the Change I Wish to See

Until 1983, the Billboard music chart gods filed most of the music
by black artists as "Black" Singles, Records, etc.

I guess hip-hop was burgeoning, and no one at the RIAA or Billboard was at the forefront. But "Black"? To describe - can I even say this? - a race of music, not just what was then an unknown genre? Even artists like Janet Jackson, who then could never really have been confused as hip-hop, found herself on the list. I know we make delineations at home, across dinner tables, but something seems terribly wrong about making that official.

I suppose it's just kinda funny that a business overlooking and cataloging so much creativity had so little of its own.