Moses Warren ("Hip-hop, R&B inconsistent genres," April 5) ended that enjoyable piece thusly: "So, what is music?" In short, it is the most powerful of the art forms, whether it is rap or Verdi. "Is there such a thing as white music or black music?" No!
I'm reminded of going through airport security for my flight to Las Vegas. "Whatever happened to racial profiling?" I thought, and "Where is white skin privilege when I need it? Why is my white, Scottish-Irish a- in line with the other terrorist suspects?" Sound familiar?
Maybe it's the revenge of the Philistines? But I'm absolutely certain of one thing - the obese man who wanded me head to toe also put his "Feelin' on Yo Booty" (R. Kelly), and I started singing a very different tune from the carillon playing on campus. But I do feel a need to couch Warren's point into historical perspective.
I grew up on a big Delta farm, hearing the sounds of Blues and Gospel music that came across the cotton fields, hearing Blue Grass on white radio and getting a belly full of classical at the First Presbyterian Church on Sundays. But most of all, I remember standing outside, the local black church on Sunday nights and the local drive on Saturday nights listening to some great music. Local whites called this music "black music," but I still love it today. In fact, my wife and I still make the Delta Blues tour each year, hitting all the dives we can in a week. But I can't stand nasal country, punk and rap.
I don't know if Hip-Hop and R&B genres are consistent or not, but I know that Def Jam's Jay-Z doesn't want his black a- to be seen on the cover of VIBE magazine with Jive's R. Kelly. And I've heard "The Best of Both Worlds."
The rappers have known for a long time that flirtation with the wrong side of the law is a good career move, but Kelly's situation is very different. I like his "I Believe I Can Fly," but I can't stand his "Feelin' on Yo Booty." Is it because I'm white? No! I like Def Jam and Jay-Z; that is, I'm making no excuses.
I will not here, make an assessment of the state of music in America, except to register what is to me, a disquieting impression. To isolate an event, to describe it powerfully and personally, and to leave its assessment, political and cultural implications to others is no crime - unlike what R. Kelly has been charged with in Chicago.
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