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The New Mythology of AFRO-FUTURISM
(Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Erykah Badu)
By Kandia Crazy Horse
- Marc Baptiste
- Too cool for the old school: Erykah Badu, retro-future soul sista No. 1, performs in Charlotte this weekend.
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Progressive black music can be an art form of negation precisely because of black artists' inherited bitterness over this process. In many ways, the soul-baby contemporaries of white Gen X grunge rockers have defined their art by drawing lines around African retentions and turning the (white male) gaze back on itself by daring to fetishize Abbey Road orchestral arrangements or Neil Young's mercurial auteurism. And who is carrying the torch for this rebel music? Around-the-way black rockers and Afro-future pioneers Apollo Heights (twins Danny and Daniel Chavis), from Raleigh; piano- and guitar-playing D'Arby-doppelgänger Rudy Currence, just down the road in Rock Hill; and self-described punk-hop pioneers Deep Cotton from the ATL.
While these bruhs work it out, the eclectic siren and conscious rap lineup of the Sugar Water fest — aptly named for catering to a generation raised on the highs of red Kool-Aid and the golden age of sweet soul music — will promote the sistas still doin' it for themselves. So bruhs: if you want to get some of that ole-skool, blacklight, zodiac-poster nookie this weekend, I reckon y'all need to take your woman to the show and enjoy the parade of empowerment, respect and love.
(Rock critic Kandia Crazy Horse is the author of Rip It Up: The Black Experience in Rock & Roll; her favorite album is The Allman Brothers Band at Fillmore East; she knows Charlotte, loves grits and currently lives in the Ozarks.)
Destiny's Child performs at Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre Friday at 7pm. Admission is $32.50-$65. Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, Queen Latifah and Floetry are at Verizon Saturday at 7pm. Admission is $28.50-$66. Tickets available at www.ticketmaster.com or by phone at 704-522-6500.
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James Arthur @ Charlotte Metro Credit Union Amphitheatre -
Brand New @ PNC Music Pavilion- Tue., June 17, 8 p.m.
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Fridayy - Some Days I'm Good, Some Days I'm Not World Tour @ Ovens Auditorium- Wed., June 18, 8 p.m.
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Tab Benoit (18+ Valid ID required for entry into venue / Under 18 permitted with parent) @ Neighborhood Theatre- Wed., June 18, 8 p.m. and Sat., Nov. 8, 8 p.m.
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BABYMETAL @ Charlotte Metro Credit Union Amphitheatre- Fri., June 20, 7 p.m.
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Live review: Iron Maiden, Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre, 6/21/2012 10
Band kicks off 2012 tour in Charlotte.
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CD Review: Mr. Invisible's It's On Us
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The New Mythology of AFRO-FUTURISM
(Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Erykah Badu)
