Philip Brian Harper wrote a book called "Are We Not Men?" which deals with the politics of homophobia, masculinity, and black music.
mostly it talks about motown, but it gets into disco and post-disco dance music, too, including Sylvester. It's a good book and I suspect one could write an amended chapter on house and techno. ben On Wed, 6 Mar 2002, Jones, George wrote: > I can't remember a time when Techno was THE accepted black music among the > population in tha D. From the time I moved to Detroit in '85 until I > graduated high school, it was all about hip hop. Now, Techno and house were > acceptable, meaning, one could listen to either without getting stares or > someone questioning your sexual/ethnic preference. Why it did it stop being > acceptable? Possibly due to it being embraced by the gay community in > detroit. How could house or techno possibly good if a gay guy was vibin' to > the same song as some hard thug? That's the only reason I can think of. I > remember spinning in 1991 to crowds at colleges and house parties that had a > good percentage of gays there. If any of you on the list might remember, > back then, it almost seemed as though gays were the only folks that could > appreciate good house or techno. > > That alone is enough to turn the black male population of Detroit away from > Techno and House. > > When the brotha's stop listening to it, the sista's will too. To it's > credit, there were still some tracks that stayed in rotation on the radio > mix shows and in the clubs like "Clear", "Pacific 0101", "Blow Your House > Down", "Basstronic", "Gypsy Woman", "Plastic Dreams", and "Taxicab". > > I'm probably wrong. I hope I'm wrong. > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Wednesday, March 06, 2002 2:03 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [313] Regarding Business > > > > Ok sorry but I'm kinda going backward in reading my mail today - > After reading reading all the opinions on this very real very serious > problem several questions and other points come up in my head - > > Let me begin with this question - why has hip-hop replaced techno/house as > the accepted black music form among black people? > I've read countless times that techno was THE music for young black people > (at least in Detroit) until hip-hop came along - so I have to ask what > is/was it about techno that, apparently, makes it not relevant to the > greater black culture? And I'll ask the same about hip-hop? What was/is it > about hip-hop that pulled a previously techno listening audience toward it > and away from techno? > > >From there I have to bring up an article that I think was in Newsweek , and > another magazine which title slips my mind, about the latest Grammy Awards, > the drop in CD sales and rise in "pirated" music (Audiogalaxy, napster, > etc.). The author was making the point that the connection between the drop > in CD sales and the high rotation of music from the shallow well of pop on > radio and MTV has caused people to "turn off" and search out their own > music tastes. Where am I going with this.... > > >the music business is run by a bunch of culturally biased and/or ignorant > people who have definite ideas about the > >value of the music based on their racist crap. > > yeah, are they ignorant and completely clueless as to what people REALLY > want? - all they know is this current system makes them loads of money - > I'm talking about record and radio execs. So why is it that people listen > MORE and stayed tuned to one station MORE when less diversity is played??? > I've seen more and more essays on this topic in local and national press - > about how absolutely awful the current state of the recording and > broadcasting industry is and how people are getting more and more fed up > with the Brittanys and NYSYCs. But something doesn't jive with me when I > think about how people seem to tune in more often and stay tuned to music > that they don't like?! > Can anyone explain these things to me? > > MEK > > > > > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > com To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], > [EMAIL PROTECTED], [email protected] > cc: > > 03/06/02 09:42 AM Subject: Re: [313] Regarding > Business > > > > > > > > > Uh No the DEMF was not a Detroit clique thing and even if it was it is > called > the DETROIT ELECTRONIC MUSIC FESTIVAL. > > you must be a person living outside of the us or in the us in a white skin > and ignorant of history. > > UR and Atkins are pioneers of this music and get no respect from the > business > end. > > why should Elvis or Eminem make more money and get more credibility than > Ike > Turner or Redman??? > > Because in AMerica white people doing Black art is always seen as a > marvel....... > > Look at NYSYNC and the list goes on. Look at Black rock group Fishbone. Are > > you telling me they are good enough to get paid. > > > The point is this; the people who run the business are full of isms that > determine who gets the spotlight. > > No one is denying anyone their right to listen to what they want but don't > forget the history. > > I spoke with a Black rocker in NYC and he told me that many A & R men > didn't > know what to do with Black guys playing soulful rock music. > > The record executive behind Digable Planets told them they were not hard > translate "black enough" for hip-hop. > > So Juan is in the same position...... > > I don't have time to break this down anymore but Juan is not crying he's > simply commenting on the truth; the music business is run by a bunch of > culturally biased and/or ignorant people who have definite ideas about the > value of the music based on their racist crap. > > if anyone does not understand where I'm coming from I will make one more > post > I don't have a lot of time to keep repeating this tired story. > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > ====data general=========== ==www.umich.edu/~btausig=== [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
