Matthew Kelly
1001 Albums You Must Die Before You Hear
#83: Donald J Trump & The J6 Prison Choir – Justice For All (2023)
MATT KELLY is back with one of the more unusual items of an unusual column. But can it be real? You decide!
In another thrilling installment of “South Park or real life?” US president #45 teams up with those incarcerated for their actions during the January 6 2020 United States Capitol attack to release a new age choral single recasting all concerned as unjustly maligned patriots.
Recording from jail, the Jan 6 participants sing an incredibly lo-fi and poorly mixed national anthem under sleepy ambient synths and an echoing 45th president as he recites the pledge of allegiance.
Little touches like the choir suddenly screaming in rage on “still there” and the fact that I can hear what appears to be someone shuffling around in the background elevates the absurdity factor. They claim it was produced by a major musician who wishes to remain anonymous and people are pointing at Kanye West but judging by ‘Donda 2’, Justice For All is too well mixed to be Ye’s work. Given the final product, I’d suspect it’s Jello Biafra taking the piss.
That’s essentially it; there’s not a lot else to say this time, but if a former president teaming up with a bunch of convicted felons to cry about how they are suffering the consequences of attempting to violently subvert democracy in song form doesn’t get your musical grotesquery alarm ringing, I’d hate to see what’s on your version of this list.
Oh and please buy it. Buy it, stream the shit out of it, get those numbers up. I really want to see if we can trick him into making a full album.
