"Racial Divider" Within Electronic Music??

[Tha Gooch]

Man I do the same music, they stop coming to shows
It's like they scared of the white boys in the front row
First I was like "so?" I'mma get my dough
But the numbers kept falling as my fan base would grow
And now I'm concerned so I gotta speak up
First the money was the only thing shutting me up
But now I don't care, don't support me, get mad
Why wouldn't you abort me, my own people have
I feel I should have the scans white rappers have
It's sad but that's the way it is
What's the reason that my album doesn't sell like his?
And don't front like you don't know why the hell that is
It's because he's white, you can relate to his face
Through the years you've been taught that Black is unsafe
Plus it's only natural for your own to be embraced
Conscious or subconscious you can't say that ain't the case
Only reason it took so long to take place
Was up until now your only choice was 3rd Bass
Or others like Ice, wasn't really that tight
Now you got some white dudes who can truly rock the mic
You relate to their stories cause you share that past
Question is, why would you listen to MURS' Black ass?
I asked myself for a while but now I finally get it
Good music transcends all physical limits
It's more than something that you hear, it's something that you feel
When the author and experience and passion is real
Used to feel I should be silent, I was scared to do this song
But I want everyone aware of what is going on
Yes it is jazz and yes it is the blues
And yes it is the exact same way they did rock
But I refuse to watch the same thing happen to hip-hop
I refuse to watch that bullshit...

And This Is For...
Murs

[dry_bones]

Daamn that's pretty awesome! Out of curiosity though, are you white or black? Maybe I'm too white, but I'd have a hard time getting the balls to drop that.

And back to OP, I really don't see a racial divider in EDM.

----

I should also mention that "the white people that held everyone down" is included in that "speech" of sorts. And I'm lebanese; olive skinned, but technically in the US I'm considered white Caucasian

I don't have that sound clip, otherwise I'd share it here. I lost it in a reformat, but I plan on re-recording it. It was to metronome at 128bpm at 16 bars so it worked really well with big, epic buildups. I wanna do one for dubstep too. I'll share it where it's done. Just gotta get around to it.

I wanted to use shock to get peoples attention and then drop the message. That's always been something I've loved about about EDM... the fact that people of all races and backgrounds can come together and groove out. Doesn't get any better than that

[Paka Ono]

Seriously?

In the UK (or at least in Bristol) there is no 'racial divider' in the EDM/HipHop/Bass Music scene at all ...

Obviously I don't live in the UK, but listen to the BBC daily, and altho 1xtra has recently shed the label, for years it was the "black music" station. The jingles all said "Love black music, love 1xtra"

I didn't have a problem with it, and while it's not a divider per se, I did find it odd they would identify themselves as the black music station and just wrote it off as a UK culture thing.

[DoubleG]

In the EDM scene there doesn't seem to be huge racial divider even though white people do dominate the current scene you have to admit much of the early house scene for example was mainly begun by black people.

Thats for producing, but for DJing it depends on the place your playing in. I mean in Canada/US/Uk a non-white perso could easily get a gig. But if your living in some European Countries like France, Spain, Italy you can see that these societies do have a bit of stigma towards coloured people especially Arabs/Blacks. Now no all people from these countries are rascit but there are bit more those countries then others.

[diezdiazgiant]

I don't see how even if this article is trying to be positive, how it won't offend some people with some sort of generalization. This forum is international, so even if you were like some sort of dj jesus who could walk amongst all the scenes and groups of your city and understand everyone and their fears and motivations - those observations would only hold true for your city. I'm from chicago, me trying to write about an experience or dynamic, at best will only hold true for a chicago experience - that experience won't hold true or translate well to someone who is from brighton or johannesburg. Anything short of a book would without a doubt be generalizations based on your limited world view

[djspinnaspin]

When I Mean Racial Divider....Am talking about the divder from the audience point of view,and from a club promoter point of view.....I've showed up to gigs plently with the promoter saying, "Your Here For The Hip-Hop Set Right"?...Just because am black doesn't mean that I have ONLY hip-hop,and R&B. From a younger perspective,this is what our ERA see's the dj race as

-White: Top 40,Rock,House,Techno(PURE TECHNO),Trance
-Mexican: House,Electro,Dubstep..ETC.EVERYTHING
-Black: Hip-Hop,R&B,Jerkin,Slow Jams

Even though these stereotypes may be true about what we spin based on our race.....BUT it's also true that am going to be forever judge for Being a "African American" that plays "Electro,Dubstep,Hardstlye....and SOME HOUSE"

Am baseing all this off of the judgeing that is based in AMERICA,not the U.K.,not anywhere else....BUT america. Most of you guys say there is NO racial barrier with which race is Socially ALLOWED to bump EDM, yes there is. How can there not be? But with today's dj pool's pumping out more Uptempo remixes,edits,and dubstep remakes....HOW CAN THIS NOT EFFECT THE PLAYLIST OF A RACE?

Untill someone can point me to more artist like "Felix Da House cat,and Carl Cox....Then I'll rethink my opinoin,but untill then...I STRONGLY urge you to think about it

[The Vly]

-White: Top 40,Rock,House,Techno(PURE TECHNO),Trance
-Mexican: House,Electro,Dubstep..ETC.EVERYTHING
-Black: Hip-Hop,R&B,Jerkin,Slow Jams

These types of racial stereotypes can be applied to anything, anywhere, in any professional field, etc.... That said, I think it's much less relevant in EDM than in other fields. Sure, it may be something to think about, but I really don't think it needs to be discussed in depth and I don't think an article about it would really do anything...

[guiltyblade]

that is a terrible topic. It offers nothing to the Djing community expect start flames. Seriously there is no point to bring this subject up unless you are looking to start controversy.

[DigitalDevil]

I love the "white/mexican/black" divider lol... stay PC, my friends.

[haze324]

I'm Cuban

I play from House to Hip Hop

No Dubstep though