “Burn the Witch” along with the video to comment on the election: “avoidall eye contactdo not reactshoot the messengersthis is a low flying panic attacksingthesong of sixpencethatgoes”

According to Billboard, even iconic electronic producer Moby, who is known to be a strong Hillary supporter, had to share his thoughts on the matter, and in an long, well-written letter, explaining his disappointment with the American people “America, why are you so afraid of evidence? you smoke cigarettes, naively believing they won’t kill you. you eat garbage, believing it won’t make you sick and obese. and now you’ve elected donald trump.

He goes on, “Christians’ and family-values voters have en masse helped elect a twice divorced man who openly brags about infidelity and committing sexual assault. 30% of latinos have helped elect a man who has routinely maligned latinos and called mexicans ‘rapists’. 45% of women have helped elect a man who brags about ‘grabbing women by the pussy’ and has called women ‘pigs’ & ‘slobs’. business-minded middle america has en masse helped elect a man who has led roughly half of his businesses to bankruptcy and lost close to a billion dollars in 1995 alone. and blue collar middle america has en masse helped elect a trust-fund baby who has, over-time, inherited over $600,000,000.00 from his father.and in the process you’ve denied the presidency to an experienced and erudite woman whose only shortcoming is being on the receiving end of a 30 year right-wing smear campaign. as a life long progressive i’m supposed to be diplomatic and understanding, but america, what the fuck is wrong with you? but then i ask myself, very sadly, why am i surprised? this is the same america that eats at burger king and is baffled as to why it ends up obese and cancerous and dying this is the same america who thinks that granting health care to 20,000,000 people is somehow treasonous.”

The letter continues, “and this is the America who has now elected a dim-witted, racist, misogynist. a dim-witted, racist, misogynist who has ruined businesses and has no policy proposals other than ‘build a wall’. i guess there will be some cold, bitter schadenfreude in spending the next 4 years watching middle america wake up to the fact that donald trump is an incompetent con-man. the rust belt jobs won’t come back. the wall won’t get built. and Hillary won’t get locked up. Donald Trump will be impeached, or end his presidency with single digit approval ratings.and hopefully, somehow, america will finally wake up the fact that republicans are, simply, terrible. Reagan and Bush Sr. and the republicans ruined the economy, Bill Clinton and the democrats fixed it. George W. Bush and the republicans ruined the economy all over again, obama and the democrats fixed it. in some baffling, habitual masochism Americans keep going back to what’s bad for them, whether it’s food or political parties” concluding, “and the climate will suffer. the inner cities will suffer. children will suffer.  animals will suffer.  gun deaths will continue to skyrocket. we will suffer. all because americans live in this delusional, upside down world wherein they’re unwilling to look at evidence. but here are the facts: junk food makes you fat and kills you. cigarettes give you cancer.and donald trump is a racist and a misogynist who has ruined countless businesses and will be the worst president our country has ever, ever seen.“

We can very clearly conclude from this letter that Moby is displeased with the results from the polls, as are many of the artists who spoke out. However, at the end of the day, the clock continues to tick, four years will pass before we know it and it will be time to elect a new candidate that will receive equal if not similar backlash from people. America will continue to go forward, and these artists will continue on to writing music we love to listen to.

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