Much hip-hop and R&B in the last few years seems to be very explicitly informed by the socio-political climate. This contrasts with subconscious influence, which is more common. The results, at the very least, have made the music more ambitious. Some examples: Kendrick Lamar‘s To Pimp a Butterfly, perhaps the most obvious example; Le1f’s Riot Boi, which Blood Orange helped produce the closer of, and which broadened Butterfly’s message to include the LGBT community; Beyonce‘s latest, which included an anthem for black women; D’Angelo‘s Black Messiah; Vic Mensa’s latest EP.
The list goes on, and I’m purposely being myopic to not include Beyonce’s explicit feminist ideals in her self-titled, Donnie Trumpet’s message of self-love on Surf or Macklemore’s “Same Love”, to make a point. While grand ambition doesn’t equate to grand execution, the music felt more important because of the socio-political influence and the emotional heft behind it.