Our job has always been to reflect the times. For those that aren't reflecting the times, my job is not to question their artistry, but I question their being, and why they're doing this for a living. | | | | Leon Bridges and guitarist Kenny Wayne Hollingsworth at the Intersect festival, Las Vegas, Dec. 7, 2019.
(Ethan Miller/Getty Images) | | | | | |  | "Our job has always been to reflect the times. For those that aren't reflecting the times, my job is not to question their artistry, but I question their being, and why they're doing this for a living."
| | | | | | rantnrave:// The LOL tweet that got TOM MORELLO to go viral last week with his perfectly played WTF reply isn't proof that people are stupid. It's proof, rather, that people hear only what they want to hear, no matter how loudly the thing they don't want to hear is ringing in their ears. If you love the sound, it's easy to fool your ears into ignoring that the sound carries a message your brain doesn't want to hear. See: the complete history of pop music. The corollary to this is if you *don't* like the sound, it's easy to miss that it's broadcasting a message you'd in fact love to hear if only your ears were open to hearing it. Which is why so many people have been complaining for years that no one makes protest music anymore, even though every hip-hop and R&B radio station—and by default quite a few pop stations—has been blaring protest music nearly nonstop for a good part of this century. And some jazz stations. And some rock stations. And YOUTUBE. You have to dial it in. And if you do, it's there, as loud and clear as MARVIN GAYE or N.W.A or RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE or BEYONCÉ ever were. You could put together a pretty good box set, if you were so inclined, of the songs that have been released in the past two weeks in response to the GEORGE FLOYD/BLACK LIVES MATTER protests, or you could just step outside and absorb them in any number of cities right now. You might hear the angry cadences of both the rapping and the jazz accents in TERRACE MARTIN's "PIG FEET" (featuring DENZEL CURRY, DAYLYT, KAMASI WASHINGTON and G PERICO), or the mournful soul of LEON BRIDGES and Terrace Martin's "SWEETER," or the comically ecstatic release of DJ SUEDE THE REMIX GOD and IMARKKEYZ's "LOSE YO JOB." You may find yourself knocked flat by BETTYE LAVETTE's new version of "STRANGE FRUIT," which explicitly connects the civil-rights moment of today with the crimes of a century past, both spiritually and musically. Some of the songs are brand new, some revived/repurposed, and some recorded in the past year or so and rush-released into a moment they were meant to soundtrack. MusicSET: "Otherside of America: The Sound of Protest in 2020"... The second episode of MICHAELA COEL's I MAY DESTROY YOU aired Sunday on HBO and, like the first, it had a prominent and perfect TIERRA WHACK sync, and it might be my favorite new show of 2020... Maybe the band formerly known as LADY ANTEBELLUM should change its name again, to LADY APOLOGIA.... TENCENT, which owns stakes in UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP and SPOTIFY, has added WARNER MUSIC to its portfolio... The ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME reopens today... RIP KEITH TIPPETT and TONY REDZ. | | | - Matty Karas (@troubledoll), curator | | | |  | REDEF | | Yes, Karen, they're still making protest music in 2020. A lot of it. Inspired by worldwide protests and the #BlackLivesMatter movement, musicians are taking new songs directly to the streets, and older songs have taken on new meaning. | | | |  | Pollstar | | Blackout Tuesday is over, but this does not mean the work is done. In fact, we are only at the foot of the hill. | | | |  | Vulture | | Even if we are to give "Lady A" credit for their gesture, we must also acknowledge that it should be but the catalyst of far deeper work. | | | |  | Rolling Stone | | "This is my life. They're using the name because of a Black Lives Matter incident that, for them, is just a moment in time," says the original Lady A, a 61-year-old black singer who's released multiple records under the name. | | | |  | Music Industry Blog | | While doing some research on the Chinese streaming market I came across this fantastic UX tear down of Xiami Music. I recommend you read it in full. The day before I found this - also must-read -article on Beyoncé's streaming strategy, which explains how she uses different platforms to segment her fanbase (Tidal – super fans, Spotify engaged fans, Netlix, passive fans). | | | |  | Variety | | As the coronavirus pandemic has proliferated and social distancing guidelines prevented large gatherings across the country - and the world - the live music industry crumbled with one fell swoop. One after another, major tours and festivals were rescheduled, canceled, or rescheduled and then canceled. | | | |  | Los Angeles Times | | Tyrone "The Bone" Proctor was one of the original "Soul Train" dancers who brought waacking from underground L.A. gay clubs into the mainstream. | | | |  | Newcity Music | | Counterpunching in boxing influenced the rhythm Willie Dixon put into the blues; Alex follows his grandfather's lead on his new record, "The Real McCoy." | | | |  | Billboard | | Other than buying a used 1992 CD on eBay, the only place to legally listen to Body Count's anti-police-brutality classic "Cop Killer" is on a YouTube page posted by a user named thechannelsurfin100. Hundreds of thousands of people have been out in the streets of cities across America protesting George Floyd's death at the hands of Minneapolis police officers, but "Cop Killer" is not on Spotify. | | | |  | The New York Times | | In a time of need, a Times critic is moored by Patti LaBelle - in song, then on the phone. | | | |  | NPR | | The "Streets of Rage" video game franchise was known for its cutting edge, club-inspired soundtrack. Composer Olivier Deriviere set out to recapture that magic in "Streets of Rage 4." | | | | | Rolling Stone | | Clubs nationwide have opened their doors to protesters looking for first aid and a place to decompress and recharge. | | | |  | Salon | | "Go-Go has a long history of really taking back the power. Just the fact that it exists is resistance." | | | |  | The Washington Post | | What is the spiritual opposite of a supergroup? Although the trio Coriky is composed of three formidable D.C. punk legends -- Ian MacKaye, Amy Farina and Joe Lally -- its guiding ethos has, from inception, been one of extreme modesty. | | | |  | Music Business Worldwide | | It's been 10 months since MBW reported on the initial beta launch of Corite - a Stockholm-based platform that allows fans to invest in an artist, and reap returns on that investment via an agreed percentage of the same act's future streaming income. | | | |  | The Guardian | | From Drake to Carly Rae Jepsen to Bad Bunny, 2020 has been dominated by records breathing life into leftover songs. | | | |  | Electronic Beats | | Gabe Meier investigates initiatives built on solidarity and interdependence that could help musicians stay afloat. | | | | | Billboard | | A quick flashback to the simpler times of 1980 takes you to a place where 50 cents gets you a dozen eggs, $2.25 could purchase a movie ticket, and hip-hop was still in its commercial infancy. And then Kurtis Blow arrived. | | | |  | Genius | | We talked to the Chicago rapper about his new album 'The GOAT.' | | | |  | NPR Music | | This song's story always must be told and heard again; we have not yet moved beyond the need for its witnessing. | | | | |  | | YouTube | | | | | | | | | | | From "On the Tender Spot of Every Calloused Moment," out now on Blue Note. | | | | | | | | © Copyright 2020, The REDEF Group | | |
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