A series of now deleted tweets :
I dont have much to add but i thought this was interesting as many era posters have pointed out that rap shows tend to have a largely white audience.
Hopefully she doesnt really quit but i understand.
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Noname (black female rapper) may quit music, says she won’t perform for mostly white audiences
- Thread starter nsilvias
- Start date
A series of now deleted tweets :
I dont have much to add but i thought this was interesting as many era posters have pointed out that rap shows tend to have a largely white audience.
Hopefully she doesnt really quit but i understand.
well if she wants to quit because it makes her uncomfortable then whatever. i dont know what else she could do.
Noname is queen but I don't think she should quit music. Maybe not go on tours anymore even if that's how she makes majority of her money.
I understand exactly where she's coming from though.
I understand exactly where she's coming from though.
I mean its her choice, but this seems like a situation in which she could talk to her audiences about not saying the n word etc. Im white passing and really enjoy her music so. But I also dont listen to lyrics or sing along to songs so Im probs in the clear
so she's mad that only her white fans are willing to go to her shows and doesn't feel comfortable performing for white crowds? I guess that's her choice if she wants to quit.
I dont know anything about her, but is there something about her music that does not appeal to her intended audience? Or has her image become associated with a type of (predominantly) white crowd, making black supporters feel pushed out?
I imagine having a bunch of entitled white people addressing you with racial slurs as though that is ok and familial can just consume your passion, then not getting love from your community leaves you feeling stranded and alone. I hope she can keep her passion even if she moves away from performance.
I imagine having a bunch of entitled white people addressing you with racial slurs as though that is ok and familial can just consume your passion, then not getting love from your community leaves you feeling stranded and alone. I hope she can keep her passion even if she moves away from performance.
Weird to see the disconnect between say rappers thoughts like hers today and the blues revival of the 60s. Where the rolling stones and others brought the blues to white audiences and helped catapult Buddys, BBs, and others careers to new heights. The blues revival without a doubt helped garner allies for the civil rights movement so this modern disconnect between artist and fan seems wrongheaded to me
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her music is very much about being black in america. she's basically a poet rapper that started out at poetry slams
How hard is it for white people to just not say the word at shows?
I go to hip-hop shows all the time and never once have I shouted the n word during a performance. Goddamn, like it really isn't hard.
That's a bit reductive. She seems more upset that white people are shouting the n word freely at her shows.
I go to hip-hop shows all the time and never once have I shouted the n word during a performance. Goddamn, like it really isn't hard.
That's a bit reductive. She seems more upset that white people are shouting the n word freely at her shows.
Oh. Yeah, I can see feeling low on your art if a message like that doesnt seem to resonate with others in the black community.
Ok.
So stop your career in music because your fans don't have enough melanin. That's your choice. Just don't complain about money problems afterwards.
Also, I love how salty other musicians are with Lizzo's success 🤣
So stop your career in music because your fans don't have enough melanin. That's your choice. Just don't complain about money problems afterwards.
Also, I love how salty other musicians are with Lizzo's success 🤣
Its weird. Wu Tang Clan and the Roots are two of my favorites that also seem to have a majority of white fans.
^ And I'm sure many of her white fans reducted her comments to this sentiment.
Probably why she is claiming to quit.
She realizes that the music industry grind is getting to her, might be good for her to step back and take care of herself. Good for her.
As a non American black guy, your race relationships are beyond fucked up; mostly because of white supremacism but shit like this also sound racist as fuck to me. Changing the existent division should also include going beyond your audience's skin color, and you know, judging individuals, and not non-electable groups such as human races as a whole.
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That's even more reductive, she's just as much calling out the rest of her audience for not supporting her to the same degree. It's more an indictment of everyone else judging by her anecdotes.
I've only seen her live once in an early afternoon spot at a festival (where she tried to cut her set in half because the crowd wasn't really giving her any energy back), but she came off much more as an artist than a performer in general. I can buy her not wanting to deal with a lot of bullshit that comes along with getting on stage for people who largely aren't paying attention to what she's saying. Hopefully she either works through it or finds another path for herself, she's talented as hell.
100% true. It's up to her what she wants to charge. Or her label. I don't know if she's signed or independent but there are options.
Edit* OH cool, she bankrolled it and released it herself and from what I can gather, just put it up for free.
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I mean, it's not great. If I was white and a fan of hers I would probably be pretty upset to know that me being those combinations of things at her show pissed her off.
lol yeah, just looked into it and edited my post. Thanks! Can't find any word on album sales at all.
They seem to kind of go together, at least based on the tweets in the OP.
She is calling out black people for not attending her shows and calling out white people for saying the n word. Saying things like "I don't want to dance around for white people" is incredibly dumb though.
doesn't really seem to be about that, though
she feels like a lot of her white audience connects with her music in a toxic way, enjoying it on a superficial level while, say, refusing to stop saying the n-word at her shows
in the meantime, she's disappointed that PoC aren't showing up in high numbers and seemingly not particularly digging her music on any level at all
I can understand how that would be demoralizing
She should do what makes her comfortable. As a white dude, I can't imagine trying to navigate the complexities of a minority artist. That sucks.
I do feel at a loss on how someone like me can best be supportive of an artist in this situation. I don't want to perpetuate any problems, but I also want to go support and cheer minority artists on in their work. I don't think doing so absolves me from fighting other systemic racism issues, but I try to do what I can.
I do feel at a loss on how someone like me can best be supportive of an artist in this situation. I don't want to perpetuate any problems, but I also want to go support and cheer minority artists on in their work. I don't think doing so absolves me from fighting other systemic racism issues, but I try to do what I can.
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It's less being pissed off and more being frustrated as her music is literally about the black experience and her audience is predominantly white. she's not rapping about the things cardi b raps about. she raps about life as black woman living in chicago. her music is basiclaly poetry over hip hop beats
Yeah I can't blame her for doing this. It's not too far off from why, say, Chapelle quit his old show. I wish it wasn't going down this way but what can ya do
seems like by not going to her shows, and just buying her music? Or at least maybe bringing some PoC with you to her shows?
Even though the understanding is now artists make their $$$ on touring, so I'm not sure?
Not really surprising. But of course some people will get angry instead of listening. They never seem to want to listen.
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I hope she doesn't quit because she is a phenomenal artist but yeah, it's a weird case of you can't choose your fans. Her music is very rooted in blackness so I can see her hesitation with the music industry. Some artists can thrive with a majority white audience (JPEGMafia pokes fun at this in his shows often) but not everyone would be comfortable with that. Ironically the one time i saw her live was at AFROPUNK Atlanta last year with a super black crowd. She's great live but technical difficulties cut her time in half.
I don't know what you could do about this? I guess she could try a career outside of the US, or in a country majority non-white population? That just sounds stupid though, and not like much of a solution. I just don't know how you can filter your fan base with music being so easy to digest in today's world. I guess if you have a bunch of white people showing up, maybe the message in your music isn't resonating with the people you are aiming it at?
Yeah, this seems to be a bit of the case. If these people are showing up at your shows, maybe its because they agree with you message and want to support you. I am not sure if just shutting down and leaving music is really sending the right message.
Yeah, this seems to be a bit of the case. If these people are showing up at your shows, maybe its because they agree with you message and want to support you. I am not sure if just shutting down and leaving music is really sending the right message.
Thankfully artists are not able to ban people from their shows based on race in the US.
Patronizing art is a privilege. Tickets aren't free, having time and being able to travel aren't free. No wonder most commercial music is for a white audience.
I mean eventually you just gotta do what jpeg did and think about how it's cool that you can get white crowds to sing along to "fuck white people"
Oh I was assuming the "putting it online for free" part was metaphorical since streaming pays peanuts, not that she literally put it up as name your price on Bandcamp. I completely empathize with the position of not wanting to be forced into doing shows, but if she wants to kneecap her own direct revenue stream, that's on her.