IANA Blog- September 2023

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Happy September,



This blog is going to be different from the last ones. It’s going to be about music.


This is Jan Wenner. He is a rock music journalist and the founder of the legendary Rolling Stone magazine. He is also one the founders of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame…


…He is also an idiot…a privileged idiot…


This September, it was revealed that Wenner released a book called “The Masters.” In this book, Wenner interviews legendary rock stars and musicians who are legends (and who he considers the “masters,”) in the music industry. The problem is…the musicians he selected to interview are all White males. Some of those musicians include Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and Mick Jagger. Guess who he didn’t include in his book…Black musicians…and Female musicians. When asked why he didn’t include any Black or female musicians, he said they weren’t articulate enough…


As soon as I heard that, I was like…Get the **** Outta Here!


Because of that statement, Wenner was kicked off the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame board and fired from Rolling Stone. Let me just say, he got what he deserved. Unfortunately, there are plenty of “Jann Wenners” out there, plenty of privileged, middle-aged, White people who want to discredit Black people’s contributions to music, White people who think this way when it comes to music, especially Rock music, the White people who want to be the “gatekeepers.” (I would say “males,” but there are also White women who think this way.)


Not to sound like a “broken record” because it has been said multiple times, but I’ll say it again…Black people are responsible for the majority of our music, period. Black American musicians are the creators of  Rock and Roll, Jazz, R&B, Soul, Funk, Country music, Disco, Techno, House music, Hip Hop and especially Blues music. A lot of our modern day music is not possible without Blues music.


The sad irony of Jann Wenner’s comments about Black and Female musicians is that he took the name “Rolling Stone” from a song by legendary Blues musician Muddy Waters and that Rock and Roll music would have not been possible without…a Black woman…Sister Rosetta Tharpe…the “Godmother of Rock and Roll.” She started off as a Gospel singer and then became a pioneer for the way she played the electric guitar. She influenced many rock and roll artists such as Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis and of course the so-called “King of Rock and Roll” Elvis Presley. Speaking of which, Chuck Berry was also known as the “Father of Rock and Roll” and Little Richard was known as the “Architect of Rock and Roll.” We also can’t forget about Robert Johnson. They had a bigger influence than Elvis ever did. They influenced many legends such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, etc. These legends along with Tharpe and the other early Black musicians are what made Rock music what it is today.


For Wenner to say that Black musicians aren’t articulate enough, to say that legends like Stevie Wonder, legends like Tina Turner who was the “Queen of Rock and Roll,” legends like Aretha Franklin, legends like Michael Jackson and Prince (when they were alive) who were bigger than most rock stars, weren’t articulate enough is a slap in the face. I’ve watched old interviews on YouTube featuring Rap metal band Rage Against the Machine in which their lead singer Zack de La Rocha is Mexican and their lead guitarist Tom Morello is Half-Black (Kenyan on his father’s side) and they sound way more “articulate” than most and i shouldn’t be surprised considering their political views. Even when I see old interviews featuring Reggae legend Bob Marley, especially when he speaks in Patois, he sounds way wiser than other artists.

Speaking of which, Black people are also responsible for other genres of music, especially around the world including Reggae, Ska, Rocksteady, Dancehall, Reggaeton, Afro-pop, Amapiano, Afrobeat and Afrobeats. I bring this up, because just like we saw with Rock music, Jazz, Blues, Hip Hop and all the other genres, we see this “whitewashing” of the music and it’s also happened with Reggae. I remember watching a documentary on Reggae and Roots reggae music and how the origins of Reggae music is very Pan-African and how it traces back on how the Rastafari people connect to Africa. Next thing you know, you see White Canadian Artist Snow making reggae music in the 90s, and you’ll see White guys using reggae music as an excuse for smoking weed and treating Bob Marley as their weed mascot. They do know that Bob Marley was more than about weed? Like I said, it’s happened with Reggae, it happened with Ska and I could see it happening with the rise of Afrobeats, or at least where the wrong people become the gatekeepers of Afrobeats.


Last year on the blog, I wrote about the rise of Afrobeats and interviewed members of IANA 2nd Gen, and although I’m enjoying the mainstream popularity of Afrobeats, I’m also staying cautious because I would not be surprised if I see more non-Black musicians especially White artists use Afrobeats to their advantage. We already see songs where White artists are featured like Justin Bieber and Ed Sheeran. I say this because I see it in Hip Hop, where we saw artists like Kid Rock, Post Malone, and Miley Cyrus use it to their advantage, gain popularity, then toss it to the side for country or pop music and disrespect Hip Hop music in interviews. I find that disrespectful and that’s just as bad as the artists who appropriate the culture like Iggy Azalea. I fear that if it does happen to Afrobeats, we’ll have some other Jann Wenner wannabes discrediting Burna Boy, or Wizkid, or Davido and act like they’re not “articulate” enough to speak on the genre they are thriving in. 


Don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with White artists doing other genres, as I did grow up listening to Eminem (Hip Hop), the Beastie Boys (Hip Hop), Teena Marie (R&B), Collie Buddz (Reggae), Evidence from Dilated Peoples (Hip Hop) and other White artists, and of course some of my favorite artists/musicians are White, but when you have idiots like Jann Wenner who discredit Black and female artists and other idiots claiming that Elvis is the “King” and the creator of Rock and Roll when Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Chuck Berry and Little Richard are right there, and other artists who take advantage of our music, we’re gonna have a problem. If it does happen, we better start gatekeeping the hell out of Afrobeats.


As life goes on, I think it’s definitely important to make sure that the “Jann Wenners” out there remember who is responsible for their favorite music and the music of today…and they better not “whitewash” Afrobeats. And, just a personal note…I would not be surprised that these “gatekeepers” still think Hip Hop music isn’t “real music,” especially when I see them whining about Hip Hop artists getting inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. As fellow inductee, Chuck D of legendary Hip Hop group Public Enemy stated, “WE ALL COME FROM THE DAMN BLUES!”


https://twitter.com/PublicEnemyFTP/status/1393782095978323968


Also a side note: It would definitely be nice to see African artists get into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame like Fela Kuti and Miriam Makeba, but I’ll just have to wait until that actually happens.


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