There’s a stretch of time near the start of every year,
beginning on MLK Day and running through the Black History Month of
February, when the country collectively makes an attempt to not
only acknowledge the contributions of blacks to society, but also
to open some kind of dialogue assessing just how far race relations
have come in the past half-century.
As a minority in a country where blacks are rightfully credited
for spearheading a civil rights movement that involved nearly every
racial group in America, to me, this stretch of time has always
been more about the larger picture of racial dynamics than just
peanut butter and stoplights (not to take away from such
achievements).
The past 50 years have also seen the sudden and continuing rise
in the influence and diversity of American pop music, with people
of different shapes and colors involved in just about every step of
the way. Given that diversity, it’s no surprise that pop
songs have historically been used as a medium for the ongoing
dialogue concerning civil rights, among other issues, in this
country. Sam Cooke’s civil rights anthem “A Change Is
Gonna Come,” for instance, was famously a response to Bob
Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind.” Then there
were the socially conscious messages of Sly and the Family Stone,
the first major pop group to feature members who were both black
and white, male and female. And recently we have seen the more
militant didacticism of groups such as Public Enemy and Rage
Against the Machine.
It’s frustrating, then, to note the relative lack of such
voices today. American pop music presently boasts unprecedented
levels of influence, and with as diverse a cast as ever: Minority
artists, from Usher to Jennifer Lopez, are bona fide icons on a
global scale. On a trip through Europe this past winter break, I
met people hailing from an array of countries ““ Spaniards,
Germans, French, Russians ““ who danced and sang along to
every last word of Beyonce and Snoop Dogg. And there must be
hip-hop style graffiti on every last building in Europe. Despite
this far-reaching impact, however, scarcely any American musicians
take the opportunity in their music to address social issues that
continue to affect them and their communities.
I’m not saying that all such artists need to raise social
issues. That sort of demand would be unfair and kind of ridiculous;
after all, much of pop music’s appeal lies in the momentary
escapism it offers. But is it too much to ask a few of these
high-profile entertainers to at least, on occasion, offer up a
viewpoint beyond being crazy in love like it’s hot in da
club?
I’m not playing the party pooper who harps on the
so-called negative images some of these artists supposedly convey
(One often wonders, however, how so many of them seem content that
their success seems directly attributed to such images.) I know
they are just entertainers primarily concerned with ensuring we
have a good time, but so were Cooke and Ray Charles, Curtis
Mayfield and James Brown. The vast majority of today’s
popular music artists in general ““ outside of a meager few
such as Kanye West, Eminem and Green Day ““ seem to make music
in a vacuum, completely unaware of the world around them.
But the onus shouldn’t be placed solely on these artists,
either. Plenty of musicians of all races and genres do indeed make
music that takes place in the America of the 21st century ““
unfortunately, they are, on the whole, not nearly as popular. Part
of that is due to the dumbed-down formula used by music labels,
along with the fact that most of us, most of the time, just
don’t give a damn.
In short, the current state of pop music doesn’t exactly
foster discussion on the issue of race ““ or any other social
issue, for that matter ““ in this country, despite the
extensive proliferation of minority artists and the enormity of
their influence. One day, perhaps, things will be different, but
until then, I’ll have to make like the good doctor and keep
dreaming.
E-mail Lee at alee2@media.ucla.edu.