>But we're fooling ourselves if we think this is going to come
>from the black community. Musicianship has been totally
>destroyed as something to be admired by many black youth.
>Until picking up a guitar leads to getting pussy again things
>aren't going to change much on that front. I find it
>interesting that older black artists now have more in common
>sound wise with bands that get labeled as electronica. Those
>bands seem much more open to sounds and styles that would be
>ridiculed inside the black music scene. Hip Hop has pretty
>much ghettoized black music... both figuratively and
>literally.

It can't come from the outside. I've seen signs over the years. I think it's actually much better now than it was say 10 years ago and I would give a lot of that credit to this site and the Roots. They are really the only visible Black Band out there and I think being on Jimmy Fallon actually helps as well. They definitely deserve credit for getting way more Hip Hop artists to use live bands. For the most part every major Hip Hop artists has to have a live band to tour with. That's a direct result of the Roots I believe so I don't think it's a lost cause. It will take a major young talent to swing the pendulum all the way to the point where it's cool to pick up an instrument again...a male Alicia Keys on guitar or something like that. Not saying that she is a great artist per se but she is highly visible and the "kids" do love her. And really it has to be a few artists at once, like New Jack Swing. I've seen some young kids that have given me reason for hope and plus with the way the music industry is I think there is more opportunity for something like that blow up than in any recent time. Also, like you mentioned earlier the British Soul scene gives me hope as well.

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