What's Going On is Marvin Gaye’s 1971 soul and protest song, released as a single on Tamla and opening the album of the same name. Written by Renaldo Benson, Al Cleveland, and Marvin Gaye and produced by Gaye, the track blends soul, R&B, progressive soul, and psychedelic touches. The song was inspired by Benson’s witnessing of police brutality in Berkeley's People's Park in 1969, and its title line asks the question at the heart of social upheaval: what is going on? It marked Gaye’s move away from the Motown sound toward more personal and socially conscious music, featuring a laid back groove, rich vocal layering, and unusual seventh chords. It was a commercial and critical success, topping the R&B charts for five weeks and reaching number two on the Billboard Hot 100, with sales over two million copies. Rolling Stone ranks it among the greatest songs of all time and and it is widely regarded as a landmark protest song, helped in part by its storytelling production, the bass work of James Jamerson, and the playful background chatter recorded with Detroit Lions players.
