Freedom Songs | Celebrate Juneteenth 2021 | Apple Music

To celebrate Juneteenth, as Black Americans have since the inception of the holiday in 1866, is to acknowledge one of the United States’ ugliest legacies while honoring the resilience of the Black American spirit. Juneteenth, also known as “Freedom Day,” takes its name from June 19, 1865, the day that Union Army general Gordon Granger announced to slaves in Texas that they were free—roughly two and a half years after Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, the executive order outlawing slavery in the United States. The tradition of celebrating Juneteenth began, of course, in Texas, but today occurs nationwide, and although it isn’t a national holiday—yet—it’s a day that all Americans should be grateful for and rejoice in. In service of that ideal, Apple Music celebrates Juneteenth 2021 with a collection of exclusively commissioned songs from artists like D Smoke, Willie Jones, Kirk Franklin, Kane Brown, Amaarae, and Tobe Nwigwe, just to name a few. Some have contributed original compositions, while others have chosen to cover existing songs that speak to the holiday. Listen to the stories their selections tell as we celebrate Juneteenth and the continued and invaluable contribution of Black artistry to contemporary music.