CHAPMAN,DALE EDWARD (dchapman@ucla.edu)
Wed, 15 Dec 1999 16:28:01 -0800 (PST)
Re: Mos Def;
Great album. I wanted to return to the issue brought up in "Rock n' Roll"
because I think it's important: on another listserv that I'm on, this
tune provoked accusations that Mos Def was basically saying "hate whitey"
in this and other tunes on Black on Both Sides. This in turn, thankfully,
brought forth a slew of defenders of Mos Def who thought that the "hate
whitey" accusation was barking up the wrong tree. The problem, of course,
is that any time that white exploitation/appropriation/co-optation of
African-American traditions gets criticized by an African-American,
accusations of hate are the easiest way of dismissing those criticisms. I
just read a great review of Mos Def's album, really heartfelt, in the LA
Weekly, that emphasized that for Mos Def, self-love and dignity within the
African-American communities have to be the precursor for any
emancipation, any reconciliation between blacks and whites, etc. Everyone
in the L.A. basin for whom Black on Both Sides pushed the wrong buttons
should have a look at that review.
Also, the thread on this other listserv -- the thread criticizing Mos Def
got into things like, "well, it's unfair to dismiss whites from the
formation of rock and roll, because as we all know, rock n' roll was a
synthesis, a marriage of black and white musical styles. . ." Well,
sorry, but in fact most of the basis of early rock n' roll was thoroughly
worked out by African-American artists such as Louis Jordon, Big Mama
Thorton, Ruth Brown and many others before Elvis and Bill Haley got their
hands on it.
Now when it gets to jazz. . . Mos Def's line, "Kenny G ain't got no soul,
John Coltrane is rock n' roll;" now, c'mon! Kenny G is an easy target. I
fully admit that jazz is, by and large, centered in African-American
culture, and the vast majority of innovators and principal contributors to
the tradition were black, Bix Beiderbecke, Brecker Bros., Bill Evans and
others notwithstanding. But if you're gonna go up against Kenny G, I'm
sorry, but my people (pasty white people) did produce one or two artists
of better caliber than that.
Just my two cents worth.
Dale
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