Re: [313] 313 and Broadcast Media
And radio has a lot to do with it, too. Urban music is only just breaking in Australia now due to a latent racism that held it back for years. Universal has tried for years and years to break Mary J Blige but radio will not support her because she is too them too Black- which is a hideous situation. Radio only reluctantly got behind Lauryn Hill - after months of Sony campiagns and then the Grammy coup. I don't really think 'latent racism' is holding back Urban music on commercial radio in Australia... First off, I link this back to 313 towards the end. Oh I think it is and I have had first-hand experience of it, as have others of my friends in various media, most of them of non-Anglo Australian backgrounds and some very high profile. I could tell you stories! When Janet Jackson's Gots 'Til It Gone came out, someone from a mainstream radio station called Virgin every day to say how much they hated that song because it was too urban. They played it grudgingly and it was a hit regardless, so what is their problem? I have heard very overt racist comments made by record company and radio people and I have heard things repeated to me by friends. Eg When Kelis came out someone at her label told me something like oh we should be able to break her as she isn't that dark. What's worse is that this person had no sense of how racist that was and said it to me openly in spite of my involvement with that scene! There is one community station here in Melbourne that is just itching to dump its urban show because it feels that it is too commercial (unlikely!) and replace it with a show devoted to techno/house/whatever. I have put it to the show's personnel that they should not be afraid to really put forward the politics of this situation to save what is the station's most highly rated show - and that is that the government funded ABC TV and Triple J radio network does nothing to appeal to the Indigenous and ethnic demographic (Indigenous Australian/Pacific IslanderAfrican/African-American/South East Asian/Asian/Middle Eastern/East European/etc) that makes up the core RB audience. And when Rage (Friday/Saturday night video show) does hash together a hip-hop special, they drag out all the old Ice Cube/Ice-T videos - like, they have nothing recent? It's true - mainstream radio will play Boyz II Men but never Jodeci/K-Ci JoJo. The people on the community show have to make that distinction between watered down urban pop and the real thing and argue that what they play (ie the latter) is not supported for cultural reasons. The only reason K-Ci and JoJo broke out in Australia with that song All My Life is that it featured JoJo Hailey's vocals only and he has a nice light tenor. K-Ci's vocals are more bluesy and even gospel-driven and more Bobby Womack-like. If he had sung on All My Life Australian radio wouldn't have played it because it would be too Black for them. Silly, isn't it? Australian radio programmers love Backstreet Boys, 'NSync, et al - here is RB made by white (mostly white as Backstreet has one or two Latino members) people - perfect for them. What an ugly situation. I think fundamentally Australian mainstream types are scared of anything that is ghetto-centric - that is anything that either glamourises/celebrates the ghetto (ie Puff Daddy) or exposes the hardships/realities of inner-city America (The Roots through to DMX, etc, etc). They say, this is not relevant to us. Now how does this relate to 313? Well it means that Australians probably feel more comfortable with a Tricky or a Jeff Mills as they articulate something very different to urban music - and ironically this is why those same artists do not fit into the US mainstream's idea of Black music. So in some ways the Australian mainstream is very accepting, in others it's not. I am just lucky to know of a new generation coming up in labels and the media who are more enlightened. Changes are afoot and it's good.
Re: [313] 313 and Broadcast Media
it's funny because here in the U.S. lots of people do feel that Jeff Mills or May are not Black music. But then these other places try to erase their ethnicity because techno artists lack the same kind of image as other urban Black music. But Detroit techno is Black. I tell people who are afraid of these records that if they like P-Funk they will like 313 music. It's funny because a nice person on this list sent me an article on Jeff where he talked about the race issue. For them it's like a double-edged sword. And I can understand their frustration because it appears that they are able to succeed outside the U.S. because they are not really Black. but within the U.S. they are not Black enough. Stupid stereotypes and their racist insititutions never go away. I guess that's why hip-hop is so fascinating because even in some very racist countries it is still a desired cultural commodity. So that even though some Asian countries still wonder where Black people hide their tails they still buy Busta Rhymes CDs. disgusted, Five
Re: [313] 313 and Broadcast Media
I think fundamentally Australian mainstream types are scared of anything that is ghetto-centric - that is anything that either glamourises/celebrates the ghetto (ie Puff Daddy) or exposes the hardships/realities of inner-city America (The Roots through to DMX, etc, etc). They say, this is not relevant to us. This thread was started by a comment on how major-labels have screwed-over alot of 'underground' artists. And in my post I wasn't specifically trying to focus upon Urban music... I was making generalisations to the bigger picture (313 included). I don't doubt that racism exists within Australian mainstream music media. In the big picture racism is basically ignorance and fear, and mainstream media is ignorant and afraid of many genres (not just Urban music). Mainstream media doesn't cater to my music needs, so I have very little to do with it. Music is relative. I'd rather read reviews on Forcefield, read articles in Straight No Chaser, listen to interviews on Andrew Duke's Cognition, and listen to Ron Hardy DJ-sets on the Deephouse site. People have always had to try that little bit harder to get exposure to underground music (like Detroit techno), and underground music has always had a pretty steep learning curve. And no matter how underground you think the music you like is... more often than not, there's always a bunch of people out there who like it too (hello 313-list). A genre like Jazz has a huge following thanks to dedicated media outlets and grassroots support... and despite the lack of mainstream media coverage. peace ~Askew _ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com.
Re: [313] 313 and Broadcast Media
We all know you're a good guy who can see the wider picture, Mr Askew! I was talking generally. I 100 % agree the mainstream media is weird with many underground styles - techno and house included. I used to think it was just urban music that was marginalised but I find that quality music - house and techno - gets as bad a go, trance and big beat gets the push. Even some of those reviewing Madonna's new record don't have a clue about what it is she is doing and it is her most adventurous work in some time. Talking of the mainstream media and 313, anyone seen the DJ Rolando interview in NME? It's just out. I think there was another in Seven too. Seven is Mixmag's more clued in little sister/brother 'zine. This thread was started by a comment on how major-labels have screwed-over alot of 'underground' artists. And in my post I wasn't specifically trying to focus upon Urban music... I was making generalisations to the bigger picture (313 included). I don't doubt that racism exists within Australian mainstream music media.
