70. The Avalanches - “Because I’m Me (Feat. Camp Lo)”

I’ve always thought of this song as a feel good jam. I remember the first time I heard it, and how I couldn’t wipe the smile off of my face. It’s infectious in that way—the earnest and brash self-confidence of the lo-fi vocals, the cheery brass, the cool guy flow—it had everything to make you want to dance unabashedly while strolling with the chillest of gaits.

And yet, as I watched the video for my first time I couldn’t help but feel a pang of sadness. I don’t know if its just the moment in which I watched it, but something about it struck a chord. I felt for the little kid—the crushing sadness, the lack of worth, the fragile and barely buoyed self-confidence—it got to me. However, even more than that I saw it on a structural level. I saw all of this black culture represented in the video, from the grand to the ennui, and I saw this pureness—this enduring and misunderstood spirit, subjected and abused by a dominant culture. I saw joy and art combined into something beautiful and unique, and yet too often misunderstood or demonized. I saw innocence, and I feel like that’s a quality too often denied to black culture and black individuals within America.