We’ve been missing the musical stylings of Mississippi’s own KIRBY. The singer-songwriter and her unique approach to music have been quite the breath of fresh air over the years, especially because she hasn’t been afraid to switch up on us when she sees fit. Now, the artist is coming back with a new album on the horizon and its breathtaking lead single “The Man.”
“The Man” is dedicated specifically to KIRBY’s father, but it tells the story of every person who has had to sacrifice just to get by in a country whose dream rarely comes true. In order to do that, she steeps the song in Southern musical traditions — including soul, rock, blues and even country — as she offers straight-from-the-hip commentary on class, race and the ways the system keeps us all oppressed.
The lyrics speak directly to the heart of the matter as she addresses the crux of the problem for many Americans — but especially those in the Deep South. After singing of the unfair treatment workers receive, from long hours and low pay to straight-up wage theft. But it’s the fiery chorus that brings it all home. “I can’t stand the man / I can’t stand the man / I can’t stand the way he walks and talks all over me,” she sings. “I can’t stand the greed / I make a dollar and he takes three / I can’t stand the way he makes a living off of me.”
The song’s visual takes KIRBY home as she performs the song on land that is actually owned by her father. The visual is infused with Southern pride with symbols like pickup trucks, tractor trailers and her band wearing shirts with the sleeves cut off. But the perhaps the biggest symbol is the singer herself, who wears a dress patterned similarly to those worn in the Antebellum South in a nod to the toil and pain she sings about in the lyrics.
It seems that KIRBY has something to say this go ’round. And we’ll be here to listen whenever she’d like to drop any details about her upcoming project. Until then, get the message when you stream “The Man” and watch its visual below.
