Editors Blog
Kid Rock and Lil Wayne / Photo by Rick Diamond/WireImage.com
Despite Lil Wayne and Kid Rock, Is Country Music Still Racist?
Don't let the green grass fool you, says SPIN's Charles Aaron: The CMAs lack cultural change we can believe in.
By Charles Aaron 11.14.08 4:11 PM
Kid Rock and Lil Wayne / Photo by Rick Diamond/WireImage.com
Unless you had taped episodes of Gossip Girl, True Blood, 30 Rock, The Office, Skins, and Yo Gabba Gabba! to watch (like me), then Wednesday night's Country Music Awards was txt-yr-BFFz appointment television. Why? Well, it sure as hell wasn't for scintillating thunder-and-lightning cohosts Brad Paisley (forgot to wear his lifts) and Carrie Underwood (can't remember her last meal), who reached John McCain-like levels of cue-card clumsiness.
Nor was it for the latest in an endless parade of promo spots by warbling blonde teen automoton Taylor Swift (is there any artist, aside from maybe Led Zeppelin, who more unites aging white-guy rock critics?) No, the big CMA hype was for faux-Martian axeman/MC Lil Wayne, who was scheduled to appear with faux-redneck axeman/MC Kid Rock, and perform the shit-kickin' millionaire's werewolves-of-Alabama blight on 2008, "All Summer Long."
Admittedly, the idea of Weezy crashing the country-music megachurch and potentially rapping about venereal disease and Xanax prisons and oh, the devil, was pretty enticing. Unfortunately, it was a massive non-event, as Mr. F. Baby simply stood onstage innocuously in a football jersey and shades and fedora and pretended to pluck at the strings of his guitar (imagine Jim Belushi at a Blues Brothers concert circa 1997). He didn't rap, nobody introduced him, and he barely looked up at the non-plussed audience. At best, he was Kid Rock's cred trophy, like Run-D.M.C. years before. All Wayne's no-show revealed was how awkwardly lily-white the country world remains. He's never looked more like an alien.
So clearly, a lot of questions were raised afterwards, beyond the usual CMA heckling, like, "What the hell is the deal with Trace Adkins and is there any reason not to be scared shitless of him?" (Adkins, whose 2005 smash "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk" was a stupefying jock-jam spoof of hip-hop slang/imagery, complete with butt-quaking in-da-club video and synth-funk beat, looked like Hulk Hogan's mean-ass little brother at the CMAs, and turned the beautiful, nostalgic ballad "You're Gonna Miss This" into a weirdly menacing threat.)
Anyway, here are the Top 10 most pressing questions that came to mind post-CMA before I went back to obsessing over that shapeshifting dog and Helter Skelter hippie chick on True Blood.
1. Why is it easier in 2008 to elect a black president than to have a legit black country music star? I mean, Charley Pride scored 36 No. 1 country hits in the '60s, '70s, and '80s, but other than that, the handful of African-American country singers who've gotten any notice -- O.B. "The Chocolate Cowboy" McClinton, Stoney Edwards, Cleve Francis, Rissi Palmer, Trini Triggs, Carl Ray, Vicki Vann -- have been marginalized despite obvious talents. It's certainly not a white-rapper situation, where the vocal abilities of the would-be crossovers are, generally speaking, embarrassingly derivative, overmarketed garbage. With a decent song, it's been proven repeatedly -- literally anybody can have a country hit. C'mon Nashville, it's time for change we can believe in!
2. Since the Lil Wayne debacle means that Cowboy Troy is still the only African-American to ever rap on the CMAs (See Big & Rich's "Rollin'" in 2004), shouldn't we be investigating whether the hick-hopper cut some backroom deal to shut Weezy up? Really, what other explanation is there?
3. Why does Kid Rock keep getting credit for cheesily integrating the most hackneyed, Southern-strategy aspects of "white" culture with the most obvious, minstrel-like qualities of "black" culture? The only thing that blowhard should ever be acknowledged for is the fact that he still patronizes Waffle House.
4. Has there ever been a more pathetic tribute to a punk legend than Kid Rock's troll-like guitar player wearing a "Joe the Strummer" t-shirt while hacking through the riff from Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama"?
5. How bummed is Nelly that nobody even remembers that "Over and Over" song he did with Tim McGraw back in 2004, breaking the hip-hop/country barrier?
I like your magazine, and I expect good articles on music. This article is so unfathomably bigoted and ignorant that I had to check my address bar to make sure I wasn't logged into rollingstone.com. Living as an artist in the Portland area, I understand the division between urban-progressive ideals and rural-traditionalist ideals. This article displays absolutely no insight into either. It is indeed easier to belittle sections of our diverse culture that you do not understand and reduce them to an imagined adherence to our nation's greatest challenge, racism. Easier, but not intelligent or even culturally responsible. I wonder how such a merchant of myopic divisive idiocy makes a living as a writer for a pop culture magazine. I would like to politely suggest to Mr. AAron that he immediately pop is ego inflated cranium out of his tookai with the utmost urgency.....I mean, don't hurt yourself. But seriously. Use a shoehorn if you have to.
its quite clear Charles (author) is onto something...what did he say in this article that doesnt make sense.....Im still waiting....I think he's stating the obvious so why is everybody crying. I thought this article would be stupid based on the title, but as i read on, it all makes logical sense. Maybe thats because I was born in 1982 and I like many grew up in the hip-hop era. If anyone deny's this articles contents, they are in denial themselves. As far as urban-progressive ideals and rural-traditionalist ideals, if your looking for that in a spin article, take a sociology class, give me a break. Aaron is right on, so he calls the truth, what usually happens now-a-days when someone calls the truth, they get flack...so nevermind the traditionalist bloggers that listen to Kid Rock (a joke)...And Lil wayne, said he's a great like "MLK Jr." so I can see why Kid and Lil would hook up, they both need help(mentally, musically, figuratively)!!!!......PS.....were not 12 anymore so why the ps....if thats the case Aaron must be my bff, omg, how toolish.....
Hey Dan, I too was born in 1982. So, If I wanted to claim some relation to the Hip Hop era (nevermind countless other cultural movements/expressions between then and now)...I probably could. The problem of course would be that I would be behaving in a "toolish" manner. If the "logical sense" of this article appeals to your ideals, then your ideals are based on divisive ignorant stereotypes. Enough of this Red state vs. Blue state nonsense (What is a "traditionalist blogger"?). Time for some diversity of thought and perspective. Stop demonizing people who don't agree with your point of view. We all have a lot more in common than that.
Ok mateodominico , let's not cross our words here, you claim..."Stop demonizing people who don't agree with your point of view. We all have a lot more in common than that.", so where did your "unfathomably bigoted and ignorant" comment come from. wether blue or red, how you started talking of politics i don't know, but if your looking for insight into the genres of country and hip hip, don't assume you'll get it on the internet period. Actually research what Aaron said and find what he said you think is false. I haven't found this to be the case (although I didn't write it) I can only assume that you associate yourself with, "countless other cultural movements/expressions" or you would have no influences. And you are right, the way you speak would assume you can't claim to be part of the hip-hop era. As for me, there has been many areas of hip hop that have touched my life... The basis of this article was to explain how something is lacking in the music community. Some musicians will never cross boundries, some will, that's the basis. This article was funny, it made me laugh, all the talk of rappers/country musicians using technology to act like they have a voice(when they're really tone-def)...as an artist, what don't you agree with that(unless you use vocal masking too)? You must know a lot of african-american country singers, or maybe not....and really don't bring politics into this...if i assumed everything was related to politics, life would equate a quagmire....quagggmire...giggity-giggity
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