Gaga Tweets: Change in the industry begins now

[Knife 6,869]

"All music is black music," may be a weird statement to see for non-Americans I suppose, but the modern landscape of American pop music has been undeniably shaped by the black originators of the past, many of whom were overlooked in their time in favor of white artists who appropriated the styles of music they created. We still see this even today.

[Franz Ferdinand 2,359]

15 minutes ago, Bradley said:

As much as I support the sentiment, what does it mean 'all music is black music?' Like K-POP is black music too? What about oriental music? I think she's throwing out a blanket statement here... educate me if I'm wrong.

It's just very hard to find any kind of popular music that has not been influenced by Black music in some way or another. Almost everything in popular music (funk, disco, dance, rock, etc.) is descended from blues, which is a very specifically Black genre, descended from African spirituals, work songs, and African, particularly West African folk music. So, to answer your question about K-pop, in a way, yes. K-pop has traditional Korean music influence, but it's main stylistic origins are in dance pop with hip hop edges. And although we associate dance pop with a lot of white acts, its stylistic origins are disco and soul (both also descended from blues anyway).

That's not to say popular music doesn't have influence from other, non-Black genres, but it does owe a big debt of gratitude to them. I think Black artists find this particularly aggravating, that Black music and Black-descended music is easily the most consumed in the world, when the music industry itself is plagued by deeply rooted systemic racism.

[Guest]

27 minutes ago, good said:

Maybe consider reacting seriously to serious matters instead of making some kind of witty stan joke, it sounds tired and tone deaf when talking about real life things.

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?

[joannesrats 26]

3 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.

I think what they're saying is that they don't have any actual critique of the genre and they just blindly hate it. Like I don't like country music but I can understand and appreciate it when it is done well, while some people disregard it completely and think that it's all done poorly just because it can come from black artists. They don't give it a chance because of who it comes from. 

[Lord Temptation 11,209]

Kween Mama made several points whew enlightened AND gifted we love to see it 

[joannesrats 26]

4 minutes ago, Knife said:

"All music is black music," may be a weird statement to see for non-Americans I suppose, but the modern landscape of American pop music has been undeniably shaped by the black originators of the past, many of whom were overlooked in their time in favor of white artists who appropriated the styles of music they created. We still see this even today.

Honestly, pop music across the world has been influenced by black, American musicians. It's impossible to not be under that influence. 

[LOVEDRUG 10,649]

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.

[LOVEDRUG 10,649]

1 minute ago, joannesrats said:

I think what they're saying is that they don't have any actual critique of the genre and they just blindly hate it. Like I don't like country music but I can understand and appreciate it when it is done well, while some people disregard it completely and think that it's all done poorly just because it can come from black artists. They don't give it a chance because of who it comes from. 

i agree, i guess. but if your statement needs such explanation, your intention has been diluted. i don't know, it just wasn't the clearest wording.

[joannesrats 26]

Just now, 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'.

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. 

[NFRatwell 23,290]

It’s obvious that modern music is 100% influenced by black artists. If anyone can tell me a song’s genre on the top 10 that isn’t directly affected by black artists please let me know. But obviously that term “all music is black music” is a huge blanket statement and leaves out lots of music genres that are traditional to specific ethnic groups... and not to mention the genres that are specifically created by a mix of ethnic and racial groups. 
 

But no one should be stupid enough to believe it in the first place, and it’s a huge wake up call to those in more popular music markets that the music they listen to (whether that be RnB, Rock, House, Pop, K-pop, etc) is thanks to black artists. basically, don’t not know basic history. Especially in the US it seems like every 20 years or so black artists create or help create new genres and the older ones get claimed as “white” music. We’ve seen it with country, jazz, blues, rock, house/disco... For example I know country music wasn’t a direct result of white people. The genre is a result of lots of different cultures pulling in their musical backgrounds and making the genre that we all know. And yet anytime people hear the genre it’s referred to as a redneck genre because it’s been essentially white washed.
 

So yeah, maybe we need that message as a reminder to stop white washing genres and give credit to where credit is due. 
 

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. 

[joannesrats 26]

Just now, Autumn said:

i agree, i guess. but if your statement needs such explanation, your intention has been diluted. i don't know, it just wasn't the clearest wording.

If the majority of people in this thread understand the statement "all music is black music" then the statement works. A statement that requires a quick explanation for a few people does not make it a diluted intention - it just means that some people aren't as well versed in the issues. 

[gagaweekly 298]

Ok so westerners used "orientalism" and now they want to say asian music is black music. (even though that not what the organization wanted to imply for sure). Sure, black music influenced modern asian music (every modern music in fact) but still asian music has its own context. Also there were there were literally no impact of black culture in Asia and music always existed.

Just because something influenced another thing, it don't mean that something owns another thing or something is another thing. And thats not gaga or the organization wanted to say, and who claming that are not helping them at all.

Watch white supremist supremacist say they own every music because they are having control in money in music industry. Just use that quote in the context of black right movement and dont use the quote like it is fact.

[JINNOCIDE 3,820]

1 minute 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.

yes but to pay attention to that "generalness" (idk a better term skksks sorry) is not important

it's like when LGBT people are talking about bad experiences with straight people and their fear and someone jumps out of nowhere to say "oh but not all straight people!!!!!" and then the whole topic of discussion is about "how not all straight people are LGBTphobic"

we KNOW not all people are LGBTphobics

we KNOW not all people are racists

we KNOW not all men are hateful towards women

but thats not the point!!!!

the point is to raise awareness so people can be a little bit more respectful towards people that are different (which really is not that hard...)

[Guest]

I don’t think this is the best statement, sorry. In America, yes black people have been very influential in certain genres but the same can be said about white people. Especially when we take into consideration other countries contributions. So I just think this is a confusing grand stand of a statement that is clearly going to divide people. When you outwardly claim one person or race is responsible for everything it just won’t work because it disregards all the innovation made by others which is abundant. I don’t see the point in constantly trying to claim one race or the other has done more. What’s the use in that? Honestly

[Supersonic 49,376]

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