Saturday, January 9, 2010

Roots

Jimmy Kimmel seems fascinated by the fact that Australian actor Abbie Cornish also has talents for rapping and graffiti.
Why is he so surprised?
Even given the lack of cultural sensitivity expressed by many white Australians - aren't most people influenced by Black culture?

Why is it surprising that Ms Cornish would take her cultural queues from an era of the genre that produced Afrika Bambaata?

Wasn't Little Richard the model for many rockers of his era?

Wasn't Bird a seminal artist of his genre?
Wasn't it Cab Calloway who added some swing to the Big Band era?

Didn't Scott Joplin add a bit of Ragtime to the slow marches of his era?

Can't all this creativity be traced back to the music brought over by the slaves?
If the dominant culture is always trying to make everything into a Black and white issue - doesn't it always take a popular subculture to restore color to these old black and white images?

3 comments:

FreeMan said...

Was he surprised with Eminem or the Beastie Boys. I mean I'm not surprised when I see Lenny Kravitz as Rock seems to come full circle.

I wouldn't be surprised in the next 15 years there will be a lot more white rappers. Afterall since NWA rap music has been the most dominant music form. It's going to be an interesting mix of music as Lil Wayne has a chance to be Frank Sinatra even though I can't stand his music. Jay-Z is trying to becomes a POP star right now.

So the influence is bigger than what most realize.

doll said...

Hasn't rap had its day?

I saw a middle aged Englishman rapping in a Christmas pantomime.....so could it now be no longer fashionable but part of mainstream.

uglyblackjohn said...

@ FreeMan - Yeah, but Em and the Beasties were brought up in "Black" surroundings.
Abbie is in Australia.