KMEL concert shooting

[Lkeller]

I work in an agency that has a lot of African American employees in their 30s through 50s.  They are generally church-going people, politically liberal (Democrat), but socially rather conservative.  They are not working poor, and they do not live in the ghetto. Jobs here pay well, and many of them have worked their way up into management positions. Many of them have teenagers, or young adult children.

I obviously haven't conducted a survey, but I've gotten to talk to many of them, and I've learned that the vast majority dislike rap music because of frequently misogynistic and violent lyrics. Beyond their distaste for hip-hop, they feel that they are constantly fighting the influence on their children of what they consider to be a thuggish youth culture. Naturally, they want their children to be educated, successful, and alive (i.e.: not killed by gunfire).

Sadly, a few of them have lost their children to gun violence during the decade I've been here.

[Bowler Bob in Brisbane]

wooooow! First of all David...TU1 was more than likely being facetious...and both of you are funny...maybe we shouldn't play race records on the air (I assume you guys are both old enough to remember that term) and keep it good and old timey!

I'm not old enough to remember the term "race records".  I did, however listen to KDIA 1310 and KSAN/KSOL 1450 growing up and worked for a brief time at KSOL 107.7.  I also used to work at Swan's department store in Oakland where I came to know Huey Newton and Bobby Seale a bit (they were regular customers), and at one time I knew the late Lois Davis, Tremaine Hawkins' mom.  So, I'm not exactly a stranger to black music or the black experience. 

However, that was then and this is now, and now there is a thuggish element that spoils it for people whenever an event, especially a concert, is held specifically aimed toward black people.  I'm sorry to say that, but it appears to be the truth.  A few months ago, a local restaurant/bar, the Octavia Lounge began hosting a black-oriented DJ night.  They had to put in security guards.  I happened to be walking past the place and the security guard told me to "keep walking" because "we can't have anyone standing around by the door."  It turned out that someone had threatened violence there. 

There was no such threat across the street at the gay club, Martuni's. 

David, your response made a light come on over my head.

Just a little over a month ago I handed a mock-up flyer to one of the owners of a lounge in San Francisco for a possible DJ night at his establishment.

I was wondering as to why I never heard back from him.

After reading the comments about the trouble at the Regency, I now think I know why...

Could it be that he didn't want to take a chance on the "wrong element" showing up and potentially causing damage to his venue, or even worse... violence?

Below is the text of my flyer, with the venue info deleted.

-------------------------------------------------------

                    [deleted] Presents
       
     The Classic Soul Record Party & Radio Show

        "Dance to the 60’s & ‘70’s biggest hits"

       Spun by DJ Master – Prof. Phil Moore, Jr.

            Monday nights from 9 pm to ?

                     [venue deleted]

                    [address deleted]
                San Francisco, CA 94103
                     
    "The hip & cool place to be on Monday nights!"

... or maybe not...

What a very sad commentary on our life & times...

[DavidKaye]

Could it be that he didn't want to take a chance on the "wrong element" showing up and potentially causing damage to his venue, or even worse... violence?

I'm not sure.  It could be that or it could be that it's slipped his mind, he needs to be prodded, or any number of things.  As you may know, I have been putting on live music shows in SF and Oakland for a number of years.  I often don't hear back from performers and venues, and have to keep prodding them to respond. 

I'd like to think that this is what's happening in your case and not worries about the "wrong element".  What I will say is that many venue operators are downright scared of the crowds they might attract.  Clubs such as the 1015 (site of the old Sutro Bath House of "Tales of the City" fame) has had numerous knifings and shootings in and around their establishment in recent years.  Many venues hire the giant burly Samoan bouncers because they're about the only folks who seem to get respect from the testosterone-driven 20s males who seem to be causing most of the problem.

Radio is especially vulnerable because, unlike a private email list, they simply don't know who will show up.  Radio is a mass medium, after all.

[charles hobbs]

So called "flyer parties" aren't held in particularly high regard here in LA either. A piece of cardboard on a lamppost somewhere
inviting who-knows-who to come to who-knows where (often ending up in illegally-used buildings or other unsafe places)

[jprg]

David's reply is right on the money. Again, leaving racisim out, rap does = guns, rape, violence etc. It's a fact, not fiction. KMEL should go back to rock when is used to be good.

[MarcR]

 The nihilism in Hip Hop music (guns, violence, misogyny etc.) has turned off alot of white youth, which explains why it has dropped from the 3rd most purchased genre of music at the start of the decade to the 6th most purchased at the end.

[btone1035]

David's reply is right on the money. Again, leaving racisim out, rap does = guns, rape, violence etc. It's a fact, not fiction. KMEL should go back to rock when is used to be good.

Another simple minded person.  So a couple of rap songs that talks about hitting on women, smoking weed, and shooting someone makes the whole genre bad?  I guess you never listened to rap songs that have influential messages that most deal with life struggle and trying to do good.  Ever heard of Ice Cube, Spice 1, Too Short in the early 90s, KRS-One, Common, Pete Rock?  No, all of you haters want to degrade the whole genre when you hear Snoop, Lil Wayne, 50 Cent's name, because they hog up radio play all day.  Once again, you are stuck in the mainstream media mentality.  Not going to be a real racist, but as a hip-hop fan, I am offended because there is a lot of negativity in rock, but no one brings it up in the media.  Hip-hop is taken out of proportion when there is one song that is degrading.  But no one wants to talk about the good things in hip-hop because there are a lot of good that none of you want to listen to. because you're going off what the media is telling you.  The media is corrupt.

[almaniac27]

David's reply is right on the money. Again, leaving racisim out, rap does = guns, rape, violence etc. It's a fact, not fiction. KMEL should go back to rock when is used to be good.

Another simple minded person.  So a couple of rap songs that talks about hitting on women, smoking weed, and shooting someone makes the whole genre bad?  I guess you never listened to rap songs that have influential messages that most deal with life struggle and trying to do good.  Ever heard of Ice Cube, Spice 1, Too Short in the early 90s, KRS-One, Common, Pete Rock?  No, all of you haters want to degrade the whole genre when you hear Snoop, Lil Wayne, 50 Cent's name, because they hog up radio play all day.  Once again, you are stuck in the mainstream media mentality.  Not going to be a real racist, but as a hip-hop fan, I am offended because there is a lot of negativity in rock, but no one brings it up in the media.  Hip-hop is taken out of proportion when there is one song that is degrading.  But no one wants to talk about the good things in hip-hop because there are a lot of good that none of you want to listen to. because you're going off what the media is telling you.  The media is corrupt.

Well they're hogging up radio airplay for a reason, they're the most popular!  I admit I don't care for hip-hop at all, in fact, I think it's one of the most mindless music genres out there right now, but I attended a high school that was over 60% black, so I was exposed to a lot of hip-hop music, from the bus driver only playing the local rap station, people singing in the hallways, parties, what have you.  Hip-hop is very egotistical, every rapper likes to rap about themselves for some reason, usually about how much better they are than everyone else because they have more money or women or whatever.  It's a product of the "me" generation we have going on now, it shows up in other music genres, like screamo music where all it is is some whiny loser complaining about how awful their life is.  I listen to some music that can be construed as angry, but usually they're angry for a pretty good reason.  Elvis Costello was classified as an "angry young man", The Clash sang about injustice, stuff like that.  And nihilism is nothing new either, the Sex Pistols sang about there being "no future".  I just think hip-hop has lost its direction, when it first started, rappers used to write about real issues and stuff, now it's either how great they are or they invented some retarded new dance move like the Stanky Leg.

[MarcR]

David's reply is right on the money. Again, leaving racisim out, rap does = guns, rape, violence etc. It's a fact, not fiction. KMEL should go back to rock when is used to be good.

Another simple minded person.  So a couple of rap songs that talks about hitting on women, smoking weed, and shooting someone makes the whole genre bad?  I guess you never listened to rap songs that have influential messages that most deal with life struggle and trying to do good.  Ever heard of Ice Cube, Spice 1, Too Short in the early 90s, KRS-One, Common, Pete Rock?  No, all of you haters want to degrade the whole genre when you hear Snoop, Lil Wayne, 50 Cent's name, because they hog up radio play all day.  Once again, you are stuck in the mainstream media mentality.  Not going to be a real racist, but as a hip-hop fan, I am offended because there is a lot of negativity in rock, but no one brings it up in the media.  Hip-hop is taken out of proportion when there is one song that is degrading.  But no one wants to talk about the good things in hip-hop because there are a lot of good that none of you want to listen to. because you're going off what the media is telling you.  The media is corrupt.

Well they're hogging up radio airplay for a reason, they're the most popular!  I admit I don't care for hip-hop at all, in fact, I think it's one of the most mindless music genres out there right now, but I attended a high school that was over 60% black, so I was exposed to a lot of hip-hop music, from the bus driver only playing the local rap station, people singing in the hallways, parties, what have you.  Hip-hop is very egotistical, every rapper likes to rap about themselves for some reason, usually about how much better they are than everyone else because they have more money or women or whatever.  It's a product of the "me" generation we have going on now, it shows up in other music genres, like screamo music where all it is is some whiny loser complaining about how awful their life is.  I listen to some music that can be construed as angry, but usually they're angry for a pretty good reason.  Elvis Costello was classified as an "angry young man", The Clash sang about injustice, stuff like that.  And nihilism is nothing new either, the Sex Pistols sang about there being "no future".  I just think hip-hop has lost its direction, when it first started, rappers used to write about real issues and stuff, now it's either how great they are or they invented some retarded new dance move like the Stanky Leg.

 The earliest punk records did indeed lean in a nihilistic direction, but the genre did manage to evolve out of that phase and become a top-seller as New Wave or Post-Punk. I'm not so sanguine, however, about a "post-gangsta" subgenre emerging anytime soon.

[btone1035]

David's reply is right on the money. Again, leaving racisim out, rap does = guns, rape, violence etc. It's a fact, not fiction. KMEL should go back to rock when is used to be good.

Another simple minded person.  So a couple of rap songs that talks about hitting on women, smoking weed, and shooting someone makes the whole genre bad?  I guess you never listened to rap songs that have influential messages that most deal with life struggle and trying to do good.  Ever heard of Ice Cube, Spice 1, Too Short in the early 90s, KRS-One, Common, Pete Rock?  No, all of you haters want to degrade the whole genre when you hear Snoop, Lil Wayne, 50 Cent's name, because they hog up radio play all day.  Once again, you are stuck in the mainstream media mentality.  Not going to be a real racist, but as a hip-hop fan, I am offended because there is a lot of negativity in rock, but no one brings it up in the media.  Hip-hop is taken out of proportion when there is one song that is degrading.  But no one wants to talk about the good things in hip-hop because there are a lot of good that none of you want to listen to. because you're going off what the media is telling you.  The media is corrupt.

Well they're hogging up radio airplay for a reason, they're the most popular!  I admit I don't care for hip-hop at all, in fact, I think it's one of the most mindless music genres out there right now, but I attended a high school that was over 60% black, so I was exposed to a lot of hip-hop music, from the bus driver only playing the local rap station, people singing in the hallways, parties, what have you.  Hip-hop is very egotistical, every rapper likes to rap about themselves for some reason, usually about how much better they are than everyone else because they have more money or women or whatever.  It's a product of the "me" generation we have going on now, it shows up in other music genres, like screamo music where all it is is some whiny loser complaining about how awful their life is.  I listen to some music that can be construed as angry, but usually they're angry for a pretty good reason.  Elvis Costello was classified as an "angry young man", The Clash sang about injustice, stuff like that.  And nihilism is nothing new either, the Sex Pistols sang about there being "no future".  I just think hip-hop has lost its direction, when it first started, rappers used to write about real issues and stuff, now it's either how great they are or they invented some retarded new dance move like the Stanky Leg.

If there is one thing I will only agree with the last quote, it is hip-hop heading in a wrong direction.  When I hear Lil Wayne, Soulja Boy, Stanky Legg, and those jerkin and skinny jeans songs, it makes me cringe.  Real hip-hop needs to make a comeback onto radio stations.