this post was submitted on 27 Jul 2024
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As a strong black woman, I'm kind of pissed that we lost all those talented female lyricists and R&B singers who got Thanos snapped out of existence in the late 90s because they didn't want to sell sex. It makes me want to slap a bitch for calling it "empowerment"...
At least my inner black woman is angry af because of that.
The music industry is garbage, pure garbage. Sony and Universal execs have a special place in hell.
Modern labels have shamelessly sampled music from other culture, without understanding the significance, and that's truly pathetic.
One such song I came across was from Travis Scott (I think?), which was sampled from a song made by Bhakti reformists, who, way before the era of colonialism in India, spoke against brahmanism, casteism, elitism and women's right, in the 7-8th century in India. And the lyrics? Totally the opposite of what's in the sample - objectifying women like replaceable toys.
They also did the same to the Italian anti-fascist song "Bella Ciao". Now it's a stupid pop song, and people think that this is some random, catchy stuff that is played in the carnival.
Yes, the music industry is predatory as shit. Most of the "stars", unless they negotiate their contracts the right way and become actual legends, end up in debt or suicided.
Support your local independent scene <3
I dont know much about 90s music😅, could you please share some of those lyricists and singers (or suggest any of their songs)? I'm interested in listening to some of their songs :)
Kinda sad that I wasn't much aware of this issue..
...I can't. You can find them on various features, with among others De La Soul, but the point is they left. You'd have to amass the amount of hip-hop music that I have and draw a timeline where you can see them being phased out.
It's around the time LL Cool J turned into a sex symbol and when De La had to "add some badass to perlong their life over the drum."
One of these days I want to do the whole research route, but just so I can juxtapose it to country - which also suffered the same fate, only a half a century earlier.
Capitalism is a slow crawl to mediocrity and exploitation. No culture can really survive it.
Aw, thank you for your help
I agree with the music industry problems. Luckily I have found some great hip hop and country recently.
The sad thing? Country used to be rebellious... I mean actually rebellious, none of this Trojan horse nationalism and fascism disguised as "traditionalism".
We're talking Johnny Paycheck, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and the queen her self, Dolly Parton.
But, as of late, I've said this:
Shout outs to the women of country, for bringing back the tradition - of writing songs about shooting your spouse in the face.
Keep the dream alive.
Woody Gutherie, Utah Phillips.... I guess I am asking what divides county from folk.
When it comes to hip-hop? There was an enlightenment period where my heart still lies, before the stigma of being a "conscious rapper", "underground" - or even "backpacker".
I call this record industry psy-ops, because the music media tried to use it against anyone that didn't fit the bill. How do I know that?
THEY TRIED TO CALL JAY DILLA A BACKPACKER
Philistines, troglodytes, absolute cretins, scum of the earth. Dear god I hate the record industry.
Incidentally, if you want to go back into the past, I can recommend Quannum Records, the indie label of Blackalicious, Lifesavas, Latyrix and Lyrics Born.
Other than that, Def Jux, Rhymesayers (the mixtapes, get the friggin mixtapes), Stones Throw - ofc. Back when you needed an indie label.
Today we can happily say that bedroom productions will be the saving grace, mostly because it is seperate from the industry, so we do get a lot of great music.
But it also proves the industry is a homogeneous bottleneck.
I have a lot to learn. I appreciate the insight. I listen to Aesop Rock. I remember his work being with Rhymesayers.
I've been thinking lately about the industrialization of music. Used to be before the gramophone you'd play music in your house. Sometimes you'd be bad. And everyone was fine with it. We just did it to enjoy it. Sometimes you and your neighbors would go to that one barn everyone was gathering in where the best musicians in town would play. They were your neighbors and friends. But now we don't know our musicians. We don't make music. We just consume it. I think we need to reclaim music. I think everyone should download DAWs and just... Fucking... Suck. And share their suck with friends and family. What you produce doesn't have to be polished, or good, it just needs to be tour own.
I buy random instruments at thrift stores and I would HIGHLY recommend folks try it out. Pick up a shitty First Act guitar, or some bongos that were originally sold as a souvenir, or even just a cheapo plastic recorder. Just having a musical instrument or two around the house is a special thing, especially if it’s a cheap one you would let any random guest fuck around with.
I met this guy when I was a teenager and I’ll never forget the first time I saw his house. His living room was full of instruments. 8 and 12 string guitars, pan flutes, cedar flutes, loads of little percussion things, and the drums... That’s how I learned I’m a percussion guy!
He only “knew how” to play a few things, but he would noodle on anything. They were all there primarily for guests, and moreso for the ones who had never even played an instrument before.
Music is absolutely one of those things you can just fuck around with to have fun, and then accidentally end up being really good at.
That's amazing, though I'm not sure people living on the other side of my walls would appreciate it.
Get a bunch of electric instruments and a shitty old analog mixer, then just distribute headphones 😂
Have 2 keyboards, but that just doesn't do it. But if I somehow manage to get a more isolated home, I'll fucking do it for real.
Do you have an open community space nearby? Maybe you could grab some crappy instruments from reverb and invite walk-ons to just join in. I've been surprised in the past how much people who complain about something end up liking the thing they complain about once invited to join in