>"The whole 'i grew up singing in the Church' became a part
>of the standard credibility card in the utility belt of any
>black soul/R&B singer worth their salt. But i contend that
>it’s a load of bullshit."
>
>And the simple fact is, your contention isn't based on
>anything other than pure conjecture, for exactly the reasons
>that fire lays out in her opening statement.

Nigga, ANYthing that anybody says on this board is largely based on conjecture. What makes the difference is the extent to which you can back your theory up with cogent facts and sturdy research. If you don’t agree with what i’m saying, then go ahead and find some facts to refute me rather than attempting to discredit me as an individual based on where or how i might have grown up… hell, i didn’t include myself in the post in any way, so why are you bringing me into it?

Deal with the FACTS, son… argue with the message and not the messenger.

Obviously, your only refutation is “this nigga ain’t even American”… which is incredibly lame on at least 3 levels.

The Church and
>its choirs are a very real and very central part of the
>Black experience and the experience of many Black singers,
>and you discount all of that as a marketing gimmick.

I really think the problem we’re encountering here is your difficulty with elementary reading and comprehension. I think i explicitly stated at least once in the post that the Church was the realest thing in black life. I never said that it was a gimmick.

What i DID say was that it is often used as a crutch to add “soulfulness” or “authenticity” to various forms of pop music (see: The Rolling Stones’ “you can’t always get what you want” or Foreigner’s “i wanna know what love is” or R. Kelly’s “Gotham City”)

Reading is fundamental, dude.

And the
>mere act of doing so speaks (1) to an outsider status where
>you can't comprehend the Black church

LOL i can’t even begin to comprehend the logical leap of faith that gets you from there to here

and (2) an
>anthropological view that attempts to reduce *us* to terms
>*you* can understand.

Uh huh. Riiiiiiiiiiight.