Vice President Kamala Harris’ bid for the presidency has a soundtrack: Beyoncé’s “Freedom.”
The song played as the leading Democratic presidential candidate took the stage in her first visit to her Wilmington, Del., campaign headquarters and again during her first campaign rally in Wisconsin.
Now the cathartic anthem graces Harris’ first campaign ad, in which she says: “There are some people who think that we should be a country of chaos, of fear, of hate. But us? We choose something different: We choose freedom.”
Pit that against the musical number her competitor chose for his grand entrance on Night 3 of the Republican National Convention. Donald Trump walked out to James Brown’s “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World,” a tone-deaf choice for a candidate found liable for sexual abuse, who’s bragged about sexually assaulting women, a married man who paid hush money to a porn star, and a former president who enabled women’s reproductive rights to be rolled back 50 years with the repeal of Roe vs. Wade.
Maybe the Godfather of Soul would have endorsed Trump’s usage of his song, but Brown would be breaking with decades’ worth of musicians who’ve decried GOP candidates playing their tracks at rallies and booster events. Adele, Rihanna, R.E.M., the Rolling Stones, Prince, Neil Young, Guns N’ Roses and Queen are among the many artists who’ve spoken out against Trump using their tunes for campaign purposes.
When the McCain-Palin campaign used “Barracuda,” Heart bristled. Tom Petty insisted George W. Bush back away from “I Won’t Back Down.” Bruce Springsteen decried Ronald Reagan’s appropriation of “Born in the U.S.A.”
Beyoncé, however, gave Harris her blessing to use “Freedom,” a single from her 2016 blockbuster album “Lemonade.” The song, which features guest rapper Kendrick Lamar, is an explosive expression of empowerment. At the time of its release, it spoke to public outcry over police killings of unarmed Black adults and children — Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, Freddie Gray — and protests largely fueled by the ire of younger generations.
Whether Beyoncé was singing about the tyranny of a cheating spouse or racial injustice (or both), the song became an anthem for a new, potentially potent block of the American electorate.
For the first time, Gen Z and millennials could now account for as many votes as baby boomers and their elders, groups that had made up a majority of the electorate for decades.
Folks under 40 have grown up with Beyoncé and her ubiquitous work. Think of her as being like the Who is for boomers — its music is everywhere (Republican Sen. Rand Paul played the band’s hit “Baba O’Riley” when he campaigned in 2015) — or like Nirvana is for Gen X, except no one cares what we think. Whatever, nevermind.
The Harris campaign’s smart choice of music coincides with a willingness to lean into a meme culture that has shot up organically around the 59-year-old vice president since President Biden announced Sunday that he was dropping out of the race.
Pop star Charli XCX showed her support for Harris when she tweeted, “Kamala IS brat.” The British singer was referring to the edits on TikTok and X of Harris’ image over songs from Charli XCX’s hit album “Brat.” The avalanche of memes come from a video clip in which Harris talks about her mother’s response to the hubris of youth: “You think you just fell out of a coconut tree? You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you.”
Right-wing social media used the quote to deride Harris as inarticulate and a “word salad” master, but liberal swaths of Gen Z have since reworked the clip into emojis and memes that celebrate Harris’ nonconformist approach. She’s become a viral sensation in a good way, unlike J.D. Vance’s damning “childless cat lady” memes and a cringey internet joke about supposed encounters with couches.
It’s rare that relevant talent will shill for a Republican candidate. Case in point: Trump’s pop culture ambassadors at this year’s GOP convention were Kid Rock, Kanye’s ex Amber Rose, and former WWE wrestler Hulk Hogan, whose big moment was ripping off his shirt and screaming, “Let Trump mania run wild!”
Harris chose to let freedom ring, and she has Queen Bey behind her.