Gaga Tweets: Change in the industry begins now

[edengowon 9,644]

Just now, joannesrats said:

No, this isn't true. The problem is when people act like one group is above another. While there are psychological studies showing other-group bias, we need to recognize that seeing someone's skin color, gender, sexuality, etc. isn't the problem - it's how they respond to it. 

i disagree. i think the issue is specifically calling out race in any way. we need to celebrate and support black creators who ARE inherently at a disadvantage within the industry. but specifically calling something out as 'black music', has a series of possible intentions, none of which are clear. imagine if i said something like 'jewish music' or 'gay music' when referring to something by an israeli or homosexual artist. it doesn't sound right because in my opinion, we need to separate race from things entirely. as i said, it's important to call out specific races and racial groups when you're calling out the problem, but by using the word in the solution, you're still specifying it by race instead of normalising it. a statement like 'music is music', immediately includes black music in all music, but by saying 'black music is all music', you're making 'black music' look like something that is separate, something that automatically isn't included.

[JINNOCIDE 3,692]

and no, stopping using terms like "black" and "white" people to instead use "all" is not gonna work. it just silences an already silenced community

[RenegAde 16,188]

2 minutes ago, NFRockwell said:

This goes for Latino based music too! The smash hit Whenever Wherever would not exist without the history between Native American, Latin, and African ethnic groups. 

Whenever wherever was originally meant for lauryn hill but shakira got it in the end . I wonder how ms hill would have sounded on it.

[reysus 1,064]

i dont think saying "all music is black music" only means that every style of music is influenced by black artists (although ofc much of modern western music certainly has been) but rather that black artists should not be pigeonholed into the 'urban'/rap/hip hop category. kinda like what the ROM songwriter tweeted a few weeks ago

[beaublue 3,873]

7 minutes ago, Supersonic said:

Btw, this is what is actually taught in music school in text books:

I just took World Music Appreciation last semester & this image starts from one certain root & leaves out all of the classical etc. contributions made before this. Anyone can make a tree like this originating from any origin & tying into every modern pice of music today. Before there was mass migration & forced migration from Africa to America there were no influences into each other & then it started. But if we wanna mark where music began? A literal reading of the prehistory of music begins about 40,000 years ago, with Europe on the brink of a momentous change. The region was then home to the Neanderthals, who had inherited it from earlier human species stretching back a million years.

[edengowon 9,644]

1 minute ago, JINNOCIDE said:

and no, stopping using terms like "black" and "white" people to instead use "all" is not gonna work. it just silences an already silenced community

i mentioned this previously. use terms like 'black' and 'white' when you're calling the issue out and raising it as an issue. but if, after you've called it out, you continue to separate things by race, you keep encouraging the idea that it's something odd and different to start with. by separating things by race, after you've raised the issue, you're continuing to 'other' the silenced community. by saying 'black music' = 'all music', you're making it look like 'black music' is something different and automatically excluded.

instead of creating different black labels and black categories, we need to include black people and artists in the existing ones. ie. instead of 'black music', we need 'music' that also includes black people. 

[Franz Ferdinand 2,359]

12 minutes ago, Autumn said:

if we want to break down racial barriers, we need to stop using terms like 'black' and 'white' and use more terms like 'everyone' and 'together'.

This whole "I don't see color" act is not it. 

[Arizona Sky 10,913]

13 minutes ago, Autumn said:

i agree with the sentiment but not the way it's been said. "all music is black music", whilst i agree somewhat, i don't think it's a very sensible way to say it. using that kind of perspective is just going to create more division and make more hateful people angry. if we want to break down racial barriers, we need to stop using terms like 'black' and 'white' and use more terms like 'everyone' and 'together'. by its very nature, separating things by race will automatically 'other' it and make it seem like something odd or unusual. a better wording would be 'music is for everyone' or 'all music was influenced by black music' or 'black music is everywhere' or something like that. the statement just isn't worded the best.

use words like 'black' and 'white' in calling out the problem, not solving it.

Couldn’t have said it any better myself.

I do understand that Black artists have influenced the music landscape as it is today, BUT so have other races, and saying “all” music is Black diminishes those other races.

[rasclautmangos 2,740]

I'd love for Gaga to work with more black producers. The Haus of Gaga could also use a little more melanin as well.

[LM 4,032]

Sorry, but that sentence is just not correct. How is traditional chinese music black? How is Beethoven black music? Music is much more than what you see on BB hot 100. 

[edengowon 9,644]

1 minute ago, Franz Ferdinand said:

This whole "I don't see color" act is not it. 

it isn't 'i don't see color'. the point is, that the way to stop racial exclusion and racial discrimination, we need to stop making black people and black things seem different to everything else. we need to see the issues, and call them out, but by using black labels in the solution, we're still excluding instead of including.

[Supersonic 49,376]

3 minutes ago, lestyoufall said:

I just took World Music Appreciation last semester & this image starts from one certain root & leaves out all of the classical etc. contributions made before this. Anyone can make a tree like this originating from any origin & tying into every modern pice of music today. Before there was mass migration & forced migration from Africa to America there were no influences into each other & then it started. Anyway

Yeah because this is a specific diagram to show the influence and impact African music and Black musicians have had on modern music. Nobody is questioning the influence of classical music from Europe, we been knew. It's prominently known, even by people who don't take an interest in music, while the influence of Black musicians constantly gets called into question and there is barely any light shed on this in a bigger scope of things.

[edengowon 9,644]

1 minute ago, Arizona Sky said:

Couldn’t have said it any better myself.

I do understand that Black artists have influenced the music landscape as it is today, BUT so have other races, and saying “all” music is Black diminishes those other races.

i agree. traditional inuit music, traditional asian music, traditional indian music, classical european music, native american music and a whole variety of other genres developed independently.

the sentiment of 'black people need more visibility' is so important and really necessary for the progression of society, but this statement makes far too many generalisations.

[Morphine Prince 96,289]

23 minutes ago, Autumn said:

i agree with everything except for the last statement. some people simply do not like the style or sound of hip hop music. within the industry and within certain organisations like the academy? yes it is racist. but your statement is too general to specify that.

My statement was not general at all. I said in prestigious music circles. 

But actually now that you mention it, yes, some people reject sounds that are “urban” or “black” because of racial bias as well. 

[INNA 3,550]

8 minutes ago, lestyoufall said:

I could delve into the endless research & studies based on how people react to stressful situations through comedy to better cope with it but I doubt it’ll do much good. Maybe don’t cut down on people’s reactions & worry about your own? Can you do that at least?

You can do some research if you feel up to it, I like to read. I will read it, I promise. Not trying to tear anyone down, but to try and bring the focus back to an important point that should be talked about. 
My opinion, or anyone’s, is not the be and end all to anything. And to be fair, the person I quoted didn’t have anything to say about the point that was made aside from a Gaga joke. Which is fine, they are allowed to cope how they feel is best.

And I see now that I had the same condescending attitude that you’ve picked up in your reply to me, vaguely insulting the intelligence, which is cool. Negativity is infectious and I should have thought before posting my little gripe. We could all learn how to react to things better I think. No tea, no shade, just pointing some things out that I feel are valid. I’m not mad at anyone. I know that you guys are all awesome people outside of the internet. Thanks for reading and talking with me.

@Supersonic thank you for finding the cool flow chart for us, it’s mind blowing how many genres are derived from Black music.