the Change I Wish to See

...and whatever else it takes to find my pants

8.28.2006

did you know?

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.

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