Living Colour say band is shunned by Black entertainment outlets for playing “white people” music

[dasailr03]

Not true.

Public Enemy toured with heavy metal bands since the beginning. The remake of "bring the noise" with anthrax was one of their biggest hits. 5 years earlier Run DMC had their biggest hit on a collaboration with aerosmith.

The Beastie boys, arguably one of the most successful hip hop groups of the 1980s, built their whole career off of rap/rock fusion. Body Count's first album went gold despite being band and blacklisted throughout the country (and IMHO being a shitty band in general).

Let's not forget about the early 2000s when Korn, Limp Bizkit, Kid Rock, Crazy Town, Evanescence, Linkin Park, Incubus, and at least a dozen other white bands made millions fusing rock and hip hop.

So it it was going down. The labels and the public just didn't want to hear Chuck doing it. I'll let you decide if it was his skin condition or declining popularity.

but in the end, the consumer is always right because they choose to support you or don't. putting the argument aside that we as black folks invented rock and roll, let's be honest, black folks ain't listening to no damn rock and roll. we will listen to jazz, blues, hip hop, rnb but draw a line at rock and roll. always have and always will. complaining that black folks don't support bands like Living coluour is like complaining about black folks who are into polka music doesn't have any support from the black community. we the masses of black folks don't want to hear that shit. Living coluour, fishbone, and a lot of Lenny Kravitz shit, I'm not interested in listening to that shit because there is nothing about their songs that move me. LK gets love because occasionally he'll do some pop shit that has a bit of rnb flavor but his hardcore rock shit, niggas ain't checking for.

 

[geechiedan]

It must be 50 years fellas. We went from "Rap is a fad" to the highest grossing genre ever. Only in America. You ain't made it until you get sued. Now these hoe ass niggas wanna be like "Meetoo". Naw niggas, y'all wanted white pussy and white fans. Y'all gave only so many fucks about black fans.

No one is trying to hate of those dudes success. This seems like its scripted because they aren't going after events that are specifically deal with rock music (Black Girls Rock). If your core target audiences aren't supporting you then why should you be invited to a Rap honors show?

I guess what's really eating them is the Rock and Roll HOF admitting rappers and R&B acts. Don't see them pissy at Chaka Khan. Maybe your label should buy you an award/honors to drive sales like every other artist.

They aren't victims by any means. Ain't shit sad. It's a music business not charity. If people don't like you music then market yourself better or make better music. Living Colour had one song of note and are acting like they were something special because they were outside the box.

Prince, Jimmy, and Chuck Berry paved the way for black rockers more than anything rap ever had. Kayne had to beg to be on MTV while Darius Rucker was blowing up in Hootie and the Blowfish. Rucker ain't got these problems. He was smart enough to do folk/country rock while punk was dying.

I get tired of artist saying they love music then being upset they don't sell or have certain fans. Plenty of rappers did the same but you also had rap executives who fell on the sword by not taking no for an answer. Why didn't they start labels and grow the genre beyond themselves? They made millions, why didn't they bet on themselves making someone better?

A lot of people clown Dame but it was execs like him and Master P who forced Jay Z, Kayne, No Limit down MTV's throats only for white people to act like they were down for day one and X people like Dame out the picture.

I'm sorry but black poets got a better case than a one hit wonder like Living Colour. Maybe they should ask Lil Nas X how to make that 15 mins an hour. Lenny should know better he ain't showing up for the BET Award or anything NAACP Honors. So please explain what point you guys are making. White people like blacks who act like street niggas more than black rockers?

Ok..just so you know...

BLACK GIRLS ROCK! is a company founded by executive producer, businesswoman, celebrity DJ, and former model Beverly Bond. The company hosts an annual award show of the same name that honors and promotes Black women's achievements.

The rest of your rant is all over the place.

 

[geechiedan]

but in the end, the consumer is always right because they choose to support you or don't. putting the argument aside that we as black folks invented rock and roll, let's be honest, black folks ain't listening to no damn rock and roll. we will listen to jazz, blues, hip hop, rnb but draw a line at rock and roll. always have and always will. complaining that black folks don't support bands like Living coluour is like complaining about black folks who are into polka music doesn't have any support from the black community. we the masses of black folks don't want to hear that shit. Living coluour, fishbone, and a lot of Lenny Kravitz shit, I'm not interested in listening to that shit because there is nothing about their songs that move me. LK gets love because occasionally he'll do some pop shit that has a bit of rnb flavor but his hardcore rock shit, niggas ain't checking for.

If you wanna be real honest black folks ain't listening to jazz and blues either....for the last damn near 50 years all black people have consumed and supported in any real way has been pop, funk, hip hop, r&b and gospel.

Things that involve heavy instrumentation or is guitar/piano heavy black youth migrated away from decades ago.

The question is was that a natural move or were we pushed/programmed away from it.

 

[ghoststrike]

Alt-rockers Living Colour have spoken out about being shunned in the Black entertainment industry for playing what’s supposedly “white people” music.

The rock quartet issued a statement earlier this week addressing Lenny Kravitz’s recent comments alleging he was being overlooked at awards shows hosted by the black entertainment industry.


Kravitz told Esquire at the time: “To this day, I have not been invited to a BET thing or a Source Awards thing. And it’s like, here is a Black artist who has reintroduced many Black art forms, who has broken down barriers – just like those that came before me broke down. That is positive. And they don’t have anything to say about it?”

Referencing Kravitz’s comments in an Instagram post, Living Colour vocalist Corey Glover wrote: “It’s come to my attention that people responded to Lenny Kravitz’s statement, that black organizations in the entertainment industry never really sought him out.”

“Retorting that they did make an effort to contact him but his ‘people’ said that Mr. Kravitz had no interest. That is false. Whether his people made that statement, I cannot say. Living Colour throughout has made a conscious effort to make ourselves available to places like BET, the Source etc. Mind you this was happening simultaneously to us in the rock idiom.”

“Their response to us usually was that we did not fit in their format. Ironic, that was the same response we got from the Rock n roll / white entertainment organizations.”

“Lenny was right,” Glover continued, adding, “None of us has been awarded let alone acknowledged for our achievements. Living Colour in the past has worked with such historical luminaries as a Little Richard and Mick Jagger. We’ve worked with a hip-hop royalty from Queen Latifah, Doug E Fresh, Chuck D & Flava Flav to Run DMC. And yet there’s barely a mention of rocks contribution to what is modern black music, let alone in rock and roll circles.”

“It’s been our experience that most people of colour have no idea how deep and far reaching the influence of Black people in the modern-day rock ‘n’ roll there are, let alone it’s impact on R&B and hip hop. What we hear is “that’s white people stuff” when in fact, it is not!”

The musician concluded: “It’s hard enough to live in places where you expect white supremacy, but not from your own people.”

In addition, Doug Wimbush (bassist of Living Colour) was part of hip hop's inception, wrote some of its funkiest bass lines, from the beginning:

"Born in Hartford, Connecticut, Wimbish started playing guitar at the age of 12 and switched to bass guitar at the age of 14. In 1979 he was hired together with guitarist Skip McDonald and drummer Keith LeBlanc to form the house rhythm section for Sugarhill Records. Although they did not play on the Sugarhill Gang's famous song "Rapper's Delight" (the rhythm tracks for this song were played by the group Positive Force), they did play on many other popular song tracks, including "The Message" by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, "White Lines" by Grandmaster Flash and Melle Mel, "New York City" by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, and "Apache" by the Sugarhill Gang."

 

[therealjondoe]