Re: [microsound] racial divide

[John von Seggern <johnvon@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

David Fodel wrote:

> Interestingly both Afrika Bambata (sp?) and Juan Atkins attribute much of
> their inspiration to Kraftwerk, who are very decidedly non-black.

This is true -- and of course you could go back even farther and argue that
Kraftwerk's synthetic beats took their patterns from earlier forms of black
American music, which explains in part why they appealed so much to black
audiences on their early US tours.

All music is hybridized in the end, but I think this is still an important
point to make because of the fact that so many Americans think of house and
techno as white European musics, just like Elvis gets all the credit for
"inventing" rock'n'roll. This is only the latest in a long history of white
artists adopting black forms and then being given the credit for originating
them.

Sure, it's a small world and everything is all mixed up together, but credit
should be given where credit is due...I think it was Juan Atkins who recently
bemoaned the fact (in an interview) that he has great difficulty reaching a
black American audience because the music which he is largely responsible for
defining is now perceived as white. I just think it would be a good thing if
more electronic music fans (particularly in the US) were aware of the black
origins of the music they like.


John

> > > Well I hope this wasn't a one-sided view.  Did he also discuss the lack
> > of
> > > white go-go DJ's or the lack of vietnamese latin pop DJ's?
> > >
> >
> > Well -- the issue looks somewhat different when you consider that it was
> > mostly
> > black DJs and producers in Detroit and Chicago that invented house and
> > techno
> > in the first place.
> >
> > Just like rock'n'roll, these musics have now been almost entirely
> > appropriated
> > by whites...
> >
> > John
> >
> >
> > --
> > John von Seggern
> > http://www.digitalcutuplounge.com

--
John von Seggern
http://www.digitalcutuplounge.com