What is Black music? What is White music? Where does Prince fit in??

IMO, music is universal and has absolutely no color lines, but still, I caught myself describing a particular rock band's music as white music.

Just curious to know what you guys think

Smooches;)

here is what I think :


music has no color..!

unfortunately, there are (& have been) a lot of people in "the industry" who want us to believe otherwise ; but I'm not trying it & I'm not buying it.

I guess most of us have used those descriptions at one time or another, as a shorthand reference( I actually did it myself last week in the Rod Temperton thread, to make a point about perceptions: a white man from England who's written so many top R&B songs), but of course, it never really holds up as a valid description, whether you're talking about marketing, the music we enjoy listening to, or the type of music an artist plays, ...You might be able use it to describe a person's color, but it doesn't accurately describe the music. Is AWB White Music? Is Teena Marie? Is Charlie Pride Black Music? Living Colour? Tracey Chapman? The Either/Or labels don't work...too constrictive...

mltijchr said:

Not to mention "black" and "white" are not colors.

Well this is kind of silly but "black" music used to have more feeling, hence the term soul music. I think that had a lot to do with the singing. Black artists didn't pay so much attention to being technically perfect and went with what felt good. Today, I'm sad to say that there is very little feeling, or soul, in any music. Black or white.

Just try to categorize Me'shell NdegeOcello's music for starters.

Or Prince's. Or The Family Stand's. Plantation Radio.

gooeythehamster said:

Or even the Chili Peppers, Talking Heads and Annie Lennox. Not quite clear.

What about Tricky? Is that even human? That's a whole nother discussion.

GangstaFam said:

rialb said:

Sad, but true. And a lot of that has to do with the fact that a lot of "artists" aren't artists. They don't write, play instruments, nothing.

Come on guys.....learn your music history.....

It goes wayyyyy back to when they had something called "Race Records"....(for example) so you had music released by Pat Boone at the same time...the same song would be released by a black artist (Little Richard singing Tutti Frutti)...or like Elvis releasing Hound Dog and it was released by a black artist who couldn't get air play on "white only" radio stations.


Plus..on the charts...there is not "black music category". There's R&B and Hip Hop or Soul or Urban Alternative.....nothing listed as 'black music'.


so the categories came from what music was allowed to be played on the radio. So we look at the race of the artist to determine what music they make. Unforunate, but true.

We "KNOW" that music is music but there's always a history behind everything.....
[This message was edited Thu Jul 29 14:47:46 2004 by Rhondab]

okaypimpn said:

Alas...

okaypimpn said:

When they do(like Alicia Keys) they tend to lean heavily into gimmikry and shallowness.


Rhonda B, back in the day they used to called RnB/Soul music as "black charts"/"black music".

Harlepolis said:

In speaking of the charts, I was talking about today's charts.....your point just piggy backs on what I was saying about the 50's and 60's

Rhondab said:

Oh, ok!

Thought I had to point that out, thats all.

MsMisha319 said:

Most people tend to speak in superficial generalities when talking about "Black and White music." But technically there are aspects and forms of music that certainly ARE indigenous to different ethnic cultures before developing further in the US. There's no getting around that no matter how much anyone tries to invoke some idealistic, politically correct verbiage. Just because the rhythms and melodies of popular music in America have been so widespread, and co-opted by any and all, it doesn't mean it begins and ends there.

If it's accepted as universal (and I agree it is) it's because many cultures feel an affinity for it, and adopt it to continue its traditions.

And when I say popular music I'm using it as an umbrella term, because it comprises many styles.

If you're talking about a rock band, a "progressive rock" band say, like Rush, I could sort of understand you using the description "White music" (but it IS too general to know exactly what you mean) - "progressive rock" is a rock music sub genre that traditionally adheres to Classical chord changes. That's where the sub genre differs from The Mother Genre, if I can call it that.

Some people want to say Jimi Hendrix was doing something weird, and playing "White music" when in truth he was just following the tradition of a ton of Bluesmen before him. Just because they never got the mainstream spotlight doesn't mean they didn't exist. Playing that guitar behind his head, between his legs, etc. came straight out of the Black juke joints of the South. Jimi just happened to put the blues on psychedelic steroids.

Where does Prince fit in? All over the map, just the way he planned it.


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[This message was edited Thu Jul 29 20:07:46 2004 by Supernova]

I believe music is colorless. I began listening to music with my first love, disco. Disco was a music form that was completely interracial. Now...I know there were probably other forms of music before disco just as universal but I can only speak from my experience. Disco had both white and black artists (I haven't forgotten hispanic artists either) and dominated both white and black radio. When disco died, radio became segregated again. White stations played rock and new wave, black stations played funk and R&B. Now...maybe I shouldn't say white or black stations because I don't know who the hell owned them, I am talking about the audiences they geared towards. I am making that clear now because people will take a little something and twist it around into a whole bunch of bullshit. MUSIC is colorless...PEOPLE segregated it.

Anyway...to tell you the truth, I can appreciated segregated radio. When I say segregated, I mean by genre. Personally, I like many forms of music and when I am in a certain mood, I ONLY want to hear music that applies to the mood I'm in. I don't want to hear rock when I feel like funk and I don't want to hear funk when I feel like rock. When I listen to slow jams, I want to hear ONLY slow jams. As for the different music forms...I like that form of music pure and untampered with. That's where the term "crossover" comes in and people get really pissed. I don't care what color you are but if you are going to enter into a certain form of music, you better be good at it because if you're not, I'm sure as hell going to talk about you. I can really appreciate a white artist like Teena Marie that goes straight for the funk market because she has a true love for R&B and funk even if her own race turned its back on her or she could have made far more money playing it middle of the road. I can appreciate a black artist like Jimi Hendrix going straight for the rock crowd because he had a true love for rock, even if it meant his own race would not understand.

Yes...if you're going to do a certain form of music...dammitt you better do it well. Who cares what color you are...the world might but you have to be an individual and place yourself above them. That's where Prince fits in. Prince started from the very first album combining both funk and rock. Prince was a true lover of both genres and never watered one down to fit the other. When I'm in a rock mood, I can play "Let's Go Crazy", "Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad", "I'm Yours", and "Bambi" (just to name a few) back to back. Each one is just as strong a rock track as any rock on rock radio. When I'm in a funk mood, I can play "Sexy Dancer", "Let's Work", "Head", and "Lady Cab Driver" all back to back. Once again, each track can compete with any of the other strong funk of the day like Rick James, Cameo, or Zapp. The same goes for the slow jams when I get in a slow jam mood. Prince does it ALL and does it all WELL!!!!