Live from Bedford-Stuyvesant: Black Rock Invades Restoration Plaza
Yohimbe Sampson of G*A*M*E* Rebellion at Restoration Plaza (9.15.07)
What makes a Black rock band resonate with black audiences? I can't answer this question in full and I acknowledge the ways in which it oversimplifies the Black rock terrain, i.e., Black people don't all listen to R&B and Hip Hop but an array of genres and not just those of us who grew up in the suburbs and/or Seattle. It's not exposure to white folk that whets our appetite for rock, a sound an earlier generation of Black people invented. Still, still, still, to ignore the isolation and alienation of Black rockers and rock fans from tons of Black people would be foolhardy. But on yesterday's Black rock showcase in one of the blackest neighborhoods, Bedford Stuyvesant, of a pretty damn Black borough, Brooklyn, I made some noteworthy observations.
A number of bands performed, some of whom I missed as I was sick and moving slower than usual. I arrived only in time to catch Shelley Nicole's blaKbushe, Sankofa, Shrine for the Black Madonna and G*A*M*E* Rebellion. Sankofa and G*A*M*E* Rebellion's break out prospects were most promising but their receptions varied greatly. The altogether handsome guys of Sankofa have a great and familiar highly stylized mainstream rock star look (think Fall Out Boy but with a decidedly ethnic sensibility) with most of the members sporting slim fitting apparel whereas the altogether handsome guys of G*A*M*E* Rebellion rocked loose fitting outfits with more of a hip hop skater sensibility (with the exception of the bassist who had an overall great gender bending rock star look). Sankofa seemed a little unsure (and at one point admitting that the warm albeit tempered reception was a marked improvement from the bottles lobbed at their heads at previous shows) but G*A*M*E* Rebellion was all confidence. G*A*M*E* Rebellion ended up generating much mayhem during their show; Folks moshed and crowd surfed and they drew many curious youth from nearby Fulton St. into the tented Plaza venue due in part to the fact that the charismatic lead vocalist seemed to mostly rap. It was an invigorating sight and experience for anyone interested in the viability of Black rock. Now the simplest way I can explain one of the reasons why, of the two talented bands, G*A*M*E* Rebellion (comparative veterans with a longer history and a cultivated fan base) shined where newbies Sankofa sort of glimmered is that G*A*M*E* Rebellion's shtick generally conforms to narrow definitions of Black masculinity. They generally exuded heterosexuality and hypermasculinity in a way that the guys of Sankofa didn't and that, I say, made at least some of the difference. There are quite a few conventions to which an artist often has to adhere to break though to a wide Black audience because of how Black and white (and all the rest) people conceive black manhood and constrict black men. I think its important to think about this issue--cool poses and the like--as not just Black pathology but products of
racism and patriarchy.
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Comments
1.
Divine Studios HNIC says:
Are you serious? Yeah GAME has been around for years and grinding but it's fucking Rap Rock. Fucking RAP ROCK!!! Does anyone remember Limp Biskit? I mean shit even Linkin Park don't rap over rock anymore. I've seen Sankofa twice at their Loft The House Of Yes and they blew my mind. Albeit the Restoration Rock show wasn't up to the standards I've seen them before but hey I guess having an Off Day is just too far fetched. But let's go back to this... Rap Rock? Now let's be objective... GAME has been around for how long and where are they now? I saw them at SXSW and I felt bad for them and myself for trying to rep a hometown band who I've only heard through word of mouth... then to see them on stage I cringed. Shit even Mos Def realized Rap Rock wasn't such a great idea. This is the problem with "black rock"... it's too generic. Not a single GAME riff sounds like it didnt come from A RATM throway. Anyway... Spew all the side comments you want. I'm copping the Sankofa album. I'm not pitting band against band cuz they're both black and are on their grind but hey.. to each their own. Peace Bitches!
09/25/2007 at 6:18 PM
2.
d. Benjamin m. says:
oh & a book, i read that I found interesting:
"We Real Cool" © Bell Hooks
it's about black male masculinity
the responses went all over the place here, Hahaha
but I feel you Jalylah on ur original point.
I kinda wish mo' black folk would wax poetic on that topic...even when it comes to other genres of music
ain't nobody called Sammy D. gay, Harry Belafonte, Miles Davis etc.
I mean I wasn't exactly hitting the scene back then, but yeah...LOL
09/25/2007 at 5:40 PM
3.
jalylah says:
asia,
when did i say sankofa wasn't being themselves? and for the record, i was and am drug free, unless Ricola count.
all the best,
j "the abominable blogger" b
yuckmouth,
i am quite fond of the bay area rapper from whom you've ganked your name and quite befuddled by you in that you resolve your disagreement with my characterization of Sankofa's imaging (as something sort of akin to Fall Out Boy's if they were Black) by calling me a closeted gay male. be advised: gayness is not an insult and i am a woman. and a word of advice: step up the invective; its not quite cutting it.
and with regard to your rhetorical: WHO ARE YOUR TO DEFINE WHO AND WHAT IS THE DEFINITION OF BLACK ROCK?
please reread my opening lines excerpted below:
"What makes a Black rock band resonate with black audiences? I CAN'T ANSWER THIS QUESTION IN FULL AND I ACKNOWLEDGE THE WAYS IN WHICH IT OVERSIMPLIFIES THE BLACK ROCK TERRAIN, i.e., Black people don't all listen to R&B and Hip Hop but an array of genres and not just those of us who grew up in the suburbs and/or Seattle."
cheerio,
jb
09/25/2007 at 5:21 PM
4.
YUCK MOUTH says:
YOUR ARTICLE IS WIGGIDEY-WACK. LIKE YOUR LAME BRO. WHO ARE YOUR TO DEFINE WHO AND WHAT IS THE DEFINITION OF BLACK ROCK. NOT TO TAKE ANYTHING FROM THE OTHER BANDS MENTIONED IN THE ARTICLE BUT SANKOFA IS IN NO SHAPE OR FORM SOME COOKIE CUTTER BUNCH OF GUYS PICKED BY A MUSIC LABEL. THEY ARE SO MUCH MORE THEY ARE BINDED TOGETHER BY ONE THING THE; THE MUSIC. YOUR WHOLE DAMN BLOG IS GAY AS HELL YOUR TALKING ABOUT WHO AND WHAT IS MASCULINE OR HETERO OR WHAT EVER LIKE TALK ABOUT THE BAND THERE MUSICIANSHIP THERE LYRICAL ABILITY NOT SOME LAME A@* CRAP. GET A LIFE AND COME OUT OF THE CLOSET. KOFA YOUR ON THE COME UP AND KEEP DOING WHAT YOUR DOING GROW MUSICALLY AND JUST BE A GREAT BAND.
09/25/2007 at 4:49 PM
5.
Asia says:
Jalylah,
I feel that this article is an abomination. You are slinging back handed comments towards Sankofa. I have seen both Sankofa and Game Rebellion at various shows and well as the show that you are reporting about and I can honestly say that Sankofa is being themselves, they are being original and true and they don't need a shtick like Game Rebellion. Masculinity and lack of if has nothing to do with these two bands. The music is the main focus and that was what was missing from this post, an accurate critique of the music.
I don't feel anyone should take your report of the event seriously- you were "sick and moving slower than usual" (probably drugged up) and in my opinion not able to stay on course and comprehend the events that were taking place.
Get it together.
09/25/2007 at 4:48 PM
6.
d. Benjamin m. says:
Hmm...lol
the whole bottle thing was tongue in cheek & the event was fun overall. To be in Bklyn, bed stuy of all places rocking out in a plaza is definitely something you don't see every summer. I don't think I'd make the quantum leap that the "looks" of the 2 bands made a difference if at all. I think you were correct in saying Game have been around longer, and therefore have a larger fanbase & foothold in the black rock scene. Hell I remember seeing them in a laundromat in Willyburgh 3 years back or so. There also down with the afropunk fam. But to say the "heterosexual/masculine" look of the two bands made a difference is a bit of a stretch. My question becomes what is in fact "masculinity" and or the perception of such?
While I'd like to fashion myself a self proclaimed "dandy" of sorts one day, I think we do ourselves a disservice as african people by using constraints formed by 'other cultures' to describe our ways of life, our music, our swagger our whateva.
And to think, we stopped matching, wearing ties atc. cuz some bloak in DC called us an image band.
LOL
lovely summation all in all
peace to shrine, all the performers & the lovely host that day...
PS that mac & cheese homey was selling on the side was dry as shit wit strips of hard cheese, where he @? he gots a beat down coming from my grammy!
kofa out!
holla!
09/25/2007 at 4:03 PM