I Don’t Want To – Mal Blum

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Anti-establishment music is my favorite genre. The best songs, artists, and movements are almost always born from a need to crack the status quo and stand up to whatever is currently holding people back (socially, creatively, economically, etc.). Punk and hip hop were siblings separated at birth in NYC. One was raised by sincere white parents, the other by a loving Black couple. Their nurturing environment was different, but their nature is the same: bring a voice to those that historically aren’t allowed to speak.

Mal Blum is the definition of punk. Or folk punk. Or Anti-folk. Hard to classify. All I know is, Mal Blum is who you want in your corner when you’re ready to stand up and walk out. One of the early singles off their soon to be released album, Pity Boy, is a fun, rebellious anthem, "I Don’t Want To". Influences of early Green Day and Blink-182 are heard throughout this track, which is always a great start. Add to it Mal Blum's innocent, Kimya Dawson-esque voice (Juno soundtrack), and honestly, who's NOT ready to rage against the machine at this point?

"I Don’t Want To" is about that ever-elusive life you think you’re signing up for with that new job. Where you “pay your bills on time, not month-to-month” and “you go out when you come home” instead of feeling the depressing relief of sinking into your couch (or bed) after a long day at work. In the end, it’s about will power and self-motivation, and for Mal Blum, the solution is quite simple: “I don’t want to so I won’t.”

If you’re a fan of pop punk, sincere lyrics, or just good party music, this is a must listen. Quitting has never been so fun.

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You can learn more about Mal Blum here:

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About the Curator - Ben Young:

Ben Young lives a life of polarity. He has split his life between the coasts: half his life on the West (California) and half on the East (Georgia and Virginia). He has pursued careers in the art world (film school graduate) and the corporate world (executive with Fortune 500 companies). And he is Biracial, the personification of being two things at once.

Ben’s musical influences were formed by music loving parents, raised in a world of John Coltrane and John Lennon, James Taylor and James Ingram, Huey Lewis and the News and Prince and the Revolution. Saxophones, electric guitars, synthesizers, and breakbeats filled the air Ben breathed from birth. And being born one year after the birth of Hip Hop, Ben has been joined at the hip with the genre his entire life.

Check out Ben’s blog where you can get more recommendations on great music, presented from a Biracial point of view: www.khameleonkurator.com.