Because I am a shameless name-dropper, I will let everyone know that in my sophomore year of college, I lived across the hall from Alison Stewart, who later became a news correspondent for MTV and MSNBC, among others. She once gave me a tour of MTV Studios in New York, and also hosted an MTV event at a warehouse in Oakland—back when we had real warehouses, before they all got converted into lofts going for $2,000+ per month. When I walked into the party in this almost pitch-black, cavernous space, the DJ was blasting “Welcome to the Terrordome.” In that moment I honestly felt for the first time that music could bring about profound—if not necessarily peaceful— social change.

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