The late legend ditched stardom for something far greater.
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Why should we look to [insert pop star] for nuanced commentary?
Why do you want [insert comic or actor or athlete] to inform and not just entertain?
Day-O (The Banana Boat Song), the hit from the history-making 1956 best-sellerCalypso, contains multitudes.
The 1959 live double albumBelafonte at Carnegie Halldrives home what the artist was trying to say in those years.
He found other ways to be of use.
He took the prickly, insistent path instead.
They just reflected the culture.
Doing battle with them was like fighting a mirror.
To change the culture, you had to change the country.
And only one thing would change the country: the movement.
