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IMO Its got to be the A&R people record labels have hired over the years. They may be cut from a more conservative non-creative cloth than their counterparts in the industry. For instance I can't see an A&R guy out shopping for a black Punk or death Metal Band. Don't get me wrong they are out there but most will wither on the vine.
I think they ( Artist and Repertoire executives) operate on the assumption that black people will take a first look at black artist and white people will take a first look at white artist. Their objective is not to be part of a political agenda, expand our minds or show us the possibilities. They need to get an artist who can sell at least 10,000 units or what ever it takes to cover cost.
I think many white artist in R&R pay tribute when its is due and some figure its a fore gone conclusion and don't waste time on it. One of the reasons there are so many white blues bands is because there are so many white blues fans. When more black people start showing up at death metal venues the A&R guys will follow.
IMO Its got to be the A&R people record labels have hired over the years. They may be cut from a more conservative non-creative cloth than their counterparts in the industry. For instance I can't see an A&R guy out shopping for a black Punk or death Metal Band. Don't get me wrong they are out there but most will wither on the vine.
The Problem, has always been and remains a result of record companies, promoters and radio programers from the days of classifying African American Rhythm and Blues as "Race Records" to today's bean counters and the rise of radio behemoths like Clear Channel. If it hadn't been for pioneering independent labels like Chess, Elektra, Sun, and Atlantic Records, and the DJ's who then had the power to play what they liked when they liked it Rock and Roll was just...well Rock and Roll. I remember the early days of FM radio where you could hear Motown being played alongside the Jefferson Airplane. That sort of musical integration ended in the 70's with a brief period total integration during the, as perverted as it may sound, during the Disco era only to emerge from that period with with a music business more segregated than ever before.
I have memories of being a kid in the 1980s. Imagine, if you will, the older brother of a friend. Mullet mustache combo, tube top, Trans Am in constant state of repair, you know the story. "Duuuuude, f*ck that n****er music, it's all about the f***in Crue!!! Yeeaaahhh man!!!!!"
I guess it's still like that. Replace the mullet and tube top with a baseball cap and hoodie, replace the TransAm with a lift-kitted pickup, and replace Motley Crue with whatever crappy bro rock is big right now.
Oh, and I forgot to add. All the thrash/death/black/whatever metal, not to mention hardcore itself (oldschool or otherwise), which all seems to be as 'non-black' as rock-and-roll can possibly be, simply would not exist as we know it were it not for the Bad Brains.
A bunch of jazz fusion musicians from the 'blackburbs' of D.C. were exposed to a Ramones record one day and were told that it was the fastest rock and roll band ever. They looked at each other and said "we can outdo that." The Ramones brought back the 3 minute rock song. The Bad Brains invented the 90 second thrash song, and the crazy part is, they even managed to do it with soul.
The very idea that there is black music and white music is an invention of the music industry to satisfy segregationist. For every form of "black Music" there is a white counterpart and for every form of "white music" there is a black counter part. Most lasting forms of American music were developed as the result of collaborations between black and white musicians. The greatest American pop, rock, country, and R&B artist are probably individuals who defied this standard and were appreciated by black and white audiences.
Jimi Hendrix is argueably the most influential rock guitar player in history and he's black and Eminem is arguably the most popular and influential hip hop artist of all time and he's white.
No one race owns rock and roll or any other form of music. Everyone and I mean EVERYONE steals/borrows/copies/is influenced by from those that preceeded them.
Jimi Hendrix is argueably the most influential rock guitar player in history and he's black and Eminem is arguably the most popular and influential hip hop artist of all time and he's white.
No one race owns rock and roll or any other form of music. Everyone and I mean EVERYONE steals/borrows/copies/is influenced by from those that preceeded them.
Em ISN'T arguably the most popular or influential rapper of all time. Top 10 maybe, but certainly not top 5.
And you're right, no race owns any music.
I think the case is simply being made that blacks are basically the inventors of the rock and roll genre. That's a no brainer. But of course whites have made very significant contributions to the genre.
The very idea that there is black music and white music is an invention of the music industry to satisfy segregationist. For every form of "black Music" there is a white counterpart and for every form of "white music" there is a black counter part. Most lasting forms of American music were developed as the result of collaborations between black and white musicians. The greatest American pop, rock, country, and R&B artist are probably individuals who defied this standard and were appreciated by black and white audiences.
Yes, but you're dismissing the fact that in the earliest years of rock, when it was as underground music and played at the end of the radio dial on "race record" stations, it was VERY MUCH considered to be black music. That's because it most certainly was.
Fast forward 10-15 years...early 60's, British Invasion. At this point, it was certainly not "race music" anymore. British blues bands were regurgitating sounds that had been right here in America for 60 years if not longer. The big question remains as to why British bands had adopted a sound that white American bands had overlooked for decades.
However, I agree that there was a good bit of cross pollenization of musical sounds in this country. But still, without African Americans, you get no blues, no rock (by extension), no soul, no jazz (worth listening to), no bluegrass, and certainly nothing like rap or house.
What you'd have can only be left to the imagination, but I sure as hell don't wanna imagine it. Lol
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