OK... I guess I kinda started all this mess in a way, and now I want to clarify what I was trying to say last night at 5:00 in the morning.... I was just basically defending my, as a white kid from the suburbs of detroit, right to give proper respect to black artists and their music.... I feel that I am able to understand and therefore sample, sing, cover in my band, or whatever I want, black music regardless of where I grew up, or what color I am.... I used numerous examples to prove my point that it goes both ways and that this music is an amalgamation of ideas that span a wide range of cultures (KDJ owes more to disco than to Kraftwerk I would say, so look at Van McCoy to Giorgio Moroder)... Actually if you were to read it again, you'd see that my post was actually about just forgetting about all this race talk and moving on, seeing music as music, and people as people...
I would like to apologize, however, for using "reverse racism" in the post, that was a stupid and ignorant move on my part... I hate that phrase, and always have, but after being awake for almost 24 hours, having a rough day at work, at maybe a little too much beer, It just sort of came out... And as far as the Subject, for those who had a problem with it, I was just saying that I was annoyed with the race and techno debate, and how it makes me feel to be a suburban white kid who is 23 years old, now living in Ann Arbor, who just loves-- I mean ***LOVES*** Techno and House... It is my life blood in many ways... I'm just tired of feeling like it is wrong for me to like certain musics, because someone feels I cannot understand it... I'm glad I said some things that I feel like I needed to say, But it was never intended to creat enemies, or drive wedges... I feel that I have the respect and the knowledge, that will allow me to sample certain music and not make it sound "silly, weak and tired" ... Maybe I'm an exception, or maybe I'm just another crazy suburban white kid stealing someone else's soul??? Who will tell me which is true??? I'll finish by telling a little story about something that happened to me yesterday... I work in a restaraunt right now and I was listening to the Designer Music CD back in the kitchen and one of my co-workers was really starting to dig it and started asking questions about it... Mind you, his Idea of techno is Fatboy Slim... So I started talking to him about it and about Detroit techno's origins, and stuff... Then I showed him the CD case, and he says "It's weird for me to think of a black guy making techno music"... Then I found myself telling him all this stuff about how it all came about through black people and he thought it was all really cool... And spreading the the knowledge always makes me feel good... The question is... Is this kid black or white??? I think that more often than not we all have encountered techno-ignorance on all sides of the cube... Music can overcome all boundaries, and bring people together... Or it can cause revolutions, or it can tear people apart... It has a mysterious power.... That's it for me... - sb One Ear to the Ground Communications http://www.totheground.com (Coming Soon!!) ----- Original Message ----- From: "Scott Brandon" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Charles Prince" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "313" <313@hyperreal.org> Sent: Tuesday, April 03, 2001 7:16 AM Subject: Re: [313] Race and Techno Annoyance > In response to KDJ quotes from Charles Prince... > > OK, > It takes a bit to get me to post, but here goes... I'm so sick of this > Black/White thing... Race is race, and music is music... The two are in > some ways intertwined but a piece of music is it's own entity, sentient and > soveriegn... Yes the founding fathers of techno were black, and deserve a > great deal of respect for their accomplishment... I love KDJ's music... But > I can't help but be bothered that this stereotype, and reverse racism is > being carried on.... To say that to understand soul music you have to be > black, because that's who it was made by and intended for, is like to say > that to understand Christianity you have to be Jewish, because that's who it > was made by and initially intended for (Just an anology)... The whole thing > sucks.... Ideas are Ideas... Techno is an Idea... or if you look at it > Jeff Mill's way, it's beyond an Idea... > > Isn't techno constantly refered to as 'future music'??? What about a future > that is void of a separation between races??? It seems that actually many > people are still living in the past... I'm of white skin color & I love > techno and house.... I ****FEEL**** techno, and house in my soul... All of > it... From the hard to the deep (actually more on the deep side)... Who's > to say who can and can't feel certain music just because of race, color, or > creed??? I may not have lived Curtis Mayfield's life, and neither did > anyone else on this planet, but I can ***FEEL*** his music... I can feel > what he's talking about, what he's expressing through his music, and his > voice... The same with Marvin Gaye or Chic, it's the beauty of the human > ability to empathize... I would never tell Alan Oldham that because he's > not white he can't appreciate My Bloody Valentine or Shoegazer music (which > he loves and respects), or tell Jeff Mills he couldn't do Final Cut because > industrial was a white thing... This is because I refuse to lump sentient > human entities into catagories!!! Music has no color... It's like a white > guy getting pissed that Carl Craig remixed 'Moskow Diskow' or 'Problemes De > Amore' because they were "white musics", or to say that giorgio moroder had > no soul..... Pretty Rediculous Right??? What was techno?? Who and who > stuck in an elevator with a drum machine??? I think you see where I'm > going.... It seems sometimes that for a group of people who spend alot of > time trying to hide their identities or remain 'underground' once it comes > to race it seems everyone's talking, and it's not about all their > influences.... > > The truth is when it comes to the ***ART*** of making music from the soul, > every soul speaks an individual language and who is anyone to interpret that > message for anyone???? Or to tell anyone what they can or can't feel??? > That's just irrational judgementalism..... Let's just get back to talking > about the music we love and not who can and can't love and feel it..... > > My 2 cents... > > - sb > One Ear to the Ground Communications > http://www.totheground.com (Coming Soon!!) > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Jongsma, K.J." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <313@hyperreal.org> > Sent: Tuesday, April 03, 2001 5:35 AM > Subject: RE: [313] Good artist steals? > > > > > > > > > one of my fav music quotes is.... > > > > > > "Sad in the 20th century, in the 1990s, we still have to go > > > thru the same bullshit > > > route that other artists had to go to get acceptance. If it > > > wasnt for the independents, > > > if it wasnt for the small little cities, and the few little > > > ghetto guys trying to make music, > > > it would of never happened. Some of these guys will never > > > make a dime. Some of > > > these guys will be poor and die alone. But in the process > > > theve been the true rengrades. > > > And the true rebel always walks alone anyway." > > > > > > which i !think! is Derrick May sampled (from a tv doc) on E-Z > > > Rollers - "Retro" on Moving Shadow. Though > > > Ive never had this confirmed, could anyone shed any light on this. > > > > That's Derrick May sampled from the last episode of 'Dancing in the > Street' > > from the BBC. > > > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >
