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On Robert Glasper, J. Dilla, and Black Pop 6
I wan’t to preface this by saying that this is NOT an attack on Robert Glasper. He seems to be a fine artist and creating his own lane in the industry. I’m immensely happy for his success. That being said…
I was listening to Glasper’s Black Radio album on Spotify, trying to see what all the hype was about. I was having a rather casual listening experience until I got to track five, “Gonna Be Alright” which features r & b singer Ledisi. Tacked onto the end of the song is an interlude comprised of Glasper and other artists musing over the Black music industry. Here’s a rough transcription of the conversation:
“People are just so brainwashed nowadays. I don’t think people know what’s good and not good anymore.”
“Anything popular, even if its wack, its like what sets the pace for music nowadays. It’s like, ‘oh this is hot,’ but its wack. 98% of the stuff I hear on radio is wack. 90% of the musicians you hear playing is wack. You know, because there’s no bar anymore. It used to be that the bar was so high and people had greater appreciation for music. “
“Its up to bigwigs, I guess. They’re the ones that do the programming. Be people don’t really think anymore, not much. If you had music like that to make people think, wow, they wouldn’t know what to do with the system. You know, people just follow the other person…more …”
“The best thing you can do for people is be honest.”
I must say, I had a verbally violent reaction to these comments. They sound beyond smug, and tread the waters of elitism. I immediately began searching for articles or interviews that would shed additional light on Glasper’s ideology, when I came across a recent Creative Loafing article that was even more troubling. Written by Rodney Charmichael (@Rappin_Rodney), the article features Glasper offering some basic ideas on how to improve “urban-format radio.” None of his comments were egregious, but they were either clichéd, oversimplified, or down-right incorrect.
For example, he suggests that urban radio program directors need to be changed because “they just play stuff that most of the time puts black people in a bad light. The songs that are so-called hot now talk about bitches and hoes, or money, or just the same stuff that degrades us as a people.” First of all, this rhetoric is played out. It’s the same stuff that’s been spewed since the gangsta rap explosion of the early 1990s. A song gets consistent radio spin either because there is a demand for it or because its been paid for. While his characterization of mainstream black music themes is too reductive, I will agree that such themes are prevalent. Their vitality, however, suggests that they resonate with a large amount of fans and changing PD’s will not make a difference.
These comments become even more interesting when you consider that Glasper sites late producer J. Dilla as an influence. Dilla, who died in 2006, has become quite a cult figure over the last 6 years. He has seemingly become a martyr for a more refined/intellectual style of hip hop. Sort of a Jesus Christ to A Tribe Called Quest’s John the Baptist. In an interview with XXL Magazine, Dilla spoke on comparisons to A Tribe Called Quest and the reception of his music:
J Dilla: It was kinda fucked up [getting that stamp] because people automatically put us in that [Tribe] category. That was actually a category that we didn’t actually wanna be in. I thought the music came off like that, but we didn’t realize that shit then. I mean, you gotta listen to the lyrics of the shit, niggas was talking about getting head from bitches. It was like a nigga from Native Tongues never woulda said that shit. I don’t know how to say it, it’s kinda fucked up because the audience we were trying to give to were actually people we hung around. Me, myself, I hung around regular ass Detroit cats. Not the backpack shit that people kept putting out there like that. I mean, I ain’t never carried no goddamn backpack, but like I said, I understand to a certain extent. I guess that’s how the beats came off on some smooth type of shit. And at that time, that’s when Ruff Ryders [was out] and there was a lot of hard shit on the radio so our thing was we’re gonna do exactly what’s not on the radio.
Dilla, according to his own words, made music for his friends, “regular ass Detroit cats” who liked to get “head from bitches” or at least hear about it. He wasn’t the backpacker or conscious artist that many seem to think he was. He didn’t even seek to make “intellectual” hip hop. He was simply interested in making dope music that stood out from the rest. Glasper’s comments signify, in my opinion, a disconnect between J. Dilla the man/artist and what Black alternative music circles want him to represent. More importantly, as Dilla suggests, lots of regular ass people (the masses) value these themes in their music. If you want to play the Black respectability game, then cool, but don’t fault labels for playing into demand. Don’t criticize artists for writing songs that are culturally relevant.
In the Creative Loafing piece, Glasper also takes issue with the dominance of electronic instruments in Black mainstream music:
“One [factor behind] the downfall of black music is music is no longer really a force in schools anymore. There are no musicians. Everybody’s got a damn MPC and walks around thinking they’re a producer. There are too many producers that are wack that I run across. If you had more music in schools, [kids] could pick up instruments and realize what real music is supposed to sound like.”
He further notes:
“When people make beats, they automatically think, “Oh, I wanna be on the radio; I’ve gotta make this type of song.” But when you have a band, a piano player, and a guitar player, you think on a more intelligent music level. That’s why all of our greatest songs and greatest bands were timeless, and the music is timeless — Isley Brothers, Stevie Wonder, Donny Hathaway, Luther [Vandross]. There are certain things you can’t translate to a machine or a loop that instruments can do with each person putting that emotion into that guitar part, that drum part, that piano part. So there’s a spiritual connect, too.”
Glasper’s mention of “real music” and “more intelligent music level” reeks of Western Musical elitism. People around the world have made incredible music outside of the standard Western framework. Last week I saw artist produce beautifully complex music out of a cajon, which is essentially a big wooden box with a hole in it. Hip Hop, at its core, is electronic music. From the days of Flash on the turntables, to Pete Rock on the SP1200, to Lex Luger on Fruity Loops, hip hop producers have made stunningly dynamic music using electronics. DJ Premier, The RZA, and The Bomb Squads’ electronically-produced aural landscapes are in the same class as any traditional Western musician. J. Dilla, though he played several instruments, made his beats using turntables, an MPC, and various keyboards. I’m all for Black people playing “live” instruments. I definitely support expanded music programs in schools. But to suggest that non-Western musicians are incapable of making intelligent music is insulting and inaccurate.
Ultimately, what we’re witnessing is a mere articulation of the larger quarrel between Black alternative musical culture and Black mainstream/pop audiences. By Black alternative musical culture, I mean the conflation of artists, fans, media, and venues that exist outside, and often, in contrast to the Black mainstream landscape. Many in this culture feel marginalized and dominated by musics they feel are lesser. Out of this sense of marginalization and superiority come comments, such as Glasper’s, that are incredibly disrespectful to pop audiences. They aren’t mindless sheep sucking up anything programmed on their local radio stations or on BET. They are just as conscious and critical as any listener.
Pop artists have skills too. Beyonce, Rihanna, and yes, even Chris Brown, are immensely talented artists that work hard at their craft. A pop song has to function in various ways for a large and diverse audience. Creating such a work requires a keen understanding of mass social experience and an acute awareness of what’s sonically relevant on top of artistic talent. Just because money is a motivating factor, doesn’t mean the art is any less good. In the Creative Loafing piece, Glasper notes that, in the past, black popular music culture “wasn’t a money thing, it was how different are you and how good are you.” I have no idea as to what mythical time period he’s referring to, but pop artists have always been motivated, in part, by money. The Supremes, Stevie Wonder, The Isley Brothers, and Michael Jackson all desired to sell as many records as possible. His comments are puzzling considering that he featured Lupe Fiasco on his album, whose Lasers (2011) was a blatant and unsuccessful attempt at pop success. Glasper himself wants to sell as many records as possible. If not, his album wouldn’t have a barcode. It takes a particular type of artistry to consistently sell lots of records for diverse crowds. Pop artists deserve respect, too.
I can’t totally disagree with Glasper . There is some wack stuff on the radio. There has always been wackness on the airwaves. But there is a lot of very creative mainstream music as well. If we step outside our cultural ideologies, we would gain a more accurate view of the dynamic and complex Black musical landscape. Black music hasn’t fallen, its perpetually evolving, reaching new heights at each step. Instead of closing ranks, let’s respect the totality. This would only make the music and its cultural influence stronger.