I was browsing Hiphopgame.com today in the audio section where I go to find the good, the bad and the ugly of national, underground and regional hip hop/rap. Well I listened to an interview Jay-Z did with popular British DJ and hip hop everything figure Tim Westwood and I must say it was pretty good. They talked about the love of the game, performing, life...typical interview stuff. But one of the topics they touched on was the Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing arts in Pilton, England.
Jay has been selected to perform at this festival which has caused some controversy, as Glastonbury traditionally is a rock based gathering. Considering the fact that its a three day outdoor hippie fest of sorts, it doesn't come as a surprise to me that people feel Jay will be out of his element. Heres the actual interview its worth a listen:
http://nahright.com/news/2008/06/25/jay-z-interview-with-tim-westwood/
So Jay talks about listening to different types of music and how its like the old slave like mentality that wants to keep him out of the show. And to a point I agree. But being unfamiliar with the whole Glastonbury mess I did a quick Google search and came across some nme.com. The site had bunch of the news stories related to the controversy and there was a forum for commenting.
Mixed in between the typical ignorant, racist, culturally insensitive posts and the optimistic, was open-minded and embracing gem of a post. It said "Imagine if Radiohead was headlining a hip hop/rap festival... Do you think people would 'embrace' them? No chance. I'm not sure why he's 'taken aback' and acting so surprised."
Now me I literally listen to everything. So when I read Radiohead, I was like shoot, I have been at least a casual fan since I was a kid and they had those crazy animated videos. (Now I am a fan of Thom Yorke the lead singer, his album is called Eraser and its pretty nice and they make pretty entertaining music in general). But then I thought that post is right on.
But whose fault is it that there is such a controversy with the music?
This is not rhetorical. Please respond and I'll give my thoughts a little later on.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Jay-Z at Glastonbury
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1 comment:
Obviously it is Viacom's fault. But I won't get into that...
I have a lot to say about this subject matter, but I'll try to keep it brief.
This example stems from something that you touched on in your earlier posts. Segregation is never a good thing in this day and age. Everyone in any society or culture is able to learn something valuable from another culture. People are still trapped in the old ways of thinking that "this is what it was before and it belongs to my people and this can never change,"
And while people have a right to be upset about Jay-Z headlining a rock event they must realize that their respective social worlds are merging. And I pose this question in closing, "Is it alright that many Black people get upset when aspects of Black culture are assimilated into mainstream 'White' society?"
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