The Music That Makes Us

By: Robin Lickliter

June is doing a lot right now.

We're halfway through 2026. Black Music Month is in full swing. The Roots Picnic just wrapped its 18th year bringing the culture home to Philly in a way that only Philly can deliver — if you missed the recaps, go find them (Vibe, Variety, Rolling Stone, Ebony — all of them). We're celebrating Pride, honoring the 57 years since the Stonewall Uprising cracked open the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement. And we're exactly one month out from America's 250th birthday.

A lot is being said about all of it. But for me, the common thread is music; the stories behind the artists, the sounds that defined those historical moments and above all, the realness of community that it has created. 

Music Defines Time

Think about it. You don't remember dates — you remember songs. You remember where you were when you first heard something. You remember the version of yourself that played a track on repeat, the person you were with, the thing you were trying to feel or forget.

Music is both communal and deeply personal. It holds the weight of who we've lost and who we used to be. It carries cultural movements and world events. It gathers masses and gives people soul. It tells a story when words alone fall short.

As America leans into its 250th anniversary, a lot of lists are floating around — best of the best, greatest of the great. Forbes recently dropped its “250: The Greatest Historic Self-Made Americans”, and Rolling Stone has their own take (thanks Barry). We're going to sit with the Forbes list for a minute and focus on the significant number of musicians on the list — not for the rankings, but for what sits underneath them. The origin stories; the grit, the hustle, the resilience - the artists who came from nowhere and shaped everything.

Look at where these musicians started:

Elvis Presley (#16) — he was a kid from a two-room shotgun house in Tupelo, Mississippi, where his family relied on neighbors just to simply eat. Became the King of Rock and Roll. 

James Brown (#36) — raised in a brothel after his parents abandoned him. Became the Godfather of Soul.

Ray Charles (#44) — grew up in poverty, lost his sight as a child. Became a legend.

Louis Armstrong (#47) — raised in a shack, scavenged for food as a boy, sent to reform school. Became one of the most influential musicians in American history.

Ella Fitzgerald (#97) — orphaned at 15, lived on the streets of New York before winning a singing contest at the Apollo Theater. The rest is everything.

Billie Holiday (#168) — little formal schooling, scrubbing floors, singing in Harlem speakeasies before breaking through.

Tina Turner (#174) — abandoned by her parents, raised by grandparents, endured an abusive marriage before reclaiming her name and her voice and becoming one of the most electrifying performers who ever lived.

Muddy Waters (#180) — picked cotton as a child in Mississippi, learned to play on homemade instruments. Went on to become the father of modern Chicago blues.

Bessie Smith (#238) — raised by a widowed mother, performing for pennies in Tennessee before her fame exploded during the Harlem Renaissance.

Jimi Hendrix (#247) — no permanent address, no guarantees, just a kid ricocheting between cheap hotel rooms and apartments in the Pacific Northwest. Turned out to be the most electric guitarist the world had ever heard.

Johnny Cash (#250) — grew up on a government resettlement colony in Arkansas, picking cotton alongside his family just to get by. The Man in Black never forgot where he came from, and you could hear it in every word he sang.

These are not footnotes. These are the foundation.

The American Dream loves to talk about resilience and grit as abstract values. But when you look at who actually built the soundtrack of this country — who actually came from nothing and made something that moved millions — it's these artists. Over and over again. People who had every reason not to make it, who made it anyway, and in doing so gave the rest of us something to hold onto.

Forbes also published “250: The Greatest Living Self-Made Americans” if you want a driveby of who is in the zeitgeist today. 

Black Music Month Is a Celebration of All of It

The United States has recognized June as Black Music Month since 1979, when President Jimmy Carter made it official. President Obama signed the full proclamation in 2009, renaming it African-American Music Appreciation Month — because appreciation is the right word. Not just recognition. Appreciation.

In a personal essay for Rolling Stone, “Honoring the Music That Made Us”, Obama wrote about how before each presidential debate, he'd set aside his staff's notes and spend roughly half an hour alone, just listening to music. There's something right about that. Music as grounding. Music as preparation. Music as the thing that reminds you who you are before you have to show up and be it.

Black music gave us jazz, blues, hip-hop, R&B, gospel, soul, funk, and rock and roll. It gave America its voice — even when America wasn't ready to credit the source. It has been the soundtrack of every movement for justice, every night of grief, every morning of hope.

NPR's Tiny Desk is honoring BET's legacy this month with a Black Music Month celebration. 

Earth, Wind & Fire (To Be Celestial vs. That's the Weight of the World) a documentary directed by our beloved Questlove (still buzzing from his gallery visit last Friday!), featuring interviews with members and fans like Barack Obama, Stevie Wonder, and Flea, premiered at the Tribeca Festival this week, and will be released by HBO on June 7.

Philadelphia’s African American Museum's Juneteenth Block Party is bringing DJ Jazzy Jeff, Slick Rick, and Doug E. Fresh together for a free celebration marking the museum's 50th anniversary. 

And I’d be remiss if Beyoncé didn’t get the proper shout out this month. Congratulations on making “America's Richest Self-Made Women” list. One of the few (if only) black musicians to be celebrated. Slay, Bey. Genuinely.

So Music, that's the thread. That’s the heart and soul.

Turn something up today. Sing along if you know the words. Dance to celebrate being you. And, if you need some inspiration hit up NoName’s Spotify for the best playlists! 

Life is (an) ART.

Illustration by Victor Juhasz @juhaszillustration