> Now imagine people looking up to me with impatient rolling eyes, what are you
> playing and can you pick it up shrugs, and worst of all people not even
> nodding their heads or tapping their feet. For the context, I'm black, and I
> know that my people once upon a time, danced to Jazz music, vigorously. I
> watch my own people sit still to music that is truly an extension of our
> entire musical experience...jazz, soul, blues, hip hop, disco, etc. I watch
I'd like to chime in with a constant source of frustration for me, closely
related. I have been squarely pegged as a "downtempo" dj, and while I have no
beef with downtempo, it's just not what I play. I eve get it from my close
friends who have followed the music I play for a couple of years. Even they
need training to realize that it's not down at all. I explained to one friend,
hey, this is as fast as house, and some is much faster. Do you consider house
to be downtempo? (No.) Ok then. I think she gets it now. The other night at a
house party I had someone who was doing his best to tell me he liked what I was
playing, but gave the same impression. He was talking about how my music was
"well, not exactly beginning of the night stuff, but soulful." Do you see what
I see? That "soulful" is equated with "not dancefloor-worthy?" I find the
whole thing astounding. I'm honored to play the rhythms that started it all...
Without this heavy percussive influence, where would dance music (and black
music) be? But the connection is impossible for people to make, until they are
covered with sweat and exhausted because they've been dancing all night, which
does happen, thankfully. When that happens, people usually think that they've
been listening not to downtempo, but to house. UGH. Well, it's better than
nothing.
> People, even Rugged was converted as he know wants every mixed CD that I do
> and has even propositioned me about promoting them.
Hehe, my analogy is one night when ?uest Love came into my little friday night
gig and put on some records. He and his friends got distracted and he left his
record bag. Now, granted, he'd just come from a store that I go to a lot and
bought the place out, but I happened to, you know, well, some of his records
were sticking out, ok, I looked through his bag, and my reaction was "got
it...got it...skipped it...got it...didn't like it...coming in the mail...got
it..." It's encouraging, and frustrating, but most of all, funny.
I think what needs to happen to salvage popular music is the dismantling of the
corporate structure and/or capitalism as we know it, combined with the
reinvigoration of the education system with a special and passionate emphasis on
the arts (I'm thinking capoeira in gym class, and I'm not kidding), and i'm sure
some wealth redistribution and restructuring of the moral fabric such that money
takes the back seat, wouldn't hurt, but file sharing, internet radio and
burnable CDs are a good start. I'll take it. I guess it's plausible to see
your djing or influencing your friends as a bit of a mission. You are one
little match in the incendiary force that will burn music-business as usual to a
crisp.
(ok just one more little paragraph) At the same time, the best good music will
always be in the minority. It's kind of like an ecosystem, though, the
relationship between the mossy, fertile "underground" scenes and the music
company redwoods. I think the redwoods are very foolish to try to extinguish
the underground through legislation and strongarming, because, of course, the
underground is what feeds the mainstream its ideas. You have to think that
eventually people are going to get sick of hearing the same crap all the time
and seek alternatives. eh, but maybe not.
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