The Black Artist Appreciation Thread

[katara]

This is a good song.

[zero]

apologies if this is a repeat - if not a repeat why the hell not? some ideas are truly timeless

[zero]

This thread is the equivalent of bragging to people about having black friends......

No it is not.

When I grew up in the 60's there was really a "thing" where you could prove your worth as an "equal rights" person or family by simply inviting a minority family to dinner. It did not matter if the dinner actually happened. What a crock of shit.

The whole disingenuous charade bothered me so much it still affects me to this day. I cringe when persons think they have earned the equality badge by doing some inane deed on social media. Racial equality awareness is SO MUCH MORE than that!

If you think that posting in this thread will give you some type of street cred for racial equality, go fuck yourself.

My contributions to this thread are offered with respect.

[BRoswell]

You know what's really cringey? Wagging your finger at people who are simply expressing appreciation for artists they enjoy and pretending that makes you any better. This thread isn't meant to be the cure for what's happening in our world right now. It's about paying respect to some amazing artists and maybe opening some eyes and ears to what's out there. Chill the fuck out.

[thelastdisciple]

A place to say, “look, I listen to black artists.” This section of the board has dozens (hundreds?) of threads for all sorts of white artists, both prominent and incredibly niche, but there are surprisingly few threads for black artists.

Someone else brought up the comparison to “Black History Month,” which is actually a great metaphor because it comes with its own complications (https://www.mcall.com/opinion/mc-opi...outputType=amp). The argument boils down to “if we have one month set aside to study black history, we can ignore it for the rest of the year.”


If we agree that this board should be celebrating more diverse music, then we should be doing that with designated threads of the artists we want to talk about. If someone’s favorite musician is Nina Simone or favorite band is Living Colour, then make a post that puts them on the landing page. Make those artists visible.

You're right, there absolutely should be more threads discussing music from various black artists, however is this not just a symptom of there already being so many damn white people making music to begin with? Especially so If the majority of folks on this board didn't listen to genres that were predominantly black to begin with, OF COURSE there would be fewer threads/topics.

So that's not exactly a surprise, since some of us do happen to listen to a wide variety of stuff and maybe we're not the type to always be making threads something like this would make sense to post in.

The only crime i see from this is that it came too late.

As far as Black History Month, I'm sure there are people with that mindset but the recognition shouldn't begin and end there at all. Hell no.

People unfortunately have such shorter attention spans with each passing day, that some need a national day or month of XYZ shouldn't really be all that surprising either.

[bobbie solo]

apologies if this is a repeat - if not a repeat why the hell not? some ideas are truly timeless

[Leviathant]

This thread is the equivalent of bragging to people about having black friends......

Post in this thread again and I'll put you on mute for a week. Read the fuckin' room, Bill.

I'm going to ask y'all to skip the meta-discussion and stick to sharing music. Thanks.

[MrLobster]

[piggy]

[elevenism]

that whole ALBUM is fucking incredible, although ICB may be the highlight for me. When I was a kid, my father and I were watching a Top 100 albums ever made thing on MTV or VH1.
WGO came in third, and I said "hmmm, I don't know that one."

my dad promptly loaded me up in the car and drove me to a used record and tape store, and bought me the album, and it promptly became one of MY favorite albums of all time.

ONE thing I love about it is that it's sort of one cohesive piece of music: when you listen to the whole thing, all the songs run into each other.

[elevenism]

Here's one that might surprise you guys. This is the first tape I had of my own: santa brought it for me the year it came out. Before will Smith was "big willie," and a acting juggernaut, he and Jeff were actual early hip hop innovators. I think they deserve a LOT more respect in the history of hip hop than they are given, and I think they'd be GETTING said respect, if Will hadn't gone on to be a movie star.

[richardp]

FEVER 333 has always been on my radar but the mid-00s emo choruses kind of put me off of them for the longest time, cause musically that's just not my thing. But I watched this this morning and was blown away. I'm all in. The vocalists speeches in between tracks are really fucking great.

[MrLobster]

Here's one that might surprise you guys. This is the first tape I had of my own: santa brought it for me the year it came out.

I, too, had the cassette and almost worn it out (instead, it got eaten by a tape player). While I think 99% of the album holds up, the homophobic stuff in the live track was ignorant then and still is now. I actually took the effort a few years ago to pick up an original vinyl edition (both the cassette and iTunes download are slightly different, the cassette due to the time length duration and I suspect the iTunes download is the CD version).

[zero]

Went on a vacation in the 70's and somehow forgot to bring along any music except for the Innervisions album. Radio reception was crap during the day, so we listened to Stevie all week. I had all the lyrics memorized! This version of LFTC has an interesting intro:

[Helpmeiaminhell (is now in hell)]

This is my last post on this thread before it turns into a dumpster fire. The debate over the whole 'black artist appreciation thread' is not the same as people arguing over black lives matter vs all lives matter....Black lives matter is about fighting for equality and fighting against a system that oppresses them....I support that movement.....Now here is my issue with this thread. The "black artists appreciation" thread is almost implying that black artists do not get the respect and appreciation they deserve and that is where it goes off the rails because black artists do get lots of love and support from all over the world. Hip hop has completely dominated the musical landscape for the last 15-20 plus years. If anything, music is the one part of the spectrum where minorities can thrive in without being pushed down by whitey....So this thread would work if black artists got no appreciation but that isn't the case....An "appreciation thread" works if you are discussing an artist/artists who do not get the respect they deserve....Case in point: We need a Sonic Youth appreciation thread because that band doesnt get the respect they deserve for putting indie music on the map. Or we need a Justin Broadrock appreciation thread because he doesn't get the respect he deserves etc.....Thusly, that concludes my thesis

[elevenism]

I, too, had the cassette and almost worn it out (instead, it got eaten by a tape player). While I think 99% of the album holds up, the homophobic stuff in the live track was ignorant then and still is now. I actually took the effort a few years ago to pick up an original vinyl edition (both the cassette and iTunes download are slightly different, the cassette due to the time length duration and I suspect the iTunes download is the CD version).

I was like, seven or eight, and I'm not sure I knew what homosexuality was, then, so I don't remember what you mean, but I believe you.
But, you know, hip hop is full of homophobia. That's part of why I love it when Tyler the Creator spits things like "I don't cop chains, I cop houses, and fill 'em with some Leo Di Caps and Cole Sprouses." AND, the (ostensibly) full 10 on the Kinsey scale straight A$AP Rocky is on the track with him, and several other tracks. I THINK it will turn around eventually. In fact, it's slowly turning around NOW, ironically, in no small part due to the efforts of former boogeymen of LGBT folks everywhere, Frank Ocean and Tyler.

Anyway, What I DO remember is the "transformer scratch" on the live track.

Jeff is a fucking amazing DJ who continued to hone his craft; I caught him at a couple Massives (as in "raves,) in like 2000ish. Fucking surreal, seeing him throw down at like 2am, in front of a few thousand people in a field outside of dallas.

[marodi]

[Leviathant]

This is my last post on this thread before it turns into a dumpster fire.

I fucken told you dude.

[MrLobster]

Jeff is a fucking amazing DJ who continued to hone his craft; I caught him at a couple Massives (as in "raves,) in like 2000ish. Fucking surreal, seeing him throw down at like 2am, in front of a few thousand people in a field outside of dallas.

I'm so glad he pulled through his COVID...

His Instagram is lively.

[thefragile_jake]

[piggy]

[richardp]

This is my last post on this thread before it turns into a dumpster fire. The debate over the whole 'black artist appreciation thread' is not the same as people arguing over black lives matter vs all lives matter....Black lives matter is about fighting for equality and fighting against a system that oppresses them....I support that movement.....Now here is my issue with this thread. The "black artists appreciation" thread is almost implying that black artists do not get the respect and appreciation they deserve and that is where it goes off the rails because black artists do get lots of love and support from all over the world. Hip hop has completely dominated the musical landscape for the last 15-20 plus years. If anything, music is the one part of the spectrum where minorities can thrive in without being pushed down by whitey....So this thread would work if black artists got no appreciation but that isn't the case....An "appreciation thread" works if you are discussing an artist/artists who do not get the respect they deserve....Case in point: We need a Sonic Youth appreciation thread because that band doesnt get the respect they deserve for putting indie music on the map. Or we need a Justin Broadrock appreciation thread because he doesn't get the respect he deserves etc.....Thusly, that concludes my thesis

Are you completely unaware that there are various threads dedicated specifically to certain hip hop acts as well as being a Hip Hop catch all thread?

The only one here implying that black artists do not get the respect and appreciation they deserve, is you.

[Archive_Reports]

Are you completely unaware

Judging by the majority of their posts, yes.

[Leviathant]

One more time for the people in the back

I'm going to ask y'all to skip the meta-discussion and stick to sharing music. Thanks.

[MrLobster]

[theimage13]

Tosin Abasi of Animals as Leaders is one of the most under-appreciated guitarists of our generation, IMO. It seems like very few people outside of the guitar fanatics world seem to know who he is or have ever heard of the band. But holy shit. I still haven't seen AAL live, but I saw him on Generation Axe a few years ago and he just fucking blew me away. Had a chance to chat with him too, and he's an unbelievably chill guy.

[ltrandazzo]

[eversonpoe]

Tosin Abasi of Animals as Leaders is one of the most under-appreciated guitarists of our generation, IMO. It seems like very few people outside of the guitar fanatics world seem to know who he is or have ever heard of the band. But holy shit. I still haven't seen AAL live, but I saw him on Generation Axe a few years ago and he just fucking blew me away. Had a chance to chat with him too, and he's an unbelievably chill guy.

i was at this show in 2010 (wow, i forgot Darkest Hour played, haven't thought about them in years). i was SO UPSET when, during their second song, Tosin's rig stopped working, and they had to cut their set (very, very) short. but the first song and a half were incredible. it was also amazing to see them with a live drummer because they only had one album at the time and all the drumming was programmed.

[botley]

Fuck yes! I just discovered Tosin's music thanks to Rick Beato. What a brain-bendingly excellent guitarist.

[allegro]

I have an undying love for Anita Baker, R&B Queen: