Black is Beautiful

Well, it's a time of upheaval after all. Protests in the US and UK and elsewhere have had knock-on effects:

Country act Lady Antebellum have now shortened their name to Lady A because they've never thought the name had any problem before 

Rapper Wretch 32 saw his father tasered by police in an incident where his skin colour seemed to relate to the harshness of the reaction (i.e. an old white guy would not have been tasered).

Keisha Buchanan, of Sugababes, has spoken of how she was perceived negatively as being a bully in the girl-band, even though she wasn't.

Various awards and record companies are dropping the term "urban", which was used as short-hand for a black R&B sound. That's marketing for you.

Gucci Mane has slagged off Atlantic Records for what he called a "casual racist" attitude to his music.

...and I expect this will run and run... for a while at least...

A 12 year old has been signed by Warner Records after posting a song in the wake of recent events:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-53102728

Keedron Bryant's song I Just Wanna Live, posted online one day after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is out on Friday.
Warner Records timed the release to coincide with Juneteenth, which marks the end of centuries of US slavery.

Money talks.

Beyonce has rapidly released a new song "Black Parade":

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-53119767

2008 UK X Factor winner Alexandra Burke has spoken about the racism she experienced when she was working on her first album, and being told she needed to make big changes:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-53120390

Another country act changing their name are the Dixie Chicks, who will henceforth be known as the Chicks. Miles better 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-53180585

misery guts wrote:
Country act Lady Antebellum have now shortened their name to Lady A because they've never thought the name had any problem before   

They also never seem to have checked if anyone was already called Lady A. In fact, there is... and now the band are sueing her for the rights to the name she's been using for decades   I hope the judge tells them where to go.

And in other news, KanYe West announced his plans to run for the Presidency of the USA in November.

misery guts wrote:
And in other news, KanYe West announced his plans to run for the Presidency of the USA in November.

He made further announcements this week, and also seems to be being written off as bipolar.

Meanwhile, back on the name-change front, DJ The Black Madonna has realised it might be appropriate to amend her name, and another DJ, Joey Negro, plans to revert to his "real" name instead.

After a quiet few weeks, David Byrne has had to apologise for a skit from the 1980s:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-53997053

Talking Heads frontman David Byrne has apologised for a video in which he impersonates people of colour using black and brownface.

The promotional video for 1984's concert film Stop Making Sense, sees the star interviewing himself, while playing several different reporters.

After the clip resurfaced on social media, Byrne issued a statement expressing his regret and dismay.

"I acknowledge it was a major mistake in judgement," he wrote.

Oh well...

The Whole Truth
Also put together for World Mental Health Day or something, Jordan Stephens of Rizzle Kicks presented a round table chat with Arlo Parks, Kojey Radical and Che Lingo. They discussed racism, and sang songs. I would be more taken if it were a regular format rather than a one-off.

Backlash against the term BAME:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-54641786

Dolly Parton has nailed her colours to the BLM flag:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-53783257

Meanwhile the UK charts have expanded to give Afrobeats their own rundown:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/53487584

There's a few round-ups there that have needed adding a while...

Sing It Loud - Black and Proud
Maya Jama presented a decent little showcase, with Ayanna Witter-Johnson, Ashley Henry, Rueben James, Zara McFarlane and Poppy Ajudha all choosing a famous song to cover, finished off with Soweto Kinch also performing.

Champion One, Champion All! was the name of a major new exhibition last month which looked at Liverpool's varied black music heritage :

The exhibition is part of the On Record, Untold & Retold Black music festival and was created entirely under lockdown. All photographs were taken within a three week period and as a collective, are a unique snapshot of the city’s Black music scene today.

Champion One, Champion All!

R&S Records are being sued over discrimination:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-55954706

Label founder Renaat Vandepapeliere dismissed music by some ethnic minority artists as "meaningless" and claimed the history of techno was "very white", said former talent scout Raj Chaudhuri.

Chaudhuri is suing R&S for unfair dismissal, citing race discrimination.

The label said there was "no truth" to his "spurious" and "damaging" claims.

"Mr Renaat Vandepapeliere is certainly not racist and everyone at R&S Records embraces equality," said R&S co-founder Sabine Maes, who is also Mr Vandepapeliere's wife, in a statement.

Ooh, the co-founder is the wife of the founder. That's cosy.

A record label called Young Turks has decided that it's no longer acceptable to have because of connotations, and have adjusted it to just Young instead. The xx, Kamasi Washington and fka Twigs are the acts on their label, among others.

Leigh-Anne: Race, Pop & Power
So, one of Little Mix has been inspired by BLM protests, and suddenly noticed a predominance of white faces around her in the business. She talks to a round table including Alexandra Burke, Nao, Raye and Keisha Buchanan (ex-Sugababes) about it. Even though Nao doesn't get to add much, this is still more publicity than she usually gets, unlike the ubiquitous Raye. She talks to band-mate Jade who shares her own experiences of being mixed-race, which seems almost to come as a surprise to L-A. She plans to ask the boss of her label, Sony, about what they can do to improve diversity, but she gets fobbed off big time. But at least she tried.

Krept x Konan - We Are England
Two rappers try to compose a football anthem for Euro 2020. Along the way, they consider the increasing number of black players in the team, and how past anthems have dabbled with rap to mixed results. They express appropriate revolt that the team who did "Three Lions" also did a notorious running sketch about Jason Lee. Their finished effort is recorded with an orchestra at Abbey Road. But it doesn't seem to have been released after all for whatever reason.

Arena - Dark Matter - A History of the Afrofuture
Mainly painters but some musicians - James Stinson's Drexciya project seems to have had a life of its own, and Sun Ra was a well known jazzer. Shabaka Hutchings was at least present to discuss his inspirations. The story broke down into 3 parts concerning separate but slightly linked ideas like "the door of no return", "space is the place" and "double consciousness".

Do Black Lives Still Matter? Music
The 3rd of a 3-part series saw Saskilla, the self-styled "godson of grime", look at how hard it is for black acts to make a noise in the music business, when record execs tend to be white, and pigeonhole black acts as fitting certain sounds like R&B, and not rock. Nadia Rose was briefly included, but not to tell her own tale of woe. The Nova Twins fared somewhat better.

MOBO Awards - Access All Areas
DJ Target presented and talked to several of the acts performing or involved as the annual event returns to a live format at the CBS Arena in Coventry (also part of its UK City of Culture events). Besides co-host Munya Chawawa, we heard from Stefflon Don, Eddie Kadi, Mo Gilligan and Bree Runway, and there were performances from NSG, Enny ft Bellah, Tems and Ghetts.

misery guts wrote:

misery guts wrote:
Country act Lady Antebellum have now shortened their name to Lady A because they've never thought the name had any problem before   

They also never seem to have checked if anyone was already called Lady A. In fact, there is... and now the band are sueing her for the rights to the name she's been using for decades   I hope the judge tells them where to go.

This has finally been settled, and both sides seem happy, but the details remain unknown as yet.

misery guts wrote:Leigh-Anne: Race, Pop & Power
So, one of Little Mix has been inspired by BLM protests, and suddenly noticed a predominance of white faces around her in the business. She talks to a round table including Alexandra Burke, Nao, Raye and Keisha Buchanan (ex-Sugababes) about it. Even though Nao doesn't get to add much, this is still more publicity than she usually gets, unlike the ubiquitous Raye. She talks to band-mate Jade who shares her own experiences of being mixed-race, which seems almost to come as a surprise to L-A. She plans to ask the boss of her label, Sony, about what they can do to improve diversity, but she gets fobbed off big time. But at least she tried.

Leigh-Anne: Why I Made 'Race, Pop & Power'
A new 10 minute introduction as Leigh-Anne was chatted to by someone who regrettably was never identified, about the issues in the documentary and some of the feedback she got from it.

Lenny Henry's Caribbean Britain
Sir Leonard takes 2 hours to relate the past few decades of Windrushers influence on drama, the arts but largely music, whether grime, ska, lovers rock, calypso, jungle or sound-systems. Amongst a large number of interviewees were Jazzie B, Billy Ocean, Trevor Nelson, Dennis Bovell, Lloyd Coxsone, Dennis Seaton (of Musical Youth), the Ragga Twins, and the final interview with the late Jamal Edwards.

Rated Awards 2022 (with GRM Daily)
Big Zuu and Julie Adenuga presented this show which gave awards to Dave and Little Simz, and had performances from K-Trap, Knuckz and Ivorian Doll, among many others. Quite fun, really.

Queens of Pop - Aretha to Whitney
A lengthy tribute to 14 greats from Diana Ross to Nina Simone to Chaka Khan to Mariah Carey. Some were typically treated in OTT way, but at least some lesser-regarded names got their look-in for once.

misery guts wrote:MOBO Awards - Access All Areas
DJ Target presented and talked to several of the acts performing or involved as the annual event returns to a live format at the CBS Arena in Coventry (also part of its UK City of Culture events). Besides co-host Munya Chawawa, we heard from Stefflon Don, Eddie Kadi, Mo Gilligan and Bree Runway, and there were performances from NSG, Enny ft Bellah, Tems and Ghetts.

MOBO Awards - Access All Areas
DJ Target was ably holding things together again, with the show at Wembley Arena, marking its 25th anniversary. There was music from Flo, Kojey Radical, Beenie Man, Black Sherif, and Emeli Sande did a tribute to the late Jamal Edwards. Target spoke at varying lengths to many of the guests and some of the performers, such as Nile Rodgers, Craig David, Knucks and Tion Wayne.

misery guts wrote:Arena - Dark Matter - A History of the Afrofuture
Mainly painters but some musicians - James Stinson's Drexciya project seems to have had a life of its own, and Sun Ra was a well known jazzer. Shabaka Hutchings was at least present to discuss his inspirations. The story broke down into 3 parts concerning separate but slightly linked ideas like "the door of no return", "space is the place" and "double consciousness".

Afrofuturism - The Origin Story
How many black musicians and other artists have tried to explore Space as a new frontier and place to put their pasts behind them. George Clinton was present in archive and the present. Sun Ra, Janelle Monae and Earth, Wind & Fire were other examples. A round-table of assorted contributors all seemed to be on the same page.

Tonight with Target - Series 2
Missed the first series; a reasonable magazine format with live performances throughout, regular features of varying interest, and a likeable host in DJ Target, usually abetted by another DJ, Remi Burgz. Through the 6 weeks they managed to bring in Enny, 6lack, Krept & Konan, Lojay and many more, whilst Burgz did features where she met the likes of Coi Leray, Amaria BB, Wes Nelson and more. I look forward to a 3rd series sometime.