VIBE magazine: December 2005
So now that its Winter break, i have time to catch up with reading the magazines i'm subscribed to.
So I open up my VIBE magazine (with Luther Vandross on the cover) and get to page142. This article spoke to me on so many different levels. To put it easily, it was about black people and their relation to punk rock music and this dude James Spooner. He made a indie film AFRO-PUNK and the article was talking about his relationship with punk rock as a black man and all the racism he gets from it (from traditional punk rock kids and black people who don't get it). The article is a few pages long, so I wont type out the whole thing. But i think everyone should read it. VIBE magazine December 2005 issue. It perfectly describes how I feel about my relationship with rock music.
But then I get to this little column in the James Spooner article. I WILL type this out because it is 100% me. Hopefully, you will take the time out of your schedules to click on the lj cut
Oh, and you don't have to be black to identify with the article.
Come as you are
If you're black and you love rock, put your hands up!
There are so many different ways to be who you are as a person of African descent in America, but for some reason, being a sista or brotha who digs on rock aint a good look. Let's face it: If you're black and into rock in 2005, you're labeled a sellout or a wannabe. Blackless, even.
Which is fine if you're a grown-ass dude or woman, because you probably don't care. You understand who founded this rock'n'roll thing, and you're comfortable with who you are. You grew up on Hendrix and Sly & The Family Stone, but you also mess with a little Metallica (Master of Puppets) and a little bit of Black Sabbath (Master of Reality). Radio in the '70s was crazy diverse: You could hear Steely Dan or the Steve Miller Band or Led Zeppelin alongside Stanley Clarke, James Brown, and Kool & The Gang. This is the kind of radio that folks in bands like Bad Brains and Living Colour came up on.
Then hip hop came along in the '80s, and it was so damn powerful because it incorporated a bit of everything. Biz Markie would have the Steve Miller Band all up in his mix ("Nobody Beats the Biz" sampled Miller's "Fly Like an Eagle"), and it was funky in a brand new way. Then radio suddenly became very genre specific. If a song had too many guitars, it wouldn't make it onto "urban" radio (unless you were Run-DMC, who obviously make us all walk their way so viciously).
Colored peeps, can't you see: We have been forced to define ourselves - culturally - based on the organizing principals of radio stations and record stores. Because cash rules everything around us. It's all marketing and the ability to spoon-feed you what they tell you you want. Black people, Ive got something to share: Y'all are the most creative people on Earth, but y'all are even better at consuming. Y'all need to pay tribute to history instead. Remember, they cant sell you something you already own.
To all my young black kids in the rock'n'roll struggle who have to deal with the haters in the 'hood and the palefaces in the white hoods in the woods (and cyberspace), please understand:
Before Ike beat Tina, the man was busy pioneering rock'n'roll (and while Ike was beating Tina, she somehow found the strength to pioneer rock'n'roll, too).
Public Enemy was the first def metal band.
DMX is one of the greatest rock'n'roll front men ever.
In 2005, TV on the Radio are on the TV and the radio (so tune in).
Missy Elliott, you cant even label the sister, but she's rock'n'roll.
When you look in the mirror expect to see a black rock star - corny as that sounds. When you look into your own eyes, you should recall the heritage, the legacy, the suffering, and the love that went into bringing you here. Bloody, cotton-picking hands would go on to create the most resonant, beautiful tones that you'll ever feel. Bloody fingers and fretting chords bellowing out to our gods.
It was all we had. You are a continuation of that. Recognize. Can't nobody take that away from you, baby. Feel free to bang you head - even with that wack do-rag on.
- Sacha Jenkins
* I apologize to anyone who is offended. If you are offended, then GET OFF MY FRIENDS LIST. There is no need to be offended, it really IS NOT that serious
So I open up my VIBE magazine (with Luther Vandross on the cover) and get to page142. This article spoke to me on so many different levels. To put it easily, it was about black people and their relation to punk rock music and this dude James Spooner. He made a indie film AFRO-PUNK and the article was talking about his relationship with punk rock as a black man and all the racism he gets from it (from traditional punk rock kids and black people who don't get it). The article is a few pages long, so I wont type out the whole thing. But i think everyone should read it. VIBE magazine December 2005 issue. It perfectly describes how I feel about my relationship with rock music.
But then I get to this little column in the James Spooner article. I WILL type this out because it is 100% me. Hopefully, you will take the time out of your schedules to click on the lj cut
Oh, and you don't have to be black to identify with the article.
Come as you are
If you're black and you love rock, put your hands up!
There are so many different ways to be who you are as a person of African descent in America, but for some reason, being a sista or brotha who digs on rock aint a good look. Let's face it: If you're black and into rock in 2005, you're labeled a sellout or a wannabe. Blackless, even.
Which is fine if you're a grown-ass dude or woman, because you probably don't care. You understand who founded this rock'n'roll thing, and you're comfortable with who you are. You grew up on Hendrix and Sly & The Family Stone, but you also mess with a little Metallica (Master of Puppets) and a little bit of Black Sabbath (Master of Reality). Radio in the '70s was crazy diverse: You could hear Steely Dan or the Steve Miller Band or Led Zeppelin alongside Stanley Clarke, James Brown, and Kool & The Gang. This is the kind of radio that folks in bands like Bad Brains and Living Colour came up on.
Then hip hop came along in the '80s, and it was so damn powerful because it incorporated a bit of everything. Biz Markie would have the Steve Miller Band all up in his mix ("Nobody Beats the Biz" sampled Miller's "Fly Like an Eagle"), and it was funky in a brand new way. Then radio suddenly became very genre specific. If a song had too many guitars, it wouldn't make it onto "urban" radio (unless you were Run-DMC, who obviously make us all walk their way so viciously).
Colored peeps, can't you see: We have been forced to define ourselves - culturally - based on the organizing principals of radio stations and record stores. Because cash rules everything around us. It's all marketing and the ability to spoon-feed you what they tell you you want. Black people, Ive got something to share: Y'all are the most creative people on Earth, but y'all are even better at consuming. Y'all need to pay tribute to history instead. Remember, they cant sell you something you already own.
To all my young black kids in the rock'n'roll struggle who have to deal with the haters in the 'hood and the palefaces in the white hoods in the woods (and cyberspace), please understand:
Before Ike beat Tina, the man was busy pioneering rock'n'roll (and while Ike was beating Tina, she somehow found the strength to pioneer rock'n'roll, too).
Public Enemy was the first def metal band.
DMX is one of the greatest rock'n'roll front men ever.
In 2005, TV on the Radio are on the TV and the radio (so tune in).
Missy Elliott, you cant even label the sister, but she's rock'n'roll.
When you look in the mirror expect to see a black rock star - corny as that sounds. When you look into your own eyes, you should recall the heritage, the legacy, the suffering, and the love that went into bringing you here. Bloody, cotton-picking hands would go on to create the most resonant, beautiful tones that you'll ever feel. Bloody fingers and fretting chords bellowing out to our gods.
It was all we had. You are a continuation of that. Recognize. Can't nobody take that away from you, baby. Feel free to bang you head - even with that wack do-rag on.
- Sacha Jenkins
* I apologize to anyone who is offended. If you are offended, then GET OFF MY FRIENDS LIST. There is no need to be offended, it really IS NOT that serious