The Washington Post has decided that a straight white man legally buying the recording rights to a song written by a queer black woman, and recording said song is racist. Even though the woman willingly sold him the right to record and he paid her handsomely for it, WaPo believes this is just another example of a white privileged a-hole dissing on a black queer person, so it must be racist, right?
Country artist Luke Combs has had success with his version of Tracy Chapman’s song “Fast Car” which went to #1 on the Billboard Country Charts. WaPo says that Combs’ cover of her hit may be popular with some, but WaPo seems to think that to the black queer community, it may be painful and racially insensitive at the least.
Chapman’s hit originally released in 1988 was a big hit. Since 1988 several artists, including black men, black women, white women, a 3-piece band of white men, and now a white country artist have recorded “Fast Car” for airplay. All of the artists have paid Chapman for the right to record her song, and she receives royalties every time “Fast Car” is played on the radio, no matter who recorded any particular version.
WaPo’s article stated, “Although many are thrilled to see ‘Fast Car’ back in the spotlight and a new generation discovering Chapman’s work, it’s clouded by the fact that, as a Black queer woman, Chapman, 59, would have almost zero chance of that achievement herself in country music,”. So WaPo is intimating is that you shouldn’t listen to a queer black artist’s music unless they are the ones personally performing their own songs.
“Clouded by” whom? Tracy Chapman recently was asked her feelings about her hit “Fast Car” being covered by “white country artist” Luke Combs. Chapman told Billboard that she’s ‘honored’ to be on the country charts. While many celebrated the re-introduction of Chapman’s 1988 hit, WaPo noted that Chapman, as a Black queer woman, would likely have never seen the same success in the county music industry.
They willfully ignore the fact that Tracy Chapman was not and is not a country artist. So yes, her chances of recording one of her non-country songs, and it achieving a #1 hit on the country charts are slim to none. But then I’ve never seen Toby Keith, Garth Brooks, or Dolly Parton at #1 on the Hip Hop or R&B charts either.
Does this mean that if you are a queer black songwriter, you can only sell your songs to other queer black musicians. Gotta keep those white, country music MAGA extremists (all conservative white people are MAGA extremists y’know) from paying black queer artists massive sums to record and play their music. That’ll teach those white devils.
Why are some folks over at WaPo pissed? Is it because all of the queer black folks aren’t falling in line with their Socialist ideology and racist narratives? Are you listening Tracy? Hello, Ms. Chapman? You are wrong to be honored and to be a capitalist and make money off of a product that you produced. You should be ashamed and pissed off at the cultural appropriation. You should demand that no white musicians should ever perform your songs and no white people should ever listen to your ‘queer black’ music.
Let’s take this same tact with other professions. If a queer black painter paints a painting, you can’t look at unless you’re a queer black person. If a queer black chef prepares a meal, only queer black people can eat it. If a queer black person writes a book, only queer black people can read it. That’s what they’re saying about music.
Or let’s reverse the roles. No black people can listen to music written by whites. No black people can eat a meal at a restaurant prepared and/or served by whites. No black people can read a book or an article written by whites. No black person can go to any art museum as there would undoubtedly be painting, sculpture, or other exhibits by the dreaded whites on display. Now doesn’t that sound horrible, racist, and just plain wrong? Well, according to WaPo it’s not, if you’re black.
How stupid will the Left go? They don’t have that far to go before they fall off the edge! They used the term ‘white country artist’ as if it was a derogatory term, and maybe it is to black queers. We don’t know, as it’s never come up in music before. Love it or hate it, music is music.
WaPo also said that the Black Opry, an organization for Black country music singers and fans, voiced their disappointment that Chapman is simply a “middleman” for White men’s success. Can you imagine having a “White Opry” that only allows white country music singers and fans, no blacks allowed? And if queer black people don’t want white people listening to or recording queer black people’s music, the artists don’t have to sell the recording rights to white people. It’s that simple. They are allowed to be racist in this regard.
As for the parade of morons over at the Washington Post, music is color blind. There is no black queer music. There is no straight white music. Music doesn’t care if you’re black, white, Asian, Native American, male, female, straight, green, blue, orange, purple, or queer.
Music is notes. A, B, C, D, E, F, G. There are sharps and flats. But there are no colors.
