Rhiannon Giddens appeared on The Daily Show to perform her recent song “Another Waste Life” and to discuss her Pulitzer-winning opera, Omar, with current host Michael Kosta. Giddens offered a poignant, emotional rendition of “Another Wasted Life,” which comes off her latest LP, You’re the One.
During her interview with Kosta, Giddens discussed creating Omar, as well as the tragic story of Kalief Browder, whose suicide in prison inspired “Another Wasted Life.” She also spoke about the cultural importance of the banjo in American history, reflecting on her love for the instrument and how that manifests in her music.
You’re the One, released in August, is Giddeons’ first solo album in six years and marked her first collection of all-original songs. You’re the One was produced by Jack Splash (Solange, Kendrick Lamar) and includes musical contributions by Giddens’ partner, multi-instrumentalist Francesco Turrisi, as well as Dirk Powell, Jason Sypher, and Congolese guitarist Niwel Tsumbu. Singer-songwriter Jason Isbell gets a featured credit on a track called “Yet to Be.”
When she released the album, Giddeons explained the inspiration for “Another Waste Life” in a post on her website. “I wrote ‘Another Wasted Life’ after reading about the tragic suicide of Kalief Browder – another poor soul caught up in the incarceration system for a crime he didn’t commit,” she wrote. “He was put into solitary for almost two years, a torture no one deserves, no matter what they did or did not do. The whole for-profit prison industrial complex – an outgrowth of slavery – is a stain on the American story; 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 added, “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.”
Earlier this year, Giddens was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in Music for the opera Omar, which she co-wrote with Michael Abels.