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Robert Jones, Jr.'s avatar

I have always said that that music industry wears its racism with great pride. That explains why SZA can release a pop album and Billboard, the Grammys, and Rolling Stone consider it R&B, while Justin Bieber can release an R&B album and those same organizations consider it pop. It’s because those terms aren’t really genre classifications as much as they’re racial designations. “Pop” and “R&B,” as understood by the music industry, are euphemisms for “white people enter through the front door” and “Black people enter through the back door.” These are Jim-Crow-era-water-fountain conditions and the music industry remains one of the spaces where segregation is openly operational and enforced.

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Takondwa Semphere's avatar

genres are a funny little concept, aren’t they? 🤔

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Sara Fran Again's avatar

You know that part is what pushed them over the edge 😒. They love their lines.

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moná.thomas's avatar

wowowow this is so wild. very much “taking my ball and going home.” loser behavior.

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Johnathon Haney's avatar

Or "I can only win by cheating" but I suppose that's the same.

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Sara Fran Again's avatar

“Traditional country instrumentation” includes “electric guitar, and live drums?” Um, no it doesn’t? It sounds like they’re still accepting rock-y country as real country…which means this is truly just a meaningless way to say “only whites.”

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Johnathon Haney's avatar

Yeah but would you expect any less from the crowd that hated on the outlaw country boys way back when? And the latter WERE white.

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Sara Fran Again's avatar

True: re outlaws. I’d say that’s it’s not just about being white, but about whiteness and white supremacy as an ideology. You can’t just be white, you have to perform whiteness. (This is despite the fact that country came from folk rebellion.)

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Johnathon Haney's avatar

Performing whiteness was something the OG outlaw country boys refused to do to a man.

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Sara Fran Again's avatar

No integrity in it

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Sara Fran Again's avatar

Yeah exactly what I mean!

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hillzalive's avatar

That’s the hilarious part. Rockabilly has long been ‘country’ though admittedly it took a minute to be accepted in the canon.

But it wasn’t called “a clown show” when George jones and Johnny cash did it …

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Coco's avatar

Nasty work.

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Renee Perry's avatar

These crackers, I swear to god.

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Paprika Pink's avatar

Those cowards

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Johnathon Haney's avatar

I mean, tell me you're a fearful racist without saying you're a fearful racist with the "traditional country" shit.

My gods, you white boys THAT fearful you're unable to compete?

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Robert L Bohannon Jr's avatar

Traditional country music WTF. They don’t want another BLK to win in that genre. So just keep your country music sounding the same way it has sounded for years. You need to grow the genre with the times.

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I. Pat-Simms's avatar

They are exhausting.

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Michael Motley's avatar

They can get a traditional country category, but we can’t get a contemporary hip-hop category so guys like Killer Mike aren’t going up against Kendrick and Tyler, The Creator.

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hillzalive's avatar

This part.

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tecolote42's avatar

Minks. Pin heads. Worthless. Do I make myself clear?

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Johnathon Haney's avatar

Crystal...and far nicer than I am about this.

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Jenn's avatar

Wow

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Scarlet Ibis James's avatar

Wow

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Mike Johnson's avatar

It does not help their optics that rap country acts like Florida Georgia Line have been nominated at various shows without complaint for years.

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