Why aren't there more posts?
for this wonderful film? See that's what's wrong with us now...no unity... :)
Paranoia, Politician, Diva!
I never heard of this documentary until someone I know let me watch today. It was interesting.
MovieChat Forums > Afropunk: The 'Rock n Roll Nigger' Experience (2007) Discussion > Why aren't there more posts?
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Im just now hearing about it from Black Planet (my roommate is a subscriber). Id love to see it. I imagine Sundance or IFC is the best place to see it but I havent seen it on the schedule ever.
shareI just bought this movie online and downloaded it. I enjoyed it very much.
I am a black female who has always loved rock music, so I can relate to the people in this film very much. Not black enough for black people, not white enough for white people. Fortunately, I learned a long time ago to ignore other people's opinions about my tastes in music. I like what I like and that's that.
What has always pissed me off is the fact that (some) white people act like they have some kind of claim on rock music. Like they own it, and black folks have to ask permission to play it. What a laugh! Everyone knows that BLACK PEOPLE INVENTED ROCK MUSIC. We invented it and they stole it.
That is, after they labeled it *Colored Music" (insert the N-word instead of "colored") and got it taken off the air. People like Alan Freed lost their careers because they endorsed rock and roll. The record companies did every thing they could to stop it, then, once they saw how popular it was to WHITE TEENAGERS, they did everything they could to get some of it. They screwed us out of it, put white faces on it, and the rest is history.
They pulled the same crap with Disco music. When disco first came out, white, male-fronted rock bands were dominating the record charts. Disco became so popular, it took over the record charts. Disco was so popular, white rockers started doing songs with a disco beat. The Rolling Stones, Rod Stewart, and even heavy-metal rockers, KISS (among others), had disco records out. Certain white folks got so damn mad at this turn of events, a bunch of them got together (led by a radio DJ), and actually burned disco records, chanting "Disco Sucks".
Certain white folks sure love to burn stuff when they get mad, don't they?
Anyway, certain white folks put up such a stink, the DJs stopped playing disco and the record companies stopped promoting it. They will try to tell you that it died because it sucked. Really? How about it died because you did everything you could to kill it?!
Anyway, disco never really died, because most all pop songs now have a dance beat - even the rock songs. Go figure...
They're doing the same thing with rap. "Ohhh, it's terrible! We hate it!". Really? Rap music sells more than any other kind of music right now. Suddenly, white kids are rapping and dancing in their videos all the time now. Rappers are showing up in rock videos a lot, too. They can't live in your neighborhoods, but they sure can rap in your videos. Go figure...
Preach,sistergirl,preach! Speak truth to power! I'm a black woman who's been into rock since age 12 (just did a post about that on this board) and I always wondered how come even at that age, particularly when I got into old school rock 'n roll ('60s-'70's stuff) rock 'n roll seemed to be so much more more diverse in terms of who played it until the late '60's,when it suddenly seemed to become only something white males could play. I was like, why didn't a successor to Jimi Hendrix's throne pop right up in the '70's, or another Chuck Berry or something. I didn't get that until I read a book called DIXIE LULLABY, which came out last year---it't a Southern white author's honest take on the whole thing, as well how a lot of Southern white musicians--the Allman Brothers in particular---were influenced by the blues--and the racial divide in America at the time as well as MLK's untimely death was a major factor in why black folks pretty much abandoned rock 'r roll. Worth tracking down just to read about that. But,yeah, I'm a punk rock fan too---as a teenager I dreamed of shaving my head into a mohawk,banging on a guitar,and jumping off a stage screaming into a crowd like a maniac--it just sounded like fun back then--ha ha ha! Unfortunately,I never had the guts to actually do it,though. Still haven't seen the film,but intend to rent it out and buy it if possible. But,yeah, so much much of what you said about the music is true---hell,if it wasn't for us,white folks would still be playing nothing but country and classical music--and yeah, I'm tired of them acting like rock 'n roll (or even country,for that matter) is something only THEY can play or have an attitude about! And it's ironic how black musicians who play something other than the standardized R&B or jazz get labled as "white" or weird (which,STILL,ironically,is the same s*** Jimi Hendrix had to put up with when trying to win over a black audience back in the day). Whatever--it's our damn music too---long live rock 'n roll--yeah yeah!
shareYou know what else pisses me off about certain white folks? They act like Jimi Hendrix was the only black man to ever play rock guitar. What an effing joke!!!
Every year, those white-male-dominated guitar magazines pick their top 100 guitarists, and it's always mostly a bunch of white guys, with Jimi Hendrix thrown in as the token nig-BONG (stole that from "Blazing Saddles" LOL).
Not only that, they act like only black or white MEN are the only ones who play guitar. I know sistas that play lead, rhythm, and/or bass guitar like nobody's business, but they never get a mention.
Nobody ever mentions the sistas in Klymaxx, who played all their own instruments, and who STILL get their rock on when they feel like it. Nobody ever mentions sistas like Nona Hendrix, who was rocking out before most of these wannabe rock divas were zygotes.
I'm hoping that the Internet will help get the word out about ALL different kinds of music, in all different genres, so that the music business can get the breath of fresh air it so desperately needs.
Yeah, the cool thing about the Net is that you can do a search and pull up any type of info about musicians in all genres, or just listen to whatever somebody downloads somewhere on it. I remember Klymaxx from back in the day and thought it was cool that they played all their own instruments and wrote all their own songs. Reminds me of the disco-era band A Taste Of Honey (famous for the disco-funk classic, "Boogie Oogie-Oogie", who had two women (Janice Marie Johnson & Hazel Payne,respectively) as the bass and guitar players of the group. Also, way back in the late 40's-early 50's, there was a sister known as Sister Rosetta Thorpe, a gospel singer who was also well known for being a heck of a guitarist and getting her rock on--there's a video of her at youtube. There were also all-girl rock bands in the '60's (The Luv'ed Ones, from here in Michigan--another called She,and in the early 70's Fanny,who were the first all-female band to be signed to a major label,yet are totally forgotten today). There's also Betty Davis, a sister who wrote and sang some bold-ass songs back in the mid-70's about getting her freak on, such as "The Anti-Love Song", "He Was a Big Freak", and "If I'm In Luck I Might Get Picked Up" (her 3rd album was called "Nasty Gal") Her first 2 albums are finally being released on CD---Nasty Gal isn't one of them,though (too bad, because the title track kicks some ass by itself, big-time). She actually got banned from some venues and her songs barred from airplay because they were considered a little too strong and explicit coming from a woman even in the buck wild sexually open '70's---go figure!
About brothers on guitar, what about James Blood Ulmer (I've never actually heard any of his stuff,but saw a record by him the other day) or any of the guys in Fishbone,the Bus Boys,Living Color (Vernon Reid), Lenny Kravitz,Cody Chestnutt, the Jon Butcher Axis, or Darryl Jennifer of the Bad Brains? Or even the Chambers Brothers of "Time Has Come Today" '60's fame? I don't even read Rolling Stone anymore or those white male-dominated guitar mags like I used to, so I could care less who's on their list. I read alternative mags that show a little more diversity in their coverage of music (certain genres still tend to be white-dominated to some extent outside of the jazz,R&B or rap scenes,though). Anyway, check out some of these folks I just mentioned on YouTube--they all got videos up on there! And check out the Afropunk site--I always have a hell of a lot of fun going and posting over there--they talk about this stuff ALL the time on it!\
www.afropunk.com
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I'm in my late 30's--I remember seeing Klymaxx videos back in the day on BET (when it was still black-owned,BWT). I have their second album with their biggest hit "I Miss You" and "Divas Need Love Too" on it.
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I completely understand the " too black for the white kids and too white for the black kids" sentiment.
A girl asked me why I listened to rock music. So I asked her why did she listen to rap. The best answer she could come up with was " I'm supposed to".
I laughed in her face.
Should I keep on waiting or does love keep on fading away?
Im a white guy. I think it's silly that some blacks feel they have to listen to rap or r&b because they're supposed to but it seems to be true unfortunately. My roommate gets alot of crap for listening to rock but no one bashes me about listening to hip hop or blues. In fact, most people think it's cool that I can appreciate music from other cultures as they like to call it. I just see it all as American music. But the second my black roommate pops in a Johnny Cash or Beck cd, he gets strange looks even from the same white people who think Im being progressive for listening to black music. What's up with that??? It's like the stereotype of blacks only relating to modern black music is an hardcore axiom rather than a choice.
sharePutting aside my own problems with understanding my race (i'm one of those really light, can't tell what-they-hell-you-are kind of people) I've always gone through something thats more in the middle of what everyone else is talking about.
In some ways, its made me very lucky to not have to go through the typical 'what's wrong with you' interrogation, but its also made me an outcast everywhere.
I can enjoy some rap and some r&b, but my first love will always be rock, and thats never going to change.
I don't like doing the typical "black" culture, and don't like the typical "black" guy. Hell, most of my dream guys ARE white guys, and its really hard explaining that to your borderline black panther family. (thank God for my mother who's sees beyond all of that.)
People never know where to put me, and if I do start to fit into a situation, they give off a vibe as if they are constantly waiting for me to switch over or something.
It's called "being yourself", duckie. Never stop. I feel sorry for people who have to live under scrutiny for something as simple and liberating as music. One of the things I like about my roommate is that he makes no excuses for his preferences. He gets called "white boy" alot and some black girls wont date him all because he likes diverse musics. But that doesnt stop him frm driving down the street in his Mustang and blasting Van Halen or Soundgarden. He still listens to some old skool rap and r&b but he says he only listens to music he likes not what he's "supposed" to like. He's got a mixed tape with VH, Bad Brains, Run DMC, Rush and Funkadelic that just rocks. Everybody wants a copy haha. I love the guy for that. When we hang out with our girlfriends, he doesnt try to separate himself from us when other black people are around. He says he only trusts people he knows or who show openness to him and that's the way it should be.
My girlfriend is chinese and she's never had explain why she listens to diverse musics. She listens to rock, r&b/hip hop, classical, Celine Dion as well as world music from middle east. Thats part of the reason we hooked up. Other chinese or asian people I know listen to what they want be it rock, soul or pop. Same with most other races but I cant figure out why black judge each other so harshly over it.
I always thought that the reason for judging among people of the same race being so intense, had to do with the "simplicity" of labeling. Anytime someone does fit the label to another groups liking, that person becomes an outcast.
I'm starting to realize that I like a very wide ensemble of things. There's very little that I can be characterized by; some people hate that.
rock n roll *beep*
shareI always thought that the reason for judging among people of the same race being so intense, had to do with the "simplicity" of labelingno its out of a sense of "betrayal" considering we suppose to be united in the same fight and the same struggle. i have a all black female band called outlaw starr thats an amalgamate of several genres.but realistically the few black rock fans i came across i never really liked them on a personal level. mostly because they came across as a self-pitying,self absorbed,indifferent,assimilated suburban whiners lol...hey i'm just putting it out there. and this is coming from a very fair skinned sista with light green eyes and silky wavy black hair (or "good hair" as some black people call it). i also got the whole insults of "are you biracial","are you white" etc etc etc...but i never let those comments deter me from being black and proud.
and as far as being "obligated" to listen to rap or R&B i think thats a BS comment since most blacks grew up with those genres. i love rock but hip-hop,and soul will always be my first love (especially hip-hop). i grew up with Marvin Gaye, earth wind and fire, sade, the isley brothers (especially the 3+3 years), NWA, ice-t, 2pac, pm dawn, run-dmc, ll cool j, outkast, bone thugs-n-harmony. so of course it would be ingrained into me,mostly cause my parents listened to both soul and hip hop. hell when i first got my strat guitar at 6 years old i was trying to play rap music with it in addition to rock music. and i could have sworn soul was one of the foundations of rock in the first place.
black suburban kids getting into rock is not a revelation people,its assimilation.the truth of the matter is that most of the kids interviewed in the documentary was a bunch of assimilated kids who adapted to suburbia or got brain washed by their parents..particularly the girl who's parents told her not to date black guys. now show me a documentary where rock/punk converts tyrone and tomika from bed stuy new york,south central,Compton, Cleveland, north memphis, and every other ghetto. if you can do that, then it truly transcends race.....but it doesn't. there's always exceptions but if you grew up around it 8 times out of 10 you'll adapt to it. and that's why blacks gravitate towards rap and R&B and generally speaking there's nothing wrong with that.
i'll admit it was much easier for me because i had a support group of sorts. my dad was a OG in my neighborhood so i inherited his street cred so to speak. but mostly cause i had no problem fitting in with other black people despite being a fan of rock music. i had other things that connected me with my people. my guess is that you all need to find that commonality instead of whining about being so different from other brothas and sistas...
share
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If that's called transcending race, then I happily second the emotion.but its really not transcending race though.... share
tish speaks the truth,rock doesn't help you transcend race.its,just a comfort zone for suburban blacks and whites.pretty much more or less the same way with hip-hop.its just hollow solidarity.even the black people in the doc admitted that white people take it as a sign of them being the "good safe Negroes" just cause they like rock.black people seem to want to try so hard to fit into the white mainstream sooo badly. particularly the suburban black kids tish hilariously referred too.if you like rock then like it without seeking acceptance from white people.
share[deleted]
never got to see it lol
but appreciate that it was made
This is A Sig
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IMDB...its not fanboard
This is a great movie. I dont know why, but as soon as i saw the first trailer, i had to see this movie. I guess it was becouse i grew up in the suburbs with my Best friend aaron. I was white, his mother was black and father was white...and we both worshiped metallica, Pantera and Rush (well, i liked rush, he thought it was "a little F-gg-ty" as he called it).
Growing up with him, i saw how often he got crap from people becouse of his musical tastes and style. He would always laugh it off, or in some cases he would drop the gloves, but he would later pretend it didnt bother him. After years of being Best friends, we sorta drifted apart. I ran into him 4 years later. He had completely changed. He now spoke with a different accent, he no longer had the camaro with the hood scoop but now had a caddy with goofy huge Rims. And when i saw him , he started acting happy to see me...but as a completly different person then the one i grew up with, and went to see Pink Floyd and a bunch of other goofy club shows. I didnt comment on it, and was just happy to see my friend.
Later that night, we went driving around like we used to, and slowly the person i remembered growing up with came back, and we started talking and laughing about stupid crap we used to talk about. Towards the end,I built up the nerve to say he seemed a lot different from when i knew him. He kept his eyes on the road, and said (paraphrasing here) "I just got tired of fighting everyone. I got tired of being the F---Ing Pariah, wherever i went. Its just easier this way". We got some Food, saw some other friends we both had in common, gave him a hug and that was the last i saw of him.
I know this was a long rambling story that no one probably needed to hear, but i just wanted to actually talk about what it was that drew me to this movie. Oh well, enough blah blah. thanks for reading. thanks for the movie Mr. Spooner.
if you like rock then like it without seeking acceptance from white people.exactly!!! share
of course. but Rock now is looked at as a "white" thing.
even though it was made from a fusion of -so called - black music.
there are black rockers.
its just not mainstream.
its funny how people who are into goth rock or metal, go on about
how different they feel from society. but when a band raises up
that is different, they turn hypocrite.
This is A Sig
---
IMDB...its not fanboard
there is no such thing as "so called black music",black music exists.nobody goes around saying "so called latin music" =/
sharemost modern music IS "black music" except maybe country,classical,and modern rock. i don't get the apprehension when it comes to calling black music, black music.
sharei'm assuming its because calling black music "black music" is seen as as divisive.
shareActually country, european 'classical' and modern rock still hold the Black African elements.
= Country is clearly based off traditional Black spirituals & blues
= Euro 'classical' is based off ancient Moor eas African instrumentation from strings and all
= Modern rock still is based off the four-time beat of blues and staying on the 'one'
And Comixunlimited, that was a very interesting story.
check the site:
www.afropunk.com
so called "black music"
as in people putting a label on things
so they can avoid it or judge it based on Race
This is A Sig
---
IMDB...its not fanboard
those labels existed long before now...
shareno its out of a sense of "betrayal" considering we suppose to be united in the same fight and the same struggle.i have a all black female band called outlaw starr thats an amalgamate of several genres.but realistically the few black rock fans i came across i never really liked them on a personal level.mostly because they came across as a self-pitying,self absorbed,indifferent,assimilated suburban whiners lol...hey i'm just putting it out there.and this is coming from a very fair skinned sista with light green eyes and silky wavy black hair (or "good hair" as some black people call it).i also got the whole insults of "are you biracial","are you white" etc etc etc...but i never let those comments deter me from being black and proud.
and as far as being "obligated" to listen to rap or R&B i think thats a BS comment since most blacks grew up with those genres.i love rock but hip-hop,and soul will always be my first love (especially hip-hop).i grew up with Marvin Gaye,earth wind and fire,sade,the isley brothers (especially the 3+3 years),NWA,ice-t,2pac,pm dawn,run-dmc,ll cool j,outkast,bone thugs-n-harmony.so of course it would be ingrained into me,mostly cause my parents listened to both soul and hip hop.hell when i first got my strat guitar at 6 years old i was trying to play rap music with it in addition to rock music.and i could have sworn soul was one of the foundations of rock in the first place.
black suburban kids getting into rock is not a revelation people,its assimilation.the truth of the matter is that most of the kids interviewed in the documentary was a bunch of assimilated kids who adapted to suburbia or got brain washed by their parents..particularly the girl who's parents told her not to date black guys.now show me a documentary where rock/punk converts tyrone and tomika from bud stuy new york,south central,Compton,Cleveland,north memphis,and every other ghetto.if you can do that,then it truly transcends race.....but it doesn't.theres always exceptions but if you grew up around it 8 times out of 10 you'll adapt to it.and thats why blacks gravitate towards rap and R&B and generally speaking theres nothing wrong with that.
i'll admit it was much easier for me because i had a support group of sorts.my dad was a OG in my neighborhood so i inherited his street cred so to speak.but mostly cause i had no problem fitting in with other black people despite being a fan of rock music.i had other things that connected me with my people.my guess is that you all need to find that commonality instead of whining about being so different from other brothas and sistas...
with all due respect to the other posters, this thread should have been closed after this out standing post....lol share
@tISH
Yes, there is a such thing as "black music"---it's simply music made/created by black people---and yeah, there is a such thing as Latin music too----just look at the music charts. Black people claim our music so hard simply because it was ripped off so damn much from us and everybody BUT us getting the credit (monetary or otherwise) getting the credit for it. To pretend that people don't make these catagories, or that they don't exist just tbecause you say they don't, is ridiculous and unrealistic.
^ yup
share