Rhiannon Giddens has recently released her first solo album in six years, titled You’re the One. She appeared on The Daily Show on October 18 to perform “Another Wasted Life” from the album.
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Lit up on a dark stage swimming with spotlights and accompanied by a band behind her, Giddens performed the track with power, letting her strong, soulful voice fill the room. She has a knack for creating drama with only her vocals, and “Another Wasted Life” comes at you fast and hard with everything it has, both sonically and lyrically.
The focus of “Another Wasted Life” is the epidemic of wrongful imprisonment in the incarceration system. On her website, Giddens wrote about the track and what it represents. She crafted the song after learning about Kalief Browder’s suicide, a man who was imprisoned in solitary confinement for two years for a crime he didn’t commit. Her recent performance on a large platform like The Daily Show helps to bring the issue of wrongful conviction and imprisonment to the forefront.
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“The whole for-profit prison industrial complex – an outgrowth of slavery – is a stain on the American story,” Giddens wrote. “The people and families caught up in it, and in the numerous gaping holes in the social safety net, need incredible amounts of support.” She continued, “These ongoing societal struggles are so far beyond any one of us, and have been long at play; but, I will use my platform to take things just one step further in the conversation.”
She also shared the story behind the entire project. On October 2, the video for “Another Wasted Life” was released, coinciding with the 10th annual Wrongful Conviction Day. She shared that she partnered with the Pennsylvania Innocence Project to feature the 22 wrongfully convicted men that the project has exonerated and assisted in the last 13 years.
“Collectively, these men served over 500 years in prison,” Giddens wrote. She also noted, “In Pennsylvania, [the project’s] support is especially important as it is one of a few states that does not offer restitution to those who are exonerated, which challenges re-entry into society.”
Photo by Ebru Yildiz/Courtesy of Shore Fire Media
