And with June also being Black Music Month, it reminds us that music has always been an important part of the black experience in America — from slavery through the civil rights movement to today’s Black Lives Matter mission.

From never-before-heard Aretha and Alicia Keys to Teyana Taylor, here are six reasons to celebrate black music on Juneteenth.

Aretha Franklin

Hearing the late Queen of Soul’s voice on Juneteenth definitely brings the holy spirit from the heavens. On a previously unreleased solo version of “Never Gonna Break My Faith” — which was originally released as a Grammy-winning duet with Mary J. Blige from the 2006 film “Bobby” — Franklin, who died in 2018, gets stirring support from the Boys Choir of Harlem. Just let the chills wash all over you.

Alicia Keys

Going all the way back to “A Woman’s Worth” and “Superwoman,” this Grammy goddess has always been a powerful voice for black women. And she is once again on her new single, “Perfect Way To Die,” a piano ballad that speaks to black mothers whose children’s lives didn’t matter to those who killed them. This statement is A-Keys at her best. Hopefully she’ll play it when she faces off with John Legend in their Verzuz Instagram Live battle Friday at 8 p.m.

John Legend 

In addition to his piano-man-versus-piano-woman duel with Keys tonight, Legend has a new album, “Bigger Love,” which he dropped on Juneteenth, and it features a diverse group of black artists representing everything from blues-rock (Gary Clark Jr.) and R&B (Jhené Ailko) to reggae (Koffee) and hip-hop (Rapsody).

Teyana Taylor 

Legend’s “Bigger Love” wasn’t the only major R&B release to celebrate black culture on Juneteenth. Teyana Taylor — who last week revealed she is expecting her second child in her “Wake Up Love” video — delivered another major arrival: her third LP, simply titled “The Album.” The star-studded set is an event record, featuring a who’s who of R&B and hip-hop, from Erykah Badu, Kehlani and Missy Elliott to Future, Migos’ Quavo and Big Sean. “The Album” even ends with a spoken-word cameo from the elusive Ms. Lauryn Hill on the rousing rhyme fest “We Got Love,” produced by Kanye West, Taylor’s label head.

Public Enemy 

If there was ever a time we needed Public Enemy, it’s right now. And the legendary Long Island crew is back to fight the powers that be with its new single, “State of the Union (STFU),” featuring Gang Starr’s DJ Premier. It’s a searing slam against President Donald Trump, with Flavor Flav chanting in the chorus, “State of the union/Shut the f–k up/Sorry ass motherf–ker/Stay away from me.” Chuck D lands some lyrical jabs too: “Mr. I Am the Law/And you are not/In fact, I’m God/I got a lot/Mr. These United Breaks/Take over, come over/Orange hair, fear the comb-over.” Yup, they went there.

H.E.R.

The Grammy-winning soulstress minces no words on her new single “I Can’t Breathe.” “Always a problem if we do or don’t fight/And we die, we don’t have the same right,” she sings plaintively over a spare beat so that you get every single bit of the message. In the chorus, she puts it simply and poignantly: “I can’t breathe/You’re taking my life from me.”