| White artists appropriated and profited from Black music. |
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 | | Roots rock: Valerie June at Old Forester's Paristown Hall, Louisville, Ky., May 24, 2022. | | (Stephen J. Cohen/Getty Images) | | |
| quote of the day |
| "White artists appropriated and profited from Black music." | | - Interim Report of the California Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans, p. 299 | |
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| rantnrave:// |
That's All Right for You
Today is the second day of BLACK MUSIC MONTH and the second anniversary of the music-industry-led BLACKOUT TUESDAY of 2020, and here's your read for the day: a book-length (nearly 500 pages) interim report by a California state task force on reparations for African Americans. The state established the task force two years ago to study the historic and continuing effects of slavery on Black Californians and to recommend reparations. The interim report, which arrives a year ahead of the deadline for a final report, is a wide-ranging, scholarly overview that examines a reservoir of discriminatory practices in both the state and the country, most of which, based on a read of a chapter on "Creative, Cultural & Intellectual Life," will be old news to anyone familiar with the history of African Americans in the US. But who's telling the story matters. It's one thing for a music historian or rapper to tell you, "White artists appropriated and profited from Black music." It's a whole 'nother thing for a government body with the power, or at least the potential power, to do something about it to tell you.
In a section on Black music that traces a history from laws in multiple states against enslaved musicians (the slavery was legal; the music was not), to minstrel music's racist appropriations, to the monumental, uncompensated contributions to American culture of Black gospel, blues, jazz and R&B artists, to government crusades against rap music, the task force singles out four names: NWA and NIPSEY HUSSLE, both cited as examples of rappers targeted by law enforcement agencies because of their art, and ELVIS PRESLEY (see next item) and ARTHUR "BIG BOY" CRUDUP, presented together as an example of a white man who rose to stardom with the help of a song by "a Black man who was paid so little for his recordings that he had to work as a laborer selling sweet potatoes."
The music industry can and should work to protect future NWAs and Nipsey Hussles from government intrusion and worse, but obviously the industry isn't specifically to blame for that. But the exploitative contracts and copyright crimes against past, present and future Arthur Crudups are entirely within the music biz's purview and entirely within the music biz's ability to repair. Music doesn't have to wait for the government to explain what needs to be done. Music, which made plenty of pledges on Blackout Tuesday—some of which it's followed through on—is in a position to do those reparations itself. Today is a perfect day to stop and read up on the history. Tomorrow is a perfect day to do something concrete about it.
That's Not All Right for You
You could quibble with the above report about a description that reduces Elvis Presley to a singer who "imitated Black blues and R&B singers." Elvis had a wealth of love, respect and understanding of every artist whose music he covered, and a voice capable of colluding with their songs' deepest mysteries. But he also had an accomplished army of businessmen/exploiters at his side. Trees, meet forest.
And unlike the families of some of the Black artists whose songs he covered (he covered plenty of white artists, too), Elvis' descendants continue to derive unfathomable wealth from the work of a man who died nearly half a century ago. Which is the point of all this. And if those descendants want to tell every wedding chapel in Las Vegas to cease and desist with their Elvis-themed weddings on behalf of his future great-grandchildren and the businesses that control his copyrights and trademarks—yet had nothing to do with creating them—it turns out they can, no matter how much those weddings seem like part of the fabric of American life. That's the privilege of a system that was set up to support your great-grandfather and will still be supporting you long into the future.
Rest in Peace
DAVE SMITH, founder of the pioneering synth company Sequential Circuits and one of the inventors of MIDI. A monumental figure in modern recording... 23 RACKZ, a 16-year-old up-and-coming DMV rapper, who last week became at least the 12th rapper murdered in the US this year. At least 19 musicians of note have been murdered worldwide in 2022.
| | - Matty Karas (@troubledoll), curator | |
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 | | Ebony |
| | Back to H.E.R. Roots | | By Ronda Racha Penrice | | At just 24, trailblazing megastar H.E.R. has become one of the most prolific artists of her time, well on her way to an EGOT. Her musical roots run deep, and as we discover with her dad Kenny Wilson, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. | | |
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 | | And The Writer Is... |
| | And The Writer Is...Justin Kalifowitz | | By Ross Golan and Justin Kalifowitz | | Today's guest is a lifelong advocate for empowering creators and the Founder and Executive Chairman of Downtown Music Holdings. He's also co-founder of NY is Music, a non-profit coalition dedicated to advancing the importance of the role of music in economic development, culture, and education in New York State. | | |
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 | | Billboard |
| | Why Is Vinyl Getting So Expensive? | | By Chris Eggertsen | | Supply chain problems and rising costs continue to plague pressing plants, labels and retailers - but CDs may be a stopgap. | | |
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 | | Midia Research |
| | Burning out and fading away: the exhausting job of marketing new music | | By Keith Jopling | | The recent protests by music artists about the pressures of keeping up a constant presence on social media are disconcerting in an age when many artists are struggling with mental health issues and wellbeing. The Music Managers Forum has released 'The Digital Burnout Report', based on a series of roundtable discussions with music managers and marketers. | | |
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| what we're into |
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| Music | Media | | | | | | Suggest a link  | | "REDEF is dedicated to my mother, who nurtured and encouraged my interest in everything and slightly regrets the day she taught me to always ask 'why?'" |
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