By now most people who have followed my posts probably know that I’m a fairly big fan of activism through music, and these days particularly via rap and hip hop. I’ve written about it in regards to the Bernie Sanders campaign and comment on it here fairly often here in regards to Indigenous artist highlighting their modern struggles through the art-form.

So in a continued effort to highlight the new era of musical activism (and to take a break from all the Trump talk), I thought I’d give 5 examples of why Kareen Dennis (aka ‘Lowkey’) is my 2017 activist artist of the year.

Lowkey (born May, 1986) is a British-Iraqi hip hop artist from London who rose to underground fame (and government notoriety) with his politically charged track Obama Nation and the’Soundtrack to the Struggle‘ and later an extremely highly viewed & reviewed ‘Fire in the Booth‘ appearance. Due to his activism and opposition of Zionism plus support of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Lowkey has been arrested or detained multiple times on various travels. This is probably also related to him being a sharp critic of United States and British foreign policy, claiming that the two powers are only interested in supporting leaders who are under their influence or are willing to assist them. He also claims American media overlooks those within the country who do not believe in American military supremacy. Israeli hawks describe the increasing influence of performers such as Lowkey as a “potential nightmare”.

In May 2017, Lowkey endorsed Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn in the 2017 UK general election. He said: “We have a choice between policies which foster empathy and policies which foster greed, resentment, estrangement and alienation.”

Between 2012-2016 Lowkey took a hiatus from music to travel and further his education then mid 2017 he jumped right back into things with a stronger message than ever. Below are 5 of the best examples: