Throughout my childhood, I was exposed to a wide variety of artists and genres. Two of these artists that stand out the most in my memory are the Beastie Boys and the Ramones. While both of the groups have very different styles of music, they both have one large thing in common: these white musicians helped popularize music in genres created by Black people. While my mom and dad, White and Asian respectively, also exposed me and my brothers to many influential Black musicians, such as A Tribe Called Quest and Macy Gray, there is something to be said about how White musicians in genres created by Black people thrive, and even have become household names over Black artists who were arguably more influential in the history of music.
If someone were to ask me about which rock artist(s) had the largest impact on my childhood, I would say the Ramones. From listening to them on road trips to dancing around my house, no other rock artist had such a large impact on my life. I would dare to say that it is no coincidence that it was White musicians who made it into my non-Black household, even when Black artists were the basis for that sector of the industry. The Ramones often cited the Rolling Stones as one of their influences, and, of course, the Rolling Stones were heavily influenced by Black musicians. As Jack Hamilton writes in How Rock and Roll Became White, “The roots of the band’s dangerous, outsider image sprang from the belief that for a white band to play black music was a transgressive and titillating act. The Rolling Stones themselves were by no means innocent in the construction of this image.” The Rolling Stones shaped their image, and often the content of their songs, off of Black American stories and songs, even though this British band was completely White. In turn, The Rolling Stones became the face of rock music, and the inspiration and influence for many, many other bands, including the Ramones, the real rock stars of my childhood. America was more ready to digest this alternative, often violent, new mode of rock because of the White faces attached to it.
When my older brother turned twelve, the highlight of his birthday was the t-shirt adorned with the Beastie Boys “Check Your Head” cover. He still proudly wears that shirt, a testament to the fact that he knows the origin of rap. In fact, as Wikipedia states, “the Beastie Boys' 1986 album Licensed to Ill, which was the first rap album to hit No. 1 on the Billboard charts.” The fact that the first hip hop album to reach number 1 hit was an album by a group of white guys is unsurprising, as there is a long history of White musicians profiting from styles of music created by Black people. While there were many Black hip hop artists before the Beastie Boys, and many did reach mainstream commercial success, it definitely says something that it was White musicians who got the first number 1 album, and the privilege of becoming the main hip hop artist(s) in my non-Black home. Of course, there is one large difference between rock and rap (besides musically, of course). That difference is that while rock is still thought of today as a White genre, despite its Black origins, hip hop is generally thought of as a Black genre, even if there are numerous successful White musicians.
Hold Up-Beyonce: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeonBmeFR8o
- Revolutionary in how Beyonce was perceived as an artist, also this song uses many samples, something integral in the history of rap.
Sexual Revolution-Macy Gray and Erykah Badu: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wk9xTTww-JE
- Two unapologetically Black women who were both influential in my childhood and the music industry.
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