Random Thoughts
Yesterday City Pages published this article What songs, artists The Current played since 2009?. As a woman and a person of color, I found it extremely disappointing to see one person of color and absolutely no women. The staff's best of lists for 2018 speaks another story but what I see here screams whiteness to me. It is great that Prince gets lots of airtime but he isn't the only POC in the music scene especially in the Twin Cities that is filled with numerous ethnic communities. My question is why is that artists and songs that gets the most airtime on The Current (according to the lists featured in the article) are white and male? Hello? Lizzo? Sophia Eris? Mina Moore? Sarah White Black? Maria Isa? Chastity Brown? Or what about the group Astralblak? I am rather surprised that an artist like Dessa (or Aby Wolf didn't even make the list) considering her popularity in the Twin Cities and the entire state in general. Do these women not deserve the same amount of airtime on the radio as do listed in the City Pages article? I would not go as far as to say the aforementioned women do NOT get any airtime on The Current however it is obvious women (especially women of color) do NOT get equal airtime as do their white male counterparts.
This morning I kept an out on The Current's website and what they were playing, what I saw was a lot of white male artists/bands. Within the four hour time period, I only have seen one female artist (Robyn) have her music played. I later saw the station played "Sugartooth" by Brandi Carlile. This is sad commentary about The Current/MPR. NPR music The Current is not and never will be as long as they favor white male artists/bands over women and people of color, and they will never get my respect or money. I have spent all my years navigating through a white world, and I find myself tired of it as I get older. Representation of all races, religion, gender (which includes gender identity), sexual orientation, and disabilities is so important.
Finally, I decided to create a list of artists/bands whose music that The Current should air:
Rhiannon Giddens - Rhiannon is my current favorite artist right now. I started listening to her music when I read about her new group she put together called Our Native Daughters which you can find their debut album Songs of Our Native Daughters comes out next month (and I pre-ordered the album after hearing two tracks from it on Spotify, and those songs sent chills up and down my spine). I have so much respect for Rhiannon not just for her classical training and her equally amazing skills as a musician but the amount of research she does for her music since she incorporates black history into her songs (no more different than what she did or does with her band Carolina Chocolate Drops). I have included a behind the scenes look at the making of one of the band's song which is really heartbreaking to listen to.
Birds of Chicago - Allison Russell is also part of Our Native Daughters. Actually it was through the Birds of Chicago Facebook page is how I discovered about her new project with Rhiannon. I discovered Birds of Chicago on Spotify (via Chastity Brown's Spotify page). I was curious about the band's music and became hooked after I listened to their latest album Love in Wartime for the first time (I eventually bought a physical copy late last year).
Autumn (US band) - My favorite has been around for just over two decades (with a lengthy hiatus in between). It really irritates me that in all this time, the band has been virtually ignored by the local radio stations especially The Current. Unfortunately this town is a indie rock/hip hop town.
Nahko and Medicine For the People - I initially started listening to Nahko when he released his solo album My Name is Bear in 2017 just months after having a horrible summer, and then I started listening to his band's music and fell in love with it. I love that he mixes his western upbringing with his native and philipino heritages.
I would love to see more non-American artists be given airtime at The Current especially if their music is sung or rap in other languages. I especially would love to hear Mexican/Latin American hip hop on The Current.
Mare Advertencia Lirika
Azam Ali
Rebeca Lane
Anita Tijoux
Rebel Diaz
This morning I kept an out on The Current's website and what they were playing, what I saw was a lot of white male artists/bands. Within the four hour time period, I only have seen one female artist (Robyn) have her music played. I later saw the station played "Sugartooth" by Brandi Carlile. This is sad commentary about The Current/MPR. NPR music The Current is not and never will be as long as they favor white male artists/bands over women and people of color, and they will never get my respect or money. I have spent all my years navigating through a white world, and I find myself tired of it as I get older. Representation of all races, religion, gender (which includes gender identity), sexual orientation, and disabilities is so important.
Finally, I decided to create a list of artists/bands whose music that The Current should air:
Rhiannon Giddens - Rhiannon is my current favorite artist right now. I started listening to her music when I read about her new group she put together called Our Native Daughters which you can find their debut album Songs of Our Native Daughters comes out next month (and I pre-ordered the album after hearing two tracks from it on Spotify, and those songs sent chills up and down my spine). I have so much respect for Rhiannon not just for her classical training and her equally amazing skills as a musician but the amount of research she does for her music since she incorporates black history into her songs (no more different than what she did or does with her band Carolina Chocolate Drops). I have included a behind the scenes look at the making of one of the band's song which is really heartbreaking to listen to.
Birds of Chicago - Allison Russell is also part of Our Native Daughters. Actually it was through the Birds of Chicago Facebook page is how I discovered about her new project with Rhiannon. I discovered Birds of Chicago on Spotify (via Chastity Brown's Spotify page). I was curious about the band's music and became hooked after I listened to their latest album Love in Wartime for the first time (I eventually bought a physical copy late last year).
Autumn (US band) - My favorite has been around for just over two decades (with a lengthy hiatus in between). It really irritates me that in all this time, the band has been virtually ignored by the local radio stations especially The Current. Unfortunately this town is a indie rock/hip hop town.
Nahko and Medicine For the People - I initially started listening to Nahko when he released his solo album My Name is Bear in 2017 just months after having a horrible summer, and then I started listening to his band's music and fell in love with it. I love that he mixes his western upbringing with his native and philipino heritages.
I would love to see more non-American artists be given airtime at The Current especially if their music is sung or rap in other languages. I especially would love to hear Mexican/Latin American hip hop on The Current.
Mare Advertencia Lirika
Azam Ali
Rebeca Lane
Anita Tijoux
Rebel Diaz
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