Black British Music Crisis
AMW !.e. Talent: Andrea White
July 19, 2007
There seems to be an interesting debate stewing after the live showing of the Concert for Diana held in Wembley Stadium in Northwest London, in honor of Princess Diana who passed in a tragic accident ten years ago. The concert given by her two sons, William and Harry, had over 20 live performers, half of these coming from the U.S. including Puffy, Kanye West, and Pharrell. It was shown on every continent, except Antarctica. Though I did not watch the entire musical dedication, I did hear that Corinne Bailey Rae made an appearance, which was rumored to be a last-minute attraction. Also, Corrine does not appear on the official website as a featured artist www.concertfordiana.com.
Apparently the absence or lack of Black British artists during the Concert for Diana is being used as somewhat of a tool to show the world that there is a lack of respect for Black British music artists. Kwaku, founder of the Black Music Congress, which is a forum for highlighting British black music issues, networking, and a pathway to music industry education, has written a published letter to the two princes to express his concern. Though the letter is not harsh, he has stated that it may have been in oversight on the royal family’s part that no black British artists were included, and that he urges them to include these artists in any of their future events. According to Kwaku, “Britain is not short of well-known black artists. Artists such as Beverley Knight Lemar, Sway, Seal, Sade, Jamelia, Maxi Priest, Courtney Pine, and many more that have profiles comparable to many of the featured artists on the said bills.” I don’t know about you but I would trade one Sade song for Joss Stone’s entire performance any day.
One major problem according to Kwaku is that the traditional record companies have not invested the money and time in to black music artists, and they have certainly not developed any ideas on how to turn black artist into global-selling artists. There is at least one British record company that has examined its A&R development in order to develop black talent; however these artists are mostly signed to short-term deals because the expectation for the artists is usually low due to its confinement to the ‘urban’ genre. And without any global expectations, there are usually no resources to further develop these black artists.
It seems like black people all over the world are constantly in a fight for something. Whether it’s rights, equal opportunity, war or famine, black human beings are constantly subjected to the need to fight for what seems like the basic essentials, which include recognition and respect. I do not think that there were any underlying goals of excluding black British artists, but I do think that it was important to use the concert to bring bigger issues to light. In 2007, we are still dealing with the notion that blacks are not viewed as worthy according to corporate and pop culture. Kwaku said in another letter to British music companies, “What is good for British black music is ultimately good for the British music industry.” I think the American music industry would say amen to that, and I can only hope that Europe can develop more Seals and Sades to share with the world.
Source: www.eurweb.com
