The world seems to get uglier and more confusing with each passing day, and in these times it’s usually music that usually helps us make sense of it all. Public Enemy, Bob Dylan, Marvin Gaye and more have all helped us to articulate are frustration at a cruel and ambivalent world and today artists like that are more necessary than ever.

So step forward, Jordan Mackampa whose new single “What Am I” aims to continue that legacy of zeitgeist-capturing songs. Here Mackampa taps right into the spirit of those iconic songwriters and shoots it into the 21st century. This is more than a protest against morally bankrupt wars; “What Am I” also turns its attention to the listener, questioning what can sometimes be a disposable attitude to protest or outrage, and wrapping it up with rich instrumentation and Mackampa’s rich yet delicate soul vocals.

As he puts it more succinctly below, sometimes all a tragedy is met with is a week of social media banners and hashtags before fading out of the public consciousness. In short, we need to pay more attention and become less desensitised to it all.

Speaking with TRENCH via email, Jordan told us: “‘What Am I’ is a modern take on Marvin Gaye’s classic “What’s Going On”, highlighting the state of the world right now, from multiple wars in different territories; how the earth is dying, to the border control problem and how it’s been dealt with. It’s a lot of ‘hopes and prayers’, changing of display pictures to blue, but all trickling down to a stop soon after, as it’s no longer in the forefront of the media. I wrote this song in the mindset of how I need to do more but don’t know how because I am only one man, trying his best to make change within the means available.”