I discussed this issue in this thread. I think most of the young black musicians are staying in gospel.

Because rnb has been so dominated by sampling, drum machines and synths, the need for a full band has decreased.

http://prince.org/msg/8/400376

There are bands out that aren't getting any attention.

There was a band that show promise in the mid 2000s called Heavy. Unfortunately, they never really took off.

I don't know what happened, but it's good to see some young kids who can actually play. This isn't exactly R&B, funk, or gospel....but could this be the next Living Colour or Bad Brains? These kids are called Unlocking The Truth:

andykeen said:

S'up? Where have all the Black Bands gone? I mean really? The 70's and 80's was inundated with these bad asses. 70's black bands really turn me on. Mystic Merlin, Breakwater, any Rick James, parliament/funkadelic, quazar the list goes on. What happened guys? Where are the black role model bands? Surely it ain't only white kids rocking the garage bands? Could it be that studios favour an artist? And have white artists 'taken' that black sound? Discuss

Blame shit hop. There's probably heaps of Black groups and even Black hard rock groups out there, but unless they start rapping or calling woman bitches and getting some bling, they will never invade the charts,

Shit hop has done a good job ruining the Black music legacy.

The $$ flow is gone with the wind.

Adorecream said:

andykeen said:

S'up? Where have all the Black Bands gone? I mean really? The 70's and 80's was inundated with these bad asses. 70's black bands really turn me on. Mystic Merlin, Breakwater, any Rick James, parliament/funkadelic, quazar the list goes on. What happened guys? Where are the black role model bands? Surely it ain't only white kids rocking the garage bands? Could it be that studios favour an artist? And have white artists 'taken' that black sound? Discuss

Blame shit hop. There's probably heaps of Black groups and even Black hard rock groups out there, but unless they start rapping or calling woman bitches and getting some bling, they will never invade the charts,

Shit hop has done a good job ruining the Black music legacy.

amen, and it was by design...

Zannaloaf said:

And radio support via DJs and education for kids to know what music is really about and venues for kids to play and parental nudging in any direction but sports...etc...

Most of the major radio stations are owned by big corporations and DJs on these stations are usually told what to play by the companies they work for no matter what format the station is (rock, R&B, pop, etc...).

I know a lot of school music programs have been cut, but you don't have to go to school to learn how to play instruments. Some people take lessons, jam with friends, learn from books, videos, or from listening to bands and songs they like and figuring out how to play them by ear. There are many well-known musicians who are self-taught.

more black bands..

Representing Chicago

Room11

Babybrutha


The Moses Gun

A band i've been into since spring

phunkdaddy said:

Integration... among other factors.

Is part of the problem also decreased funding for music programs in many schools with the result that fewer kids learn to play an instrument in the first place?

Clearly, of all the kids who ever played in school bands, orchestras, choirs, etc., a very small percentage went on to become professional musicians. But, if the pool of musicians is smaller to begin with, then that "very small percentage" gets even smaller.

the pop ascension movement beginning in the late 80s (I would say 1987 to the exact moment) began the process of exploiting the greatest virtues of our culture, obliterated it, and left it in sheer ruin

and it happened fast and deliberate

coltrane3 said:

Is part of the problem also decreased funding for music programs in many schools with the result that fewer kids learn to play an instrument in the first place?

Clearly, of all the kids who ever played in school bands, orchestras, choirs, etc., a very small percentage went on to become professional musicians. But, if the pool of musicians is smaller to begin with, then that "very small percentage" gets even smaller.

I kind of think the same thing.

I don't think that's the only reason though. Kids who are into music nowadays might not bother with an instrument, they just get a laptop.

It's been said that black American audiences are the least nostalgic in the world. The young black audience is going to lose interest five minutes after something is hip. They want to be into what's going on now.

I can't say with authority that it's true. I'm a white guy. But that seems to fit with what I have read and my limited conversations with people. And I think it was Ahmet Ertegun who explained it basically like "Why would those people be nostalgic for earlier times? Earlier times for black people in America were terrible." Marvin Gaye said when playing in Europe in the 70s, he could rely on old Motown hits and that's what people wanted to hear. But his American audience wanted only his current hits; he reduced his sixities material to a five minute encore medley. He felt like he was only as good as his last record when playing the US for black crowds.

So if you look around at what people are into now, in terms of current music, it's not about bands too much anymore. Is that the symptom or the cause, I don't know.

Mstrustme said:

I'm wondering how many black bands are actually working as backing musicians for non-black (mostly white) artists? I was on another site and recall the story of being at a music festival and seeing at least two or three white artists whose entire band was black. Is that where some of the black bands have gone?

A lot of those backing musicians are probably being recruited from the gospel circuit. Unfortunately, it seems like black musicians can only get work as backup and not as recording artist themselves.

Has anyone noticed how dead and flat most mainstream music sounds? When was the last time you heard distinctive bass playing, nuanced guitar work, or powerful drumming? Its all this dumbed down wall of sound that only exists as background noise for the singers voice.

Adorecream said:

andykeen said:

S'up? Where have all the Black Bands gone? I mean really? The 70's and 80's was inundated with these bad asses. 70's black bands really turn me on. Mystic Merlin, Breakwater, any Rick James, parliament/funkadelic, quazar the list goes on. What happened guys? Where are the black role model bands? Surely it ain't only white kids rocking the garage bands? Could it be that studios favour an artist? And have white artists 'taken' that black sound? Discuss

Blame shit hop. There's probably heaps of Black groups and even Black hard rock groups out there, but unless they start rapping or calling woman bitches and getting some bling, they will never invade the charts,

Shit hop has done a good job ruining the Black music legacy.

I wouldn't be able to say it better.

[Edited 10/22/13 22:58pm]

Javi said:

Adorecream said:

Blame shit hop. There's probably heaps of Black groups and even Black hard rock groups out there, but unless they start rapping or calling woman bitches and getting some bling, they will never invade the charts,

Shit hop has done a good job ruining the Black music legacy.

I wouldn't be able to say it better.

[Edited 10/22/13 22:58pm]

People should stop buying that crap and buying into the culture. We all need some positivity in our lives and it sure isn't coming from the hip-hop community.

Get out some Lenny Kravitz, Living Color, Al Green, Maxwell, Anthony Hamilton and all the great stuff from the 60's and 70's where we saw countless black bands deliver great music.

we'll never get this level of music ever again based on the stronghold of the current landscape

it's toast.....

[Edited 10/23/13 11:06am]

Scorp said:

we'll never get this level of music ever again based on the stronghold of the current landscape

it's toast.....

[Edited 10/23/13 11:06am]

I think its the music recording as well. All this dynamic range compression is a problem as well. There are actually some good songs out that, but the recording is irritating to my ears.

Anyone, remember the old PBS show 321 Contact. They had a great piece on recording the theme song. It starts 1:42 mark.

20 something posts and mint condition hasn't been mentioned?

They are like the last standing black rnb band that is still relevant.

Still putting out top 10 rnb albums, moderate hit singles, various tours etc.

Smh...

mrjun18 said:

20 something posts and mint condition hasn't been mentioned?

They are like the last standing black rnb band that is still relevant.

Still putting out top 10 rnb albums, moderate hit singles, various tours etc.

Smh...

True. I was thinking the thread was about black bands that are pretty

much unheard of. Mint Condition while not wildly popular they are on

the radar of most r&b fans.

phunkdaddy said:

mrjun18 said:

20 something posts and mint condition hasn't been mentioned?

They are like the last standing black rnb band that is still relevant.

Still putting out top 10 rnb albums, moderate hit singles, various tours etc.

Smh...

True. I was thinking the thread was about black bands that are pretty

much unheard of. Mint Condition while not wildly popular they are on

the radar of most r&b fans.

Cool. Cuz I saw p-funk, ready for the world, etc mentioned, so I thought it got it was just black bands in general. Lol.