Here's another. Not as impressive as rhyming about hoes or prison you say? Perhaps not...But impressive nonetheless. :wink: [youtube]vO504CdIKmg&p=602DAD713BE7A7FB&playnext=1&index=8[/youtube]
Only 12 at the time of this solo. I know there is a lot more talent like this in the black community. Whether that potential is discovered and properly cultivated is another story. [youtube]J6T4OwacRL0&feature=related[/youtube]
There's plenty of good black musicians. They're just in the churches n' shit. Mainstream record companies don't want blacks that can play instruments. They want blacks that can dance. If they can play, they can dance most of the time. A black person will get more respect on "So You Think You Can Dance" as opposed to an instrument based competition.
thats absolutely right.... it seems nowadays that blacks have lost the art of making good music with good instruments... nowadays you have some musically illiterate rappers would lazily sample a old funk or R&B songs than actually making songs by playing real instruments....
Thanks for posting shaft. They are all pretty amazing at such a young age. I really like the guitar player. He is gifted for sure.
This is a documentary clip about a group of young Harlem jazz musicians called the "Youngbloods". [youtube]tHnBKWJ_c5g[/youtube]
I disagree about them being in the churches because the church seems to inspire singers more than musicians and artists. Back in the day the churches didn't care for blues and the musicians who played that type of music. And if I can be blunt most church folks are bland because most church music, in order to be safe and Christian-approved, is intentionally bland. The best artists tended to be those who in a way rebelled against their church upbringings. Also the lack of playing instruments was not a choice of mainstream record companies, it was the choice of African Americans. We put those instruments down and started moving away from them probably back whe Motown put a premium on charismatic singers who got all the glory by singing and dancing on stahe (while the musicians and instrument players were ignored). In the 70s of course there were still a lot of bands, especially with the explosion of funk. But even that died away by the 80s. The last black performers in the 80s who could get radio time on black stations while playing the electric guitar were guys like Prince, Jesse Johnson and The Time. If a black dude today though tried to get a song like "Lets Go Crazy" played on a black station he would be rejected...by black program directors, black station managers and black listeners. Period. That's on us. We put ourselves in a box. We invent the styles and then abandon them. I was kinda hoping we would start abandoning rap too and move on to something else but we seem to be holding on to that music form for dear life. But I digress. Anyway the most intolerant folks I come across when it comes to listening to jazz (not smooth jazz...REAL jazz) are black people. Even older ones in their 50s and 60s. But some of them can actually get into Lil' Wayne. Whatever. Point is even if mainstream record companies did want black folks to get away from playing instrumements, in the end we have the power regarding what type of music we perform and purchase. And we, black people, have clearly spoken. Lets not blame anyone other than ourselves.
Didn't know about that back in the day. I still think there are some good musicians in the churches, assuming that some instrumentalists have more influence in their music aside from church music. And yeah, it is bland and sounds pretty much the same. When you're stuck playing in the church, you probably won't pick up any other styles since it's gonna be the same stuff every Sunday. So I could see how they wouldn't have much appeal and be discovered.
