[New post] How Racial Segregation In The Music Industry Effects Artists of Color
JadeAnn Rowe posted: " By: JadeAnn Rowe Racial segregation has existed for many years in multiple forms and is defined by Brittanica as "the practice of restricting people to certain circumscribed areas of residence or to separate institutions (e.g., schools, churches) an"
Racial segregation has existed for many years in multiple forms and is defined by Brittanica as "the practice of restricting people to certain circumscribed areas of residence or to separate institutions (e.g., schools, churches) and facilities (parks, playgrounds, restaurants, restrooms) on the basis of race or alleged race (Racial segregation)." Although the definition of racial segregation has been relegated to residence or institution, this kind of separation exists in music in many ways and more specifically within music genres and labels.
In an interview with The Fader singer, FKA Twigs spoke out about the harmful effects of genre labeling on black artists such as herself "'When I first released music and no one knew what I looked like, I would read comments like: 'I've never heard anything like this before, it's not in a genre, and then my picture came out six months later, now she's an R&B singer (Cliff).'"
Placing black artists or artists of color in a certain genre based solely on their race is nothing new and can date back to greats like Sister Rosetta Tharpe. There is no doubt that Sister Rosetta Tharpe was a talent; with her steel guitar and powerful voice, she very much helped to create what we know as Rock and Roll today.
"Rock 'n' roll was bred between the church and the nightclubs in the soul of a queer black woman in the 1940s named Sister Rosetta Tharpe. She was there before Elvis, Little Richard and Johnny Cash swiveled their hips and strummed their guitars (Diaz-Hurtado)."
Despite this, she was not always seen that way. Tharpe started out as a Gospel singer at the age of six, which greatly influenced her music (Coates 333). In fact, Tharpe's style of guitar playing was based on that of a church piano player (Coates 333). Her song "Strange Things Happening Every Day,"is regarded by many as the first rock and roll song. However, Tharpe rarely receives credits in terms of the birth of the genre (Coates 334). In some ways, she still struggles to be recognized for her contributions to the genre, even in recent years, as she was only inducted into the hall of fame in 2017 (Hermes). The fact that Tharpe (who played during the 1930s and 1940s) is still facing issues of not being recognized for her contributions to Rock and Roll shows how little the work the world of music has done to rectify the larger issue (Coates 334).
The article "Questions of genre in black popular music" states that "Genres are not static assemblages of empirically verifiable musical characteristics, they bring with them social connotations about race, gender, and so on, and that are understandable only in relation to other genres at particular moments in time (Brackett)."
This is especially true for genres like Country, which is often considered to be a "white genre (Amanpour and Company)." However, today, like Sister Rosetta Tharpe, many artists of color are breaking the mold and reconstructing what it means to be a Country artist. Rhiannon Giddens is a black, female, Country artist who is trying to "restore the narrative" of county and folk music and references the racial divide in music in many of her interviews (Amanpour and Company).
"It's not just a music issue, it's a real cultural issue, and what we're finding today is that people feel really divided and they feel like 'I'm not like them, and they're not like us.' But when you look at the music of America, you find that this is a place where we all came together and created this beautiful thing (Amanpour and Company)." Giddens goes on to explain the importance and impact of black people in music and that they are often "pillars" of County music in multiple ways.
It seems like Country music frequently struggles to accept black artists. Along with trailblazers like Rhiannon Giddens, another example of who an artist challenged the somewhat preconceived notions of the genre is Lil Nas X and his hit song from 2019, "Old Town Road." The song found its fame on the popular social media platform TikTok and quickly went viral; it also debuted on the "Billboard's cross-genre Hot 100 chart, the Hot Country Songs chart, and the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart all at once, according to Rolling Stone (Leight)."
However, the song was promptly removed from the Country charts by Billboard due to it "'not embrac[ing] enough elements of today's Country music to chart in its current version (Leight).'" In a tweet, singer Billy Ray Cyrus, who was notably featured on the remix, shared his thoughts on the overall controversy, stating that the song contained many elements of Country music. "'It's honest, humble, and has an infectious hook, and a banjo. What the hell more do ya need (Murphy)?'"
Although Lil Nas X is a rapper, this does not mean that he is limited to the confines of traditional rap music. The music industry rarely seems to welcome artists, especially black artists who dare or strive to defy expectations. Singer Valrie June speaks to this issue in a 2017 interview with CBS This Morning.
"For me, it becomes a spiritual experience like I'm connecting to something in the ether. I love the process of that, and I don't really feel like I'm honoring [my music], by trying to give it a name, other than just these are some songs that I wrote (CBS Mornings)."
It seems easier for white artists to move in and out of genres, like Miley Cyrus, who has roots in Country, yet has made Hip hop inspired tracks like her song "23," and has now transitioned into rock music such as with her recent album Plastic Hearts (Genius).
The ability to constantly pigeonhole black artists in a specific genre says a lot about the state of the world today and what little space is made for their creative expression. In fact, Tyler The Creator expanded upon the harmful effects of genre labeling in response to categories at the Grammys. "'" I don't like that 'urban' word - it's just a politically correct way to say the N-word to me, why can't we just be in pop (BBC)?'"
In fact, The Grammys and a slew of other award shows have a long history of perpetuating these ideas. For example, according to BBC, the Grammy's announced in 2020 that they would be changing the category from "Best Urban Contemporary Album" to "Best progressive R&B album," the article also points out other instances in which the music industry has decided to drop the use of the term 'urban' citing Republic Record's choice to remove the term from the company's vocabulary in order to be more inclusive (BBC). "'The company, which is home to Drake and Ariana Grande, says it will no longer use the term to describe 'departments, employee titles and music genres (Savage).'"
Inclusivity is indeed much needed, as the more we place artists of color into narrow categories, the more they are expected to conform. The music duo Chloe x Halle were recently nominated for several categories at the 2021 Grammys. Including "Best Progressive R&B Album, they also scored noms for Best Traditional R&B Performance ("Wonder What She Thinks Of Me") and Best R&B Song ("Do It") (Bell)."
However, although their album Ungodly Hour features R&B tracks, it is not only an R&B album; it has influences of Trap with the song "Do It" among others (Lipshutz). The album also contains hints of Gospel with songs such as "ROYL (Greenblatt). In fact, in 2018, the group was also nominated for "Best Progressive R&B Album" for The Kids Are Alright. Despite this, after many listens, it is clear that there is a considerable techno influence throughout the work.
This example showcases the larger issue of confining artists to a specific category, especially when the body of work being nominated or discussed cannot be tied to one specific genre. In fact, today, it seems like more artists, especially black artists, are seeking to defy genre labels or limits of any kind and make the kind of music they want. Artists such as Doja Cat and Lizzo are good examples of this, as they were mainly considered rappers for a long time.
Even Lizzo herself (who is no stranger to being multitalented, as she is also a flutist) doubted showcasing her singing abilities in fear of being categorized. "'That's how we were tokenized — the big black girls were always the belters, and I've always been afraid of being put into that box. But you know what? I'm a big, fat black girl that can sing, and I can rap, and I can dance (Comingore).'"
As for Doja Cat, the singer, rapper, dancer, etc., is a prime example of an artist defying expectations, catapulting to stardom on TikTok with song chart-topping hits like "Say So (Deville) ." Her newer project Planet Her showcases her versatility extensively. In a recent interview with fellow trailblazer Missy Elliott, the two speak on what it means to have "layers" as an artist.
"Sometimes you gotta take a chance. I never felt like I fit in, period. I don't think there was a lane for the music that we did. The only reason they found a lane is because I was rapping over the tracks. But at first, I don't think people understood the music. You're starting to create your own lane. It probably won't ever fit, but people will love it (Elliott)."
Overall, there is a lot of work to be done to rectify the racial divide and segregation within the industry. Although many artists are speaking out about these issues, it doesn't necessarily start with them, but more so with examining how we label, categorize and speak about both music and the music industry today. However, as pointed out by Missy Elliott, there is also value in not aspiring to necessarily "fit." Resisting societal expectations is nothing new to people of color. With artists from the past like Sister Rosetta Tharpe paving the way, there will undoubtedly continue to be no shortage of artists who seek to break the mold.
Coates, Norma. "Shout, Sister, Shout! the Untold Story of Rock-and-Roll Trailblazer Sister Rosetta Tharpeby Wald, Gayle." Journal of Popular Music Studies, vol. 20, no. 3, Sept. 2008, pp. 330–335., https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1533-1598.2008.00163.x.
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