Just want to throw in my two-cents on this one.
I, too, am black. I have been weened since I was a young one on 70's
funk and R&B, the music they now label "slow jams," and jazz fusion
(Grover, Watanabe, Crusaders, etc.). I even listened to quite a bit of
"white" artists who, you can tell, were very much influenced by some
element of blues/R&B from blacks.
Per Megan's (she of the list) suggestion, I purchased a book in Seattle
called "Last Night, A DJ Saved My Life." I'm sure some of you have heard
of it, and perhaps read it. I'm barely through the first 100 pages of
the book, but it affirms very much that one person's loss is another's
art. This is especially true of the British and other European DJs
(mostly white) who scoured the bins far and wide for rare R&B grooves,
and the dancers who embraced such sounds. Color didn't matter to
them...it was the quality and soulfulness of the music. If it sounded
hip, if it made their inhibitions shed away, if it gave them soul and
rhythm, then that's all that mattered.
As I was reading the book, it reminded me of a public television special
that I saw some years ago about the history of rock n' roll in the
United States. What struck me as I've viewed the program was the
insidiousness of which music was so "whitewashed" for mass consumption.
By this, I mean in particular tunes that were recorded originally by
blacks, and then remade by white artists (it made me shake my head
watching Pat Boone get away with some of the stuff)--who ended up with
the claim to fame at the expense of the original artists. Such artists,
as further insult to injury, were either not compensated for their work
or were inadequately so.
The documentary made it so abundantly clear that there was a huge void
in history that continues to this day. And that is that many
people--black and white--are still misinformed on how the music we are
into (ie, techno, jungle, breakbeat, house, acid jazz, nu-groove, future
soul, etc. etc.) were derived.
I think that the book and the documentary would really open up hearts
and minds in terms of educating the masses on what the real deal is. It
would also lend itself to giving those who continue to be neglected here
in the States, only to find fame (and, sometimes, rejuventation)
overseas.
I know that many blacks here would perhaps get blown away that artists
such as Rae and Christian, Fauna Flash, and others can shake the hip-hop
sensibilities with the best of them. I'm sure they would be truly blown
away by the great funk culture that resides in Austria (Mum, Planet E,
Kruder and Dorfmeister), for example. But the point is that such artists
seemed to have transcended--or perhaps even embracing--black culture in
their own, unique ways while showing their appreciation and respect for
such artists.
And there you have it...my two-cents. :-)
V.
-- Velanche Stewart Information Technology Consultant College of Liberal Arts Cal Poly State University, San Luis Obispo Phone: 805-756-7326 Email: vstewart@calpoly.edu
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