For decades recording artists across genres have honored Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his long-enduring legacy by paying tribute to the civil rights icon in their music.
Whether his name has been dropped on a pop, rap, or rock track, the feeling emoted by the simple mentioning of his name is always the same: unity.
His name alone brings people together.
While it takes more than an MLK name-check to evoke actual change, it's one of the many ways his legacy has endured.
Celebrate and remember the life and impact of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by listening to some of his most important speeches on iHeartRadio, via the MLK Day Playlist, as well as MLK Day podcast episodes that highlight the activist and civil rights leader, and his legacy.
To honor the late civil rights icon on this MLK weekend, iHeartRadio has rounded up 34 songs that pay tribute to Dr. King.
Check them out below!
1. "My President Is Black (Remix)" - JAY-Z
"Rosa Parks sat so Martin Luther could walk/Martin Luther walked so Barack Obama could run."
2. âWhat We Talkinâ Aboutâ - JAY-Z
âAnd now that that's that, let's talk about the future / We have just seen the dream as predicted by Martin Luther."
3. âMade In Americaâ - JAY-Z
âSweet king Martin, sweet queen Coretta / Sweet brother Malcolm, sweet queen Betty / Sweet Mother Mary, sweet father Joseph / Sweet Jesus, we made it in America.âÂ
4. âHIIIPOWERâ - Kendrick Lamar
âVisions of Martin Luther staring at me.â
5. âBackseat Freestyleâ - Kendrick Lamar
âMartin had a dream / Martin had a dream / Kendrick have a dream."
6. âMLKâ - U2
âSleep tonight / And may your dreams / Be realized.â
7. âPride In The Name Of Loveâ - U2
âEarly morning, April 4th / Shot rings out in the Memphis sky / Free at last, they took your life / They could not take your pride.â
8. âWe Shall Overcomeâ - Bruce Springsteen (Pete Seeger Cover)
âOh, deep in my heart / I do believe / We shall overcome some day.â
9. âMaybach Music 2â - T-Pain, Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, and Kanye West
âMartin Louie the King Jr / Starting all that stunting is gonna ruin you.â
10. âBy The Time I Get To Arizonaâ - Public Enemy
âTalking MLK, gonna find a way.â
11. âFight The Powerâ - Public Enemy
âMake everybody see, in order to fight the powers that be / Lemme hear you say / Fight the power.â
12. âI Have A Dreamâ - will.i.am and Common
âIt's a Cold War - I'm a colder soldier / Hold the same fight that made Martin Luther the King.â
13. âOne Visionâ - Queen
âI had a dream when I was young / A dream of sweet illusion / A glimpse of hope and unity / And visions of one sweet union.â
14. âDonât Hold Your Applauseâ - Wale
âAnd I be feeling Malcolm, Martin, and Pac would defend me.â
15. âProud To Be Blackâ - Run DMC
âLike Martin Luther King, I will do my thing / I'll say it in a rap cause I do not sing.â
16. âLike A Kingâ - Ben Harper
âLike a king, like a king, like a king / How I wish you could help us Dr. King.â
17. âDo Your Timeâ - Ludacris
âGive my eyes to Stevie Wonder just to see what he's seen / But then I'd take 'em right back to see Martin Luther's dream / I'd dream that I could tell Martin Luther we made it / But half of my black brothers are still incarcerated.â
18. âDoinâ It Againâ - The Roots
âI'm like Martin Luther King, you like Rodney / The difference is I give it everything inside me.â
19. âHappy Birthdayâ - Stevie Wonder
âThe dream as clear as he that they should make it become an illusion / And we all know everything / That he stood for time will bring / For in peace our hearts will sing / Thanks to Martin Luther King.â
20. âSideline Storyâ - J. Cole
âBut homie if you change, may you change for the better / Back when Martin King had a thing for Coretta / Wonder if she seen all the dreams he was dreamin' / Did she have a clue of all the schemes he was schemin.ââ
21. âGhetto Classicsâ - Ying Yang Twins
âAnd y'all forgot about the earlier times / When Martin Luther King had a dream / That one day we'd walk together.â
22. âLetter To The Kingâ - Nas and The Game
âI've been meanin' to do me some letter readin' / To the King, he forever breathin', your message is never leavin.ââ
23. âMy Presidentâ - Nas and Jeezy
âStuntin' on Martin Luther, feeling just like a King / Guess this is what he meant when he said that "he had a dream.â
24. "2000 And Beyond" - Big K.R.I.T.
"Martin Luther King had a dream; we was right there/I wonder what he saw when he up and had nightmares?/Quite scared, all the work he had done/Couldn't stop what we've become in 2000 and beyond."
25. "Word To The Mother (Land)" - Big Daddy Kane
"Martin Luther was a tutor; many were pupils/Those who fell victim were those without scruples."
26. âGloryâ - Common and John Legend
âSelma's now for every man, woman and child / Even Jesus got his crown in front of a crowd.â
27. "Doin' It Again" - The Roots feat. John Legend
"Doin' it again just like Poitier and Cosby/I'm like Martin Luther King; you like Rodney/The difference is I give it everything inside me."
28. "B.M.F. (Build Minds Faster)" - Lupe Fiasco
"I think I'm Malcolm X, Martin Luther/Add a King, add a Junior/Some Bible verses, couple Sunnahs/an AK-47-that's a revolution."
29. "Dirty Mef" - Method Man feat. Ol' Dirty Bastard
"Ya'mean, I'm taking one for the team/Like Martin Luther King, taking one for a dream."
30. "A Boy Was Conceived" - Ice Cube
âOnly three short years after the 1965 Watts Riots/ And the death of Malcolm X/ And of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr./, A boy was conceived, who's lyrics would change the world.â
31. "They Killed Him" - Bob Dylan
âAnother man from Atlanta, Georgia, By name of Martin Luther King/ He shook the land like the rolling thunder/ And made the bells of freedom ring today/ With a dream of beauty that they could not burn away.â
32. "One" - India.Arie
âGandhi was a Hindu/ Martin Luther King, a Christian/ God is a religion, they knew love was the vision/ And it all comes down to one.â
33. "Demons" - A$AP Rocky
âGive me the beat, and let me lean, tap the vein, let it stream Feel the pain, Young Martin Luther King, with a dream.â
34. "Dreams" - The Game
âCause Martin Luther King had a (dream)/ Aaliyah had a (dream), Left Eye had a (dream)/ So I reached out to Kanye and (I brought you all my dreams).â
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