Nile Rodgers’ two favourite songs of the 21st century
Nile Rodgers has undoubtedly earned his de facto status as the ‘prince of pop’. His influence on 1970s disco is unparalleled, and his consistent stream of Grammy Awards and nominations stands as a testament to his remarkable contributions to popular music over the past 50 years. Raised on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in the 1940s, Rodgers grew up under incredibly challenging circumstances. His mother was just 14 when she gave birth to him, and his father was largely absent throughout his childhood.
Yet, despite a childhood marked by instability, Rodgers developed a musical voice that is anything but sombre. His songs are mostly celebrations of joy, unity, and resilience. With Chic’s ‘Le Freak’ and Sister Sledge’s ‘We Are Family’, Rodgers crafted anthems that not only dominated the charts but also brought people together on dance floors around the world. These tracks, full of infectious energy and positivity, seem almost at odds with the hardships of his early years, making his legacy all the more remarkable.
With this in mind, it’s a little surprising that when he appeared on BBC Radio 2 to present My Life In A Mixtape back in 2022, the two tracks he selected from this century were a little gloomier in tone and content than his own.
The first was Childish Gambino’s ‘This is America’—a politically charged protest song about the abhorrence of racial discrimination and gun violence in the United States. If you haven’t yet seen the music video for this track, it’s a must-watch. Donald Glover, AKA Childish Gambino, uncovers the brutalities of gun culture while dancing and contorting himself in a kind of mockery of meme culture and social media as a medium for violence.
Inauthenticity and injustice in the USA are two critical elements of American culture which Nile Rodgers often tiptoed around in his own music. He has often spoken about disco as an inclusive form of music and the dancefloor as a kind of liminal space free from the constraints of modern life. Instead of highlighting social issues head-on in his songwriting, like Donald Glover does, Rodgers sees the power of escapism in music and its ability to create different worlds.
Perhaps this is why he chose Laura Mvula’s ‘Green Garden’ as his second favourite song of the 21st century. In contrast to the heavy, confrontational energy of ‘This is America’, ‘Green Garden’ is a bucolic ballad rooted in nostalgia and the carefree joy of childhood. Mvula uses this idea of a green garden to represent the grounding feeling of belonging and connectedness to one’s roots. It is perhaps a feeling that Rodgers was only able to experience through songwriting rather than a warm home, which clearly eluded him in his childhood.
While these two tracks might initially seem out of place in the Hall of Fame of Nile Rodgers’ favourite songs, they make perfect sense when viewed through the lens of his early life and formative experiences. Great pop music often thrives on double meanings, and perhaps these selections invite us to revisit Rodgers’ own catalogue with a more analytical brain, revealing deeper connections to America’s cultural complexities and his personal journey within it.
