I don’t read Ebony magazine regularly, but I’m buying a copy this month so I can read, “What Does Black Sound Like?,” an article I assume is about diverse music styles and genres among black artists.
Yesterday my brother told me about Miko Marks (click on music tab), a black country-singing woman featured in the article. Her songs sound more like traditional country than Rissi Palmer’s, and she’s been around longer. I’ve added her to my list of artists to interview and meet.
The word “diversity” has been sullied by liberals’ use of it as they obsessively focus on the color of people’s skin at the expense of what really matters, so I hesitate to use it. The connotation is a negative one for this political conservative. The kind of diversity I dig goes deeper than mere skin color. I’m talking about diverse ideas and in this case, diverse musical styles. As many of you already know, black American music extends beyond R&B and rap. I remember when the black hard rock/metal band Living Colour hit the scene back in the 80s. I was crazy about lead singer Corey Glover, thrashing around on stage with multicolored extensions in his hair. The memories.
I admit, however, I was a little shocked when I found out actor Will Smith’s wife Jada fronted a “nu metal” band called Wicked Wisdom. Wild. I don’t like the sound, but I applaud Jada for pushing boundaries and exploring the terrain.
I’ll write more about diversity among black artists on and off the blog. If you know or have heard about black artists in “non-black” music genres (or just want to respond to this post), please leave their names in the comment section.
Rest easy, everybody.
Unrelated Update: It makes no sense that I’m this excited about seeing “Prince Caspian” this afternoon.
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Check out the rock band Alston. They have a great sound.
In my music collection, “black” sounds like Jessye Norman, Kathleen Battle, and Leontyne Price. And Nina Simone, dear heavens. Nina Simone!
I hear AWB’s pretty good ;-P
Nicole C. Mullen.
I havent heard much about black artists in “non-black” music genres except for folks like Charlie Pride. That’s why I read Your blog, to find these things out!!!
Thanks for the tip La Shawn. That cover story sounds really interesting and I hope it’s done right.
I’m biracial and I like all kinds of music. My favorites are the bands that mix genres (go figure). I mostly listen to a lot of indie rock, post-rock, emo, punk, experimental and world music.
Here are my band suggestions:
1. NoonDaySun (but I already told you about them)
2. Superchic[k] – they have a black drummer and he has a side project called Starlit Platoon.
3. Flobots – they’re rap with a folkish viola. I just found them. “Stand Up” is a great song.
There are some more but I can’t think of them now. I recommend you check out http://www.AfroPunk.com because that site is devoted to blacks in rock music. They even have a couple films on the subject. I found the band Suffrajett from there. They’re nice.
Great post!
Tracy Chapman – a folk singer.
Jude encourages the believers of his time to “defend” God’s unchanging truth, we’re also encouraged to
“Prove all things” “rightly dividing the word of truth”. The debate between Mr. Don Preston and Mr. Melvin Jones(Pulpit-Pimps) is as biblical as it gets, when there’re disagreements between believes. Every believer should be thrilled
that Godly men have chosen not act as the world, but as men of God trying man’s eschatology views by the Word of God.
Don K. Preston in an Up Coming Radio Debate
You can listen to the debate live, on http://www.Covenantradio.com on May the 22, at 7 Eastern time, 6 Central time.
Depending on the time available, there may be two propositions.
Don K. Preston will affirm the following.
Resolved: The Bible teaches that the Second (i.e. final) coming of Christ occurred at the time of the fall of Jerusalem in A. D. 70.
Don K. Preston: affirm
Melvin Jones: Deny.
If time permits, Mr. Jones will also have an affirmative, which will be:
Resolved: The Bible teaches that due to Jewish unbelief and rejection of Jesus in the first century, the Davidic Kingdom was postponed until the Second Coming of Christ which will occur at the end of the current Christian age.
Melvin Jones: Affirm
Challenge your eschatology, because it’s not what we believe, it’s what The bible affirms is Truth……..
kudos for Nina Simone and Tracey Chapman posts!
Of course Jimi Hendrix, Miles, Louie, etc… shouldn’t be skipped. .. .
Mother’s Finest – Pioneers of Funk/Metal in the early ’70’s and still active. Have maintained solid fan base despite never getting radio airplay.
King’s X – Fronted by Doug Pinnick – early albums infused C.S. Lewis in lyrics. Have since veered away from this, but still active and creative.
Gregg Wright – Great black rock guitarist who was lead guitarist on the Jackson’s Victory tour but couldn’t get a record deal because his music is more rock oriented. Much like Hendrix. Still active in blues/rock today.
To name but a few…
Darius Rucker of Hootie & the Blowfish just released a single on country radio.
I love his voice – it’s great for country music.
Check out The Carolina Chocolate Drops, an exciting young string band – part of the growing number of black musicians determined to reclaim the black heritage in American/Appalachian music, and its influence on modern bluegrass, folk and old time string band music.
Also investigate the Black Banjo Gathering and Otis Taylor’s new CD, Recapturing The Banjo.
Does anyone, beside me, remember Kitty White? She was an island singer from the fities and,may be, very early sixties.Had a brief stint in Hollywood singing for the Mike Hammer movie, “Kiss Me Deadly” and that was her fifteen minutes of international fame.
In truth, she was one of the greater exponents of classical English balladry whom I have ever heard (and I hold a large collection of both folk and folk rock).
Her rendition of “The Three Ravens”, for example, is of the most chilliing and,simultaneously, renditions of the number that anyone of us will ever be fortunate enough to hear.
Miss White definitely deserves a first class revival. Meanwhile her old disks shouldn’t be at all expensive, if the reader is able to find them in some vintage collectables store.
There was a metal band in the 80’s call “Sound Barrier”. I only heard a couple songs, but what I heard was awesome.
Gregg, “Baby Love” by Mother’s Finest is a great song.
You can’t leave out the Bus Boys. I saw them twice with my girlfriend (now my wife) – once in Columbus (they opened for the Stray Cats) and once in Cleveland (they opened for Eddie Murphy). I think we were the only ones in Cleveland that wanted to hear less from Eddie and more Minimum Wage Rock n Roll.
I always thought Corey Glover was adorable, too.
There are a lot of musicians/singers who have been part of genres not limited to black performers–the Mills Brothers, the Ink Spots, Nat King Cole, the Platters, Chuck Berry. They definitely fit into the idea that the “sound of black” is diverse. But I’d also say that these artists brought their own traditions and training with them (e.g., singing in gospel choirs or playing in blues clubs). So in that sense, they expanded the sound of the genres they were part of.
Go back about forty years. There was a left-handed dude named Jimi that rocked as hard as anyone I’ve ever seen or heard. Listen to the studio version of “Red House” if you ever want to hear the ultimate marriage of blues and rock. Awesome!
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