ManKind’s ‘Juneteenth (1820​-​1920)’ Continues Innovative Musical Look at Black History

The latest in a series of themed releases by ManKind (!LLumiN@TE + SciryL) is full of vivid storytelling told from the perspective of Black life before and after the Emancipation Proclamation.

The presidential order, signed by Abraham Lincoln, is generally regarded as the end of slavery in America, but the declaration wasn’t exactly enforced overnight.

Juneteeth celebrates the June 19, 1863 event that finally extended that proclamation to slaves in Texas. 

In the duo’s Juneteenth, ManKind creatively depicts many of the issues that were a part of this period in American history over carefully paired tracks, allowing their  messages to be digested with relative ease, making for a project that melds education and entertainment in an astute, press-play-and-let-it-rock project. 

From post-slavery optimism to the dangers of interracial romance, to the irony of having to pledge allegiance to a country that continued (and continues) to treat African-Americans as second-class citizens, Juneteenth often feels like it is dissecting issues that are more than a hundred years old and yet, disturbingly, still current.

Certainly worthy of eartime, particularly for those who are open to music filled with creative, personal reflections regarding issues of race, identity and politics, Juneteeth — along with the previous historically-themed releases by ManKind — is smart, inventive and fearless hip-hop.

For that, I will always pledge allegiance.

Check out Juneteenth and ManKind’s other work on their Bandcamp page.