This Pairing Of Major Recent Albums With Corresponding Literary Works Is Genius

One book and music enthusiast married her two passions into a personal and essential canon.

Socially-conscious albums have been making steady appearances since the rise of Black Lives Matter and the election of Donald Trump. For many people, these provide enough clarion calls to elicit awareness and engagement with the current race and class woes undermining our country. But for those who want to go deeper and read about the issues that are inspiring musicians to voice their concerns, one astute reader has provided the ultimate reading list.

According to Vibe, a literary activist named Kiara Garrett posted to her social media accounts a list of essential albums and literature for our troubled times. But rather than provide two separate lists, Garrett highlighted which albums correlate to which literary works: Kendrick Lamar gets paired with Ta-Nehisi Coates; Beyoncé with Zora Neale Hurston; Rihanna with Toni Morrison.

“In the spirit of #WeNeedDiverseBooks and working for a real live “We Got Yall” … I have decided to create a list of book recommendations,” she wrote on Facebook. “If you liked this album, read this book.”

About the author

Michael Barron

Books and Digest Editor

After obtaining a BA in Poetics from the Evergreen State College, Michael began his literary career at the independent publishing house New Directions. As an editor, he acquired books by and worked with writers such as Rachel Kushner, Rivka Galchen, Ahmed Bouanani, and Horacio Castellanos Moya, among others. After leaving New Directions in 2015, Michael began writing about literature and art for numerous publications, including Harper's, Vice, and Frieze, and took on consulting editorial positions at the UK-based literary press Fitzcarraldo Editions and the literary and art publication The White Review. He is currently writing a book on the cultural history of banishment.