BlaqueKnight said:

Interesting. 4 some reason Fishbone has always reminded me of the Busboys. The music never quite drew me in.
[Edited 6/3/07 10:53am]

The shit is racist, flat out and my feelings and I feel very resentful when I see Justin Timberlake and Joss Stone trying to dominate the black-dominated markets.

I forgot to mention Bad Brains in my list of black rock acts who never made it mainstream.

Graycap23 said:

I understand that this comes down to taste, and I have to admit that I wasn't big on listening to Fishbone records in my spare time, but I have to say if you get the chance, see them live. They put on a helluva show live and you leave them feeling really revved up.

Despite the mediocrity I hear some people saying about Fishbone and LC, they still deserved to be in the mainstream. There are plenty of white rock bands that are pretty mediocre if not lame as all getout despite the one little hit they managed to push out, but manage to sell enough to shut up their record companies, so there was no reason we could have the same from a black rock band. The shit is racist, flat out and my feelings and I feel very resentful when I see Justin Timberlake and Joss Stone trying to dominate the black-dominated markets. I get sick of it really because their shit is weak, but they'll walk away with top honors like record of the year, best artist and so on. I'm not on this new age kick about being colorblind or race doesn't matter when I know it does. People just like to pretend that just because you don't speak out about it, it will just go away and if you do speak out about it you're just some whiny black person playing the race card.

The only way that black people will have a presence in the rock market is to create their own and to start supporting black rock acts. White people are not going to be enough to do it. If black rock begins selling, then the industry will be forced to take notice which is what happened with hip hop and rap.

LQ

lilgish said:

Not true.

If they were good or not so good, people can debate that til the end of time, All depends upon what you one likes. Fact is some people actually believe Prince plays garbage. Doesn't take away from the fact that people will jump onto bandwagons and ride waves. Did sellout shows like Prince does now after playing the SB?

Ask people that play guitar how good Vernon Reid is! He is a guitar God, up with Vai, Nuno..but maybe not Buckethead! lol. But what does the general public know about playing guitar? They would rate the latest American Idol as better musicians than Bowie, Prince, or the Stones.

Truth is Vernon Reid has more talent in his pinky than 99.9% of guitar players.

bellanoche said:

I was just reading about Bad Brains on this page:http://www.roctober.com/r...punk1.html

I hadn't heard of Bad Brains before. Those black punk bands really had guts playing for those all white audiences.

bellanoche said:

C'mon what Bad Brains song had any hint of commericialbility. They are underground artists.

lilgish said:

I said I forgot to mention them in my list, I never said that they would be as mainstream as Green Day. Mainstream success/exspoure varies in degrees. However, there are several white underground acts that received more exposure than the Brains. The fact remains that being black in a racist, white rock world didn't help, despite how "underground" they might be.

that would never happen because Blacks/r&b has a history of supoorting white r&b acts...


its just that it rarely happened the opposite way...

That is just plain ridiculously wrong and I don't know where you get the idea that blacks are more supportive of white acts than whites are of black acts. That is just simply not true.

Xagain said:

Well, I can name more popular white soul artists than Black rock artists, why is that?

lilgish said:

Because there are TONS more white soul singers than black rockers. Especially since rock hasn't been popular in years. Soul is what sells records these days, not R&R.

Black audiences are far more prejudiced than whites.

Kanye West has said: "I hate music where white people are trying to sound black. The white music I like [sounds] white". What if I said the same thing only "I hate music where black people are trying to sound white." What kind of response would that have gotten on this thread?

lilgish said:

Because there are TONS more white soul singers than black rockers. Especially since rock hasn't been popular in years. Soul is what sells records these days, not R&R.

Except for Jimi there is a guetto mentality in music. No room for color.

Because there are TONS more white soul singers than black rockers. Especially since rock hasn't been popular in years. Soul is what sells records these days, not R&R.

There have been many talented black rock bands and black-led rock bands that have not received the attention or exposure that they should have. To ignore the role that racism has played in that is careless. Racism affected the decisions of labels and radio stations with regard to exposure/promotion of these bands.

I remember back in the day when Fishbone talked about how they were told that they had to put white people in their video. Angelo (lead singer) said people who knew him knew where his heart was, but that he wasn't putting white people in his video, because no one ever tells white people that they have to put blacks in their videos. When you look at bands like Living Colour, King's X, 24-7 Spyz, Fishbone, Eric Gales Band and others it is clear that race played a factor in their lack of exposure. I don't think they were mediocre. Even if they weren't your cup of tea, they were far more talented than several white bands who received much more exposure.

Groups like Thin Lizzy, Hootie & the Blowfish and even the Jimi Hendrix Experience received more exposure because they would not be considered "black" rock bands. An ingredient to their success was that though the lead was black, the remainder of the band was white. Therefore, it was easier for decision makers to promote them to white audiences. As great as Jimi was, had he not been backed by two white guys and repackaged/re-sent to the USA from London, he would have probably had a career as underrated as other great black guitarists like Eddie Hazel and Ernie Isley. It's sad, but true.

You need to do much more research before you post on this topic.

LoveAlive said:

lilgish said:

Because there are TONS more white soul singers than black rockers. Especially since rock hasn't been popular in years. Soul is what sells records these days, not R&R.

Black audiences are far more prejudiced than whites.

Kanye West has said: "I hate music where white people are trying to sound black. The white music I like [sounds] white". What if I said the same thing only "I hate music where black people are trying to sound white." What kind of response would that have gotten on this thread?

Despite so many rappers being black, most hip hop record purchasers tend to be white, reflecting demographics and economics. According to musicologist Arthur Kempton, "Today 70 percent of hip-hop is bought by white kids". Russel Simmons has said that this percentage is upward towards 80%.

According to political rapper Zion of Zion I, socially conscious hip hop has a mainly white audience: "...so many Black people don't want to hear it. They want that thug shit." In addition to Zion, several other underground rappers, such as Boots Riley of The Coup, report nearly all-white audiences.

White audiences are far more accepting of black performers. Maybe they just didn't dig Living Colour because their first album didn't come out until '88, when the hard rock scene was evolving into college and independent rock, and soul.

Afronomical said:

Double

That's why I can't stand all that race card crap. It's just a cop-out to avoid the real issue. Ignoring or failing to acknowledge racism does not make it go away. The reality remains that there's no reciprocity for black rock acts with white audiences. We can name many white soul/R&B acts who have found success with black audiences. So it doesn't make sense to speak hypothetically when reality disapproves your point.

lilgish said:

Because there are TONS more white soul singers than black rockers. Especially since rock hasn't been popular in years. Soul is what sells records these days, not R&R.

Black audiences are far more prejudiced than whites.

Kanye West has said: "I hate music where white people are trying to sound black. The white music I like [sounds] white". What if I said the same thing only "I hate music where black people are trying to sound white." What kind of response would that have gotten on this thread?

Despite so many rappers being black, most hip hop record purchasers tend to be white, reflecting demographics and economics. According to musicologist Arthur Kempton, "Today 70 percent of hip-hop is bought by white kids". Russel Simmons has said that this percentage is upward towards 80%.

According to political rapper Zion of Zion I, socially conscious hip hop has a mainly white audience: "...so many Black people don't want to hear it. They want that thug shit." In addition to Zion, several other underground rappers, such as Boots Riley of The Coup, report nearly all-white audiences.

White audiences are far more accepting of black performers. Maybe they just didn't dig Living Colour because their first album didn't come out until '88, when the hard rock scene was evolving into college and independent rock, and soul.

Black audiences are far more prejudiced than whites.

Afronomical said:

Why? What are you disputing? Rock is long dead. Soul and R&B is all that's on the radio these days.
Living Colour was a heavy metal band that came on the scene when heavy metal was dieing. It's as simple as that. Doesn't matter how good they were. You can be a talented bagpipe player and it ain't going to get you props if nobody's digging the bagpipe.
Are you disputing the Russel Simmons quote? You don't think Kanye West is a bigot for saying something that would have gotten any white entertainer in big trouble? Or are the rules different for one group than they are for another (the definition of prejudice)?

I don't mind people lamenting that Living Colour didn't get bigger than they deserved to get. It's probably true. I have a problem when it's not related to timing, or the music, but to the ridiculous notion that white people were running around saying "Can you believe this shit? A BLACK rock group! How dare they!" That's bullshit. Alot of whites dug them. Just not enough were digging heavy metal at the end of the '80s. The notion that white people who listen to music are all racists has no credibility.

Xagain said:

Yes, white audiences support black performers who do what black performers are "expected" to do, i.e. "stay in their place" - rapping, singing soul/R&B, playing funk, etc. There is not debate there. The point of this thread was that white audiences do not support black rock acts. Where is your evidence to refute that? Please avoid using red herrings to distract from your argument. They do nothing to support what you are saying.

Btw, when was Kanye West appointed the spokesperson for black audiences? He's one person. He definitely does not speak for me, because I am black and I listen to everything from Hector Lavoe to Black Sabbath.

Xagain said:

Hip Hop, not Soul music, is what's selling the most. That's what I was referring to.

And what makes you think ALL that's on the radio is R&B and Soul music?
Have you heard of Pop music?

Xagain said:

Yes, white audiences support black performers who do what black performers are "expected" to do, i.e. "stay in their place" - rapping, singing soul/R&B, playing funk, etc. There is not debate there. The point of this thread was that white audiences do not support black rock acts. Where is your evidence to refute that? Please avoid using red herrings to distract from your argument. They do nothing to support what you are saying.

Btw, when was Kanye West appointed the spokesperson for black audiences? He's one person. He definitely does not speak for me, because I am black and I listen to everything from Hector Lavoe to Black Sabbath.

But the main issue is, Black people don't support Black rock acts.