WARNING: Sweeping generalizations about the musical tastes of black people will be made in this post…I’m black soooo, it’s cool.
I hate being put in a position to express the views and opinions of my race. This time, I think I’ll take a stab at speaking for “my people.”
Following the American Music Awards on Twitter, not only did I get into an argument with a zealous Michael Jackson fan, but I also further realized that black people, for the most part, don’t keep up with white pop stars.
Tweets like “ Damn you Kanye…ain’t nobody know who this skeeza was before the VMA’s now they riding with her like Seabiscuit to the finish line” lead black people to be convinced that Taylor Swift was a nobody before Kanye West embarrassed her on the MTV Video Music Awards, thus throwing her in the spotlight and that’s because, for the most part, we have no idea who these white pop stars are.
Sure there’s Justin Timberlake, Miley Cyrus (I’ve seen Hannah Montana backpacks in the projects for Christ’s sake), Lady Gaga and other artists are just big everywhere but you’d be hard pressed to find a black person who can name a Taylor Swift song let alone own the album.
Then she beat Michael Jackson for awards and people were looking for the digital Dr. King to start marching against her, when as one of my followers so nicely put, MJ is great but he didn’t do much this year but die. (The subsequent retweet is what started my “debates” with MJ fans).
Then Adam Lambert gets on stage and the confusion mixed with homophobia nearly made my Blackberry explode. Truth is, I don’t know many black people that have followed American Idol since the Ruben, Fantasia days and that was what…? 5 years ago?
The point of this? Really isn’t one. Just a cultural observation. The same way I had to Google white actresses not named Anne Hathaway because they all kind of look alike to me is probably the same reason “my people” aren’t aware of the millions of albums Taylor Swift sold this year and really think Kanye West catapulted her to stardom.
Hey, if you want us to know, play it on Power 98.
It’s a black thing.
This article appears in Nov 24-30, 2009.
I guess you can say the same thing in reverse…
Chingy, Plies, Yung Joc, Lil’ Boosie, Shawty Lo, Webbie… they’re all the same person, right?
heya, I’m a white man and I just wanted to say I found this blog entry very interesting. I’d have to say that before Taylor mentioned Kanye in an interview a couple years ago, praising his music and saying she’d like to work with him, I’d never heard of him myself. So it kind of goes both ways for some of us. I’ve also seen quite a few black girls at Taylor’s concerts over the last year, so I think she had started to cross the racial music line. I don’t think Kanye knew her popularity before he did what he did, so that to me was the worst part of what he did, he didn’t think about the fact that was a memory she was making that would be tainted forever by what he did, and he didn’t think about how he believed he was bigger in musical influence than she so he could get away with that. It’s too bad the whole thing happened for both their sakes, Taylor has to deal forever with uninformed people saying she owes Kanye, and he has to deal forever with having committed such an uncalled for and rude action.
Anyway thanks again for the blog, it was very thought-provoking and well-written.
As a middle-aged white guy, I agree with you. I hear Taylor on the radio everyday, but I’d never heard of Kanye before. I’ve still never heard any of his stuff.
Yeah, Michael didn’t do anything this year, except preparing a concert, whose video footage has made more than $200 Million worldwide. But hey, that’s nothing, right? Except for being the biggest selling concert movie of all time. (And he did it THIS year) And let’s not even talk about album sales …
It’s not a concert movie – it’s rehearsal footage. Do you think he would have wanted it released? I doubt it. He was a perfectionist. It’s a money-making scheme by the people who bought AND sold the video rights. It’s another sad ending to his story.
Great post Mike. An excellent cultural observation – Well written with a touch of humor & class.
Cheers,
I’m a huge fan of Taylor Swift. I like her songs because when you listen to her music, it makes you feel what she feels. Taylor Swift has always been one of my favourite country music artists and I couldn’t pass up any opportunity to see her even if tickets are hard to come by. But I still go to her concerts & sing along to all her songs after founding Ticketsinventory.com
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