***HUGE SIGH***
It’s amazing what can happen when you talk out of your ass: the longest Wespeak I’ve ever seen criticizing what you SPECULATE as someone’s lack of QUALIFICATION TO SPEAK on the topic of a lecture you DID NOT ATTEND. I am overwhelmed by the task of going through the endless fallacies in your “response,” yet I’m so blown away I cannot help myself.
Your ignorance of the history of Black popular music is obvious from your citing dance-themed songs as evidence that most Black music from the sixties was “trivial nonsense.” Recognizing the way Black popular music has transformed through evolving social and cultural contexts is not glorifying the past. If you had attended the lecture, you might have heard the themes of the music Dr. Rose played—some of the most popular Black music of the sixties and seventies. She then played contemporary music with similar themes, and the more current music, the fewer people were familiar with it. She did not suggest that music calling for collective struggle and agape love existed solely in some golden age, but that these kinds of themes have been pushed further and further to the perimeter of Black music as it was admitted into and sought after by major labels. Anyone old enough to remember the modesty of Black labels of the past (or anyone who has studied Black music…like Dr. Rose) can speak to this. Clearly this does not mean that those making the argument believe segregation was “exemplary,” or do not understand that the motivations for this shift were economic.
If you had been to the lecture, or even paid attention to the quotes you used, you might not be reducing insightful critiques of Black popular music to “stupidity.” Did Tricia Rose ever say, “Current Black popular music is stupid”? No. Is this basically what she meant? No. There is a pretty enormous distinction between what Ashley Simpson does and the blatant promotion of violence, drug dealing, misogyny, and hypersexualization of Black female bodies. When White artists promote these things, yes, they are just as problematic. But in spite of this, Dr. Rose specifically stated over and over that she was NOT calling for current Black artists to change their music. She stated that while we should think about the lyrics, we should not abandon our enjoyment of the music. What she called for is the Black community to challenge “the societal constructs which produce ignorant children that will consume it,” thus creating space for music that serves purposes beyond just reinforcing those constructs, as plenty of music does and has done.
Dr. Rose repeatedly reiterated that she does not believe in “instilling music with some sort of altruistic ideal.” She said passionately that she was not suggesting “some sort of Pollyanna type of idealism.” And she strongly made the point that music is NOT going to correct the world’s problems. I cannot express how many times she made herself perfectly clear on these points. It is unfortunate that you dismiss “overly emotional” responses and do not see the emotion in your own words, as well as the inherent subjectivity of anything “serious and intelligent.” You were presumptuous enough to create an entire imaginary thesis and then restate the actual points of the lecture to argue with it.
What Kanye West actually said is “Bush DOESN’T CARE about Black people,” and he said it in response to Hurricane Katrina. Our country allowing an area full of impoverished Black communities to be wiped out is pretty important to some people, if not you. What Tricia Rose actually called him to explore is what can be done to act against such neglect.
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