Belonging
It's selfish, I admit it. But I'd love to see more black guys and girls at rock concerts. Rock comes from blues and rap comes from rock and house music. All music are a bunch of cousins, first or second. I wish people would see that. Most black people I know like rap and R&B.
I know that's a broad generalization, so forgive me. I just want to see more black people when I go to a Starset show or a Breaking Benjamin show so we can bang heads with the white people and Hispanic folks and everyone else. That would be badass to me.
It took me a little bit of time to accept that rock music is really just a part of who I am. Quick side note: any black guy my age who tells you they didn't grow up on rock is lying to you. Rap hit it big in the mid 80s and while there certainly was plenty of soul and r&b talent there was a lot of Eurythmics and hair metal bands too. We listened to it. I didn't really pick rock back up until the mid 90s. I went to the neighborhood high school and it was 99% black, gangsta rap and r&b ruled the day.
I need to add that all of that is who I am too. Old school rap and a ton of gangsta rap tells you a reality most Americans would pretend doesn't exist. But there's a reason it rings true, still today. Those stories were real. Nowadays? Ehhhhhhh.
But I picked up rock in college. Specifically, grunge. Something about people singing that shit wasn't ok all the time and might not be awesome tomorrow either was a stark contrast to the boasting and bragging I'd heard for about 6-7 years straight. It struck a chord.
But when I brought it home my brother told me I was just trying to be like Dennis Rodman, who loudly proclaimed his love for Pearl Jam. No, I really wasn't. And it started occuring to me that was true because I was listening to Alice in Chains alone and didn't need to be around my friends to enjoy it. Of course, it helped that it reminded me of friends in addition to any reminders of melancholy I had in my head or heart at the time.
Later on, people would look through my CDs and see everything from R&B to hip hop to rock to dance. I guess they represent facets of who I am. Or who I was, which means who I am as well.
Nowadays, everyone has their own mix and their own headphones to listen to their own stuff in their own worlds. It's good to be alone in your music space but man, it's cool to go to a show and see that there are people just like you who get off on the music and the vibe the same way you do. For a brief moment everyone is there in a form of love and fellowship and got damn, we need that so much right now on this world.
Wherever you are, rock out in your own way. Maybe I can bang heads with you.
I know that's a broad generalization, so forgive me. I just want to see more black people when I go to a Starset show or a Breaking Benjamin show so we can bang heads with the white people and Hispanic folks and everyone else. That would be badass to me.
It took me a little bit of time to accept that rock music is really just a part of who I am. Quick side note: any black guy my age who tells you they didn't grow up on rock is lying to you. Rap hit it big in the mid 80s and while there certainly was plenty of soul and r&b talent there was a lot of Eurythmics and hair metal bands too. We listened to it. I didn't really pick rock back up until the mid 90s. I went to the neighborhood high school and it was 99% black, gangsta rap and r&b ruled the day.
I need to add that all of that is who I am too. Old school rap and a ton of gangsta rap tells you a reality most Americans would pretend doesn't exist. But there's a reason it rings true, still today. Those stories were real. Nowadays? Ehhhhhhh.
But I picked up rock in college. Specifically, grunge. Something about people singing that shit wasn't ok all the time and might not be awesome tomorrow either was a stark contrast to the boasting and bragging I'd heard for about 6-7 years straight. It struck a chord.
But when I brought it home my brother told me I was just trying to be like Dennis Rodman, who loudly proclaimed his love for Pearl Jam. No, I really wasn't. And it started occuring to me that was true because I was listening to Alice in Chains alone and didn't need to be around my friends to enjoy it. Of course, it helped that it reminded me of friends in addition to any reminders of melancholy I had in my head or heart at the time.
Later on, people would look through my CDs and see everything from R&B to hip hop to rock to dance. I guess they represent facets of who I am. Or who I was, which means who I am as well.
Nowadays, everyone has their own mix and their own headphones to listen to their own stuff in their own worlds. It's good to be alone in your music space but man, it's cool to go to a show and see that there are people just like you who get off on the music and the vibe the same way you do. For a brief moment everyone is there in a form of love and fellowship and got damn, we need that so much right now on this world.
Wherever you are, rock out in your own way. Maybe I can bang heads with you.
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