By: Eric Reyes
May 8, 2021

I feel that many genres, at least the mainstream branches of them, stray from challenging topics.

Every once in a while you’ll get an anthem for a given marginalized group that tops the charts but is quickly commercialized and loses that punch, that flair that made it particular to the group or issue it was meant to represent.

Natalie K, fully aware of this, still went ahead and gave us ‘Survivors’ a soulful ode to the Armenian People. With the recent announcement by the Biden Administration that the campaign of death and destruction against the Armenian people by the Ottomans at the dawn of the previous century was a genocide, the topic has been a delicate one for many. On top of that, the recent brief but bloody conflict between Azerbaijanis and Armenians has tensions high.

Amid all this, Natalie K has made a beautifully resolute dedication to a people who have borne great hardship and struggle, but who maintain their pride and never forget who they are. Her voice has great power and range behind it, and she is unafraid to let it show. With lyrics that invoke struggle and the fight for survival, to overcome the odds, I felt a swell in my chest as well.

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