From the Black Music Congress:
- Are white artists like Eminem, Justin Timberlake and Christiana Aguilera appropriating black music? Debate Report
The music industry was charged with institutional racism at the Black Music Congress' debate entitled Are white artists like Eminem, Justin Timberlake and Christiana Aguilera appropriating black music? held at City University London on January 31.
The perception was that the industry was keen to promote white artists performing black music, but reluctant to invest commensurate resources in black artists performing black music or specific types of black music. Although participants felt that white artists could participate within black music genres, so long as they acknowledged their sources and influences, there was however a view that there was a deliberate "political" and "racist" policy to sell black music styles with proven commercial potential using "safe" white faces.
Jazz musician Jamie Callum and soul singer Joss Stone were pointed out as examples - the former, a recipient of a reputed 1m pound record deal and huge marketing by the same company that didn't offer the same opportunities to the more innovative black jazz musician Courtney Pine, and the latter is currently receiving a major push performing a style that most black artists would not be allowed to perform because the gate-keepers of the industry view it as non-commercial and old-fashioned.
Secondly, it was acknowledged that appropriation has been happening for decades - well before the likes of Elvis Presley, Pat Boone and Bill Haley. However, participants highlighted that an insidious aspect was the process by which copycat white artists over time came to be regarded as the kings and inventors of black music genres. Today's faces of rock n roll, and the fact that American ska/pop band No Doubt thought ska was invented by the 2-Tone movement in Britain, were cases in point.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Mike
Joss Stone was pointed out? A 16 year-old white brit, who has an awesome voice is now a target because she "sounds black"? Her cover of "fell in love with a girl" (or boy on her track), was probably more soulful than anything coming out of Motown in years.
I didn't care what color she was, she just had an awesome voice. Music shouldn't be about color, but it's unfair that once again it being made so.
2 - Eric Olsen
I can't speak about the UK music industry but this discussion would be absurd for the US music industry: take a look at the flipping charts.
3 - Docent Shark
Since just about every form of contemporary music began with African-Americans, (gospel, jazz, blues, soul, funk/RB, dixieland, disco, rap, rock-and-roll, be-bop, just to name a few...whew...)---it would be hard NOT to find someone who didn't "appropriate" black music.
(John Cage, Xenakis, and Lawrence Welk come to mind.)
And I should point out that the worst example of a WHITE musician ripping off Black Culture is also the richest and most famous:
Michael Jackson.
I'd like to see a Black Music Congress debate entitled "Are Rich White Celebrities like O.J. Simpson and Michael Jackson Receiving Unfair Legal Advantages Over Poor African-Americans?"
4 - MitchellMan
Are black athletes appropriating white sports? Why is it that 80% or so of the NBA should be allowed to "appropriate" the invention of James Naismith?
5 - duane
I agree that it's important for musicians to recognize and acknowledge the origins of the music from which they benefit. On the other hand, I don't agree that race is all that relevant here. Once a musical form is created, it diffuses geographically and culturally. It gets diluted, augmented, twisted, parodied, improved, ruined, hybridized, merged...you name it. It has always been the case. For example, Franz Liszt "stole" Hungarian gypsy music and turned it into the Hungarian Rhapsodies (1840) with great success. You can't keep music in a bottle.
6 - music
Why do you have to go back to race about everything? By the way, to point out a fact, Christina Auguilera is half Latin, so that makes her a minority as well as Alicia Keys and Norah Jones. Joss Stone has an incredible voice, Eminem is musically gifted and a very perceptive writer at that. And I can't believe you mentioned Justin Timberlake. He does POP music ok? It's unfair to judge these artists that they're purposely doing black music selfishly. They do music. Get over it!
7 - Sandra Smallson
I prefer the term urban music. Therefore, a white kid who is musically inclined can sing songs that on average are sung mostly by black people but he too lives in that urban area and is thus, inspired by his/her surroundings. I refuse to give music a color cos I think that is just plain absurd. I don't think anybody should go around acknowledging the roots of their style of music either.
In an interview, if asked, they can tell us who they were inspired by. I don't expect them to tell us everyday how black jazz Artists inspired them.
Now, JOSS STONE. Much ado about nothing in my opinion. I do not see what is unique about her voice. I do not see any songwriting qualities. She's just another singer. I can understand a black artist on her same record label complaining about being pushed aside because before we heard a note from Joss, or before she had even played any club, or one Cd was released, we had been hearing about her for months. You would have thought she had been in the business for the years. By the time she was unleashed, you thought you knew her already and had heard her tunes.
As we know, some people today are fed their tastes in music. Once some Rolling Stone idiot says its great music compared to the scene today, nevermind that the reader personaly can't stand it, you find people forcing themselves to like the music and then raving about the Artist as well.
I see nothing special in Joss Stone. So what that she is 16? Charlotte Church was that age if not younger when she was singing Opera. I find that far more impressive.
Eminem, Timberlake..these are not Artists I have any particular interest in but the point is, urban music is a better term if we must categorise it. Timberlake is pop, said one of you..lol..I thought he was R&B? Is Eminem rap/hip-hop? I think you need to listen properly to some of his tracks. They could easily be categorised as pop same way everyone rushes to categorise Nelly as Pop. I love Nelly. He says "I am proud to be a pop-artist. It means my music is popular and appeals to different people in the rap, hip-hop or pop world". Absolutely Nelly.
Plus you stand a better chance of getting us to appreciate you 10 or more years from now with songs like Dilemma than any just lose it or real slim shady tune which I would be astonished to see the generation 10plus years from now appreciating. The Beatles were POP to the core. Everytime I hear any of their songs, I wonder why on earth they were called a rock band. LOL. I guess by people just to ashamed to acknowledge that the music they rave about is actually pop music. The Beatles were a boy band that sang great pop music. Deal with it. The Rolling Stones? NOW, THEY were a Rock and Roll band.
Rap rarely ever is timeless. Very few rap Artists and rap songs have stood the test of time. Mind you, I have friends that jump out of their seats when they hear Vanilla Ice's "ice ice baby". LOL. I guess, you never know.
8 - Sandra Smallson
personally, too..etc etc..other sp corrections I plead you make yourselves as you go along.
9 - Temple Stark
Why are there so many "am I ... ", Is this ..." racist questions here.
It seems to be a Blogcitics obsession.
Which leads me to a question I've been dyign to ask and always wondered about. (ahem)
Is Christmas racist?
10 - Cobra
I find the term "black music" itself a bit disturbing. I'm an African American singer song writer, in an indie rock band called "Omega Train". I've always been faced with stereotypes--"why aren't you rapping more?", "You must sound like Hootie and the Blowfish, or Living Color", because apparently, the only ACCEPTABLE black performers of any kind of music were those sanctioned by the corporate gate-keepers of media. The situation is changing somewhat now, and I think for the better, because of the internet, the digital download, and the abillity for the consumer to DISCOVER new artists without corporate radio or television. As far as the white performers listed in the discussion, God bless each and everyone of them for any success they achieve. For those minority performers who feel discriminated against by the white owned corporate music establishment, I suggest that they go grass roots independent, do the material they want to do, and take your talent to the marketplace. There are readily available worldwide distribution services such as CD Baby.com,(which I invite any fan of music to visit), and there is never any excuse to not play out to anybody who will listen. I won't stop singing because Joss Stone received a million pound contract, anymore than I will stop throwing the football around with my friends because Eli Manning makes $60 million for the Giants. I say, play the music you want, package it into an appealing product, and market it to the masses. Let the consummer decide. After all, white corporate conglomerates have no loyalty to ANYBODY except to their stock holders, who demand bottomline profits.
--Cobra,
Lead Singer
Omega Train
www.omegatrain.com
11 - P6
Temple Stark:
It is an obsession. That someone reached all the way back to February to find a post to discuss is proof.
12 - Neal
This is not a blog but just a cut and paste from the BMC. Interesting topic though, most likely true.
13 - Temple Stark
P6 clarify?
I posted about it because I saw it in the recent comments section.
There have been many such Is this or that racist posts since then and they also seem strangely naive, though I'm willing to accept that "naivety" is just my impression and maybe not accurate.
14 - P6
Comment 5 was posted February 5.
Comment 6 was posted December 18. And it's a rant.
The "naivete" is a rhetorical tactic. Notice the pattern: a post that's simply silly is responded to in the affirmative, then even more so, then support via negative comments about someting else, then it escalates to the absurd.
Some of the participants seem hateful (or close enough to hateful that they see a need to clarify the definition), and some seem to get off plucking people's nerves and find Black people's annoyance over racist espressions to be a perfect foil. So nebulous, deniable double entendres are the order of the day.
15 - Temple Stark
>>The "naivete" is a rhetorical tactic.
I agree.
16 - SFC Ski
It is a shame music has a racial component, especially when the music is colorless. I point to the example of many non-African-Americans buyuing up rap recordings, posters of rap stars on their walls,, and dressing in the style of rappers.
As for African-American rock stars, I wish there were more of the quality of Jimi Hendrix, Living Color, Fishbone, Eddie HAzel of P-Funk, Lenny Kravitz, etc. Sevendust and Hootie and the Blowfish are to great integrated bands, though they are about 180 degrees apart on the musical spectrum.
I listen to the music first, I don't seek out specifically white or black or any other race when I choose my artists.
On a sidenote, how about the Hispanic component of music, you have both rappers and rockers there. It wasn't until I went to a metal show in Texas that I realized that there are just as many Hispanic headbangers in Texas as white-boy metalheads in Jersey.
I don't think that the Pat Boone fronting the songs of Little Richard is an apt comparison, because for the one Joss Stone, Timberlake or Eminem getting headlines and publicity, there are at least a dozen African Americans doing the same music and getting paid as well.
17 - vern halen
Fascinating discussion. But if there's racism in music, is it due to: a) the artists, b) the audience, or c) the industry's promo / A&R departments? Or is it a combination of the three, which might simply be indicative of society in general?
And while we're all celebrating / weeping (take your pick) over hip hop's degeneration into "merely" pop, what's the next big thing out there, or has it all been done before?
18 - Luke
Reponding to COBRA.
I don't like this black/white thing in music either, not long ago i heard a band on a heavy metal compilation called GOD FORBID and didn't realise till years later that only one guy in the band is white, 2 of them are latino and the other two are black, and I thought, that's cool, these dudes are sticking it to the man, the media said "LISTEN TO RAP" or "LISTEN TO LATIN MUSIC" and they said nah f*** it, we're guna listen to and perform pure f'kn heavy metal! It was funny though, when asked why they weren't on the head bangers ball CD the drummer Corey Pierce said "yeah what's up with that? Always tryin' to keep the black man down"
19 - D
In response to post #4 L M F A O
I wonder how long it will take for someone to come up with sumthin as ludicrous and idiotic as that - knowing this planet, not long.
20 - lee
what the funkinstein are you idiots talking about mainly you under educated brain washed whites europeans, americans, whatever you call your selves it just kills me when i here white people complaining about why do blacks allways have to bring up race,WHY becouse this whole world is all about race and you know who created that myth to divide and conquer, make people slaves, discriminate, to this day whith no sign of slowing down you guessed its WHITES look at these fools in australia,like the USA,SPAIN,EUROPE,etc.etc. - stold the land from the originall people and treat them like shit (aborigani,indians,africans etc. etc.look what colonistion did to africa becouse european greed, and arroganse, that you still show every day the music buisness is evel as hell and is just a microcosum of the evil world we live in all these so called artist try to hyjack black flavor and and style has been going on for ever all of these little tooth pick blond females wanting to sound black but then change ther toon soon ass they become popular are a joke even the mixed once like marya and keys /enimen sucks, one thing he did do was pull the wool over all these non rapping and even some good rappers eyes its a shame anybody off the street can be made to sound good with the technology and a good producer look how latin people are ripping blacks off with this waterd down reggaton garbage just like whites, spanish, asian,indians from india, etc. the whole damn world constantly rips off the black man and gives no credit to the like the reel king of rock and roll said the originaters, the architecs, the creaters, and inovaters, in everything in this god forsaken world the originla man the -AFRICAN-...peace peace peace....
21 - Whitey
Is english your first language? Looking at your grammatical and syntax errors, I hope not. Does your resume have this many mistakes? I'm sure that has nothing to do with you having a low wage job. It's racism and WHITEY. Way to keep it real G.
22 - 1
We're done as a society when people get up in arms over this nonsense. Give me a break. But hey, why not? The kneejerk reaction is to cry "racism" at every turn these days!
Whatever. Eminem, Justin Timberlake and Christiana Aguilera...I'd much rather listen to white noise (no pun intended) than grit my teeth through one of their songs. It's all unlistenable as far as I'm concerned.
23 - deva
I find this very disturbing.Its not true at all-i feel that a good product marketed well will give credit to the deserving people.Joss Stone is an awesomely talented person.So is Justin Timberlake and Shakira or Christina Aguilera.
Lenny Kravitz isnt the whitest looking but he is playing some "white music" if you want to put it that way...its a very thin line..remember the band "Living Colour"??
However,there was a little text written by Jamiroquai in first LP-"Emergency on Planet Earth" where he was commented by saying that there is discrimination against blacks in the music biz.That is slightly different, though.I think as consumers and music lovers, we all want to see a balanced scene-if it will only involve blacks then it would be boring;furthermore its a decent compliment when caucasians, asians etc all seem to love black music and idolise it to the extent of attempting to be like that.And some deservingly do it well and should receive credit for it.Look at it the other way, why is Timbaland monopolising the Hip-Hop world? There are many others who are great but dont seem to come half as close.Why?
24 - Musak
IT STARTED IN AFRICA
25 - Fine Brown Frame
Anyone noticed what radio stations in England does? 1982 African American group the 'Valentine Brothers' release their classic 'Monies To Tight To Mention' which, is later covered by 95% white group 'Simply Red' now, they only ever play the souless 'Simply Red' version. THIS SORT OF NONSENSE GOES ON EVERY DAY AND HAS BEEN HAPPENING FOR DECADES. Decisions made by a bunch of 'old racist farts'!