photos by Amanda Hatfield

JD Samson @ Brooklyn Museum

The first part of this post's headline is the title of a SPIN article. Here's a snippet:

"Musicians are particularly vulnerable to anti-gay sentiment because, says Ejeris Dixon of the New York City Anti-Violence Project, they "become representations of their communities. When people are attacking public figures, it's a way of sending a broader message of homophobia, transphobia, racism, and all these forms of discrimination that can be a way of really fostering a homophobic and transphobic culture. They're attractive as targets as a message to our community."

As a result, bashing is not uncommon in the non-mainstream music world (we'll call it "indie" here, with the knowledge that Merritt, who has released records on the Warner Bros.-affiliated Nonesuch, wouldn't approve of such a tag). This sphere has more out figures than virtually any other major art form, except possibly theater: [Stephin] Merritt, Beth Ditto, Antony Hegarty, Mark Eitzel, Tegan & Sara, Bloc Party's Kele Okereke, Grizzly Bear's Ed Droste, Le Tigre's JD Samson, Sigur Ros' Jonsi Birgisson, Wild Flag's Carrie Brownstein, Patrick Wolf, Ani DiFranco, Owen Pallett, the Hidden Cameras' Joel Gibb, and Bob Mould (who is comfortable enough to detail his 45th birthday present to himself -- a male escort -- in his recently published memoir See a Little Light)."

The second part of this post's headline refers to a related article on Huffington Post written by JD Samson who says, among other things:

"This summer I tried to rent an apartment in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The process sent me into an emotional crisis and awakened me into a whole new realization of our economy, the music industry at large and, more specifically, what it means to be a queer artist in 2011.

I spent days trolling around Williamsburg, looking at shitty apartments with cockroaches lining the doorways, fighting neighbors, rats in the ceiling, bedbugs infesting the linoleum floors, fifth-floor walk-ups and cat-pee-soaked carpets. The rent was exorbitant, availability was scarce, and I was turned down by two different landlords for being "freelance." To be honest, I don't blame them. Not only am I freelance, but I'm lesbian freelance. Double whammy. What was the reason they turned me down? Because it was easier to rent to a rich, trust-fund, straight-guy banker who wants to live in the coolest borough in the world? Because when he met me he saw a tattooed gender outlaw who makes "queer electronic punk music" and isn't sure when the next check is going to come in? Yeah, I don't blame him. He doesn't give a shit about how kids email me all the time thanking me for keeping them from committing suicide. It's not part of his capitalist business practice. "

Last but not least, this post also contains a set of unpublished MEN pictures from that Brooklyn Museum show. That's the JD Samson band MEN, not to be confused with The Men. The pictures continue below...

Continue reading "'Homophobia Haunts Indie Rock' & JD Samson loves her job, but it made her poor +++ MEN pics"

"And Frank Ocean Is Here........" - Tyler, the Creator

"NYC Odd Future crowd was terrible, total amateur hipster shit. I don't blame Tyler and Hodgy for being pissed. Frank Ocean rocked though." - Ari Shahdadi

"NY Was Cool. My Voice Is Completely Gone." - Tyler, the Creator

"The wolf gang is the truth." - Q-Tip

"Man. Hip hop aint been this edgy in a minute.
Enjoyed the Odd Future show tonight" - Questlove

?uestlove in a Tyler mask @ Highline Ballroom Friday night

The above audio clip of Frank Ocean was posted to Funkmaster Flex's website from the Friday night Highline Ballroom show. The below message was posted to Tegan & Sara's website earlier in the day:

When will misogynistic and homophobic ranting and raving result in meaningful repercussions in the entertainment industry? When will they be treated with the same seriousness as racist and anti-Semitic offenses? While an artist who can barely get a sentence fragment out without using homophobic slurs is celebrated on the cover of every magazine, blog and newspaper, I'm disheartened that any self-respecting human being could stand in support with a message so vile.

As journalists and colleagues defend, excuse and congratulate 'Tyler, the Creator,' I find it impossible not to comment. In any other industry would I be expected to tolerate, overlook and find deeper meaning in this kid's sickening rhetoric? Why should I care about this music or its "brilliance" when the message is so repulsive and irresponsible? There is much that upsets me in this world, and this certainly isn't the first time I've drafted an open letter or complaint, but in the past I've found an opinion - some like-minded commentary - that let me rest assured that my outrage, my voice, had been accounted for. Not this time.

If any of the bands whose records are held in similar esteem as Goblin had lyrics littered with rape fantasies and slurs, would they be labeled hate mongers? I realize I could ask that question of DOZENS of other artists, but is Tyler exempt because people are afraid of the backlash? The inevitable claim that detractors are being racist, or the brush-off that not "getting it" would indicate that you're "old" (or a faggot)? Because, the more I think about it, the more I think people don't actually want to go up against this particular bully because he's popular. Who sticks up for women and gay people now? It seems entirely uncool to do so in the indie rock world, and I'll argue that point with ANYONE.

No genre is without its controversial and offensive characters- I'm not naive. I've asked myself a thousand times why this is pushing me over the edge. Maybe it's the access to him (his grotesque twitter, etc). Maybe it's because I'm a human being, both a girl and a lesbian. Maybe it's because my mom has spent her whole adult life working with teenage girls who were victims of sexual assault. Maybe it's because in this case I don't think race or class actually has anything to do with his hateful message but has EVERYTHING to do with why everyone refuses to admonish him for that message.

It is not without great hesitation and hand wringing that I enter into the discourse about Tyler, the media who glorifies and excuses misogyny and homophobia, and the community of artists that doesn't seem remotely bothered by it. I can only hope that someone reading this might be inspired to speak out. At the very least, I will know that my voice is on record. - skq

PREVIOUSLY: 'Is hip-hop homophobia at a tipping point?' ('Goblin' out Tues.)

The Guardian writes...

"On the surface, the attitudes of LA collective Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All and fellow Golden State compadre Lil B are polar opposites. The former trade in an adolescent misanthropy heavily flavoured with violent misogyny and homophobic slurs - to such an extent that even in a genre no stranger to either, the frequency with which Odd Future lean on the shock value of lines such as "Rape a pregnant bitch and tell my friends I had a threesome" and use of the word "faggot" is notable.

On the other hand, Lil B caused a furore - and attracted death threats - last month when he announced his forthcoming album would be titled I'm Gay. Though the former Pack member is straight, it's hardly out-of-character for a rapper who specialises in stream-of-consciousness surrealism. His penchant for blurring gender and sexuality lines is already well known, whether exclaiming "Damn, I'm a princess" mid-freestyle, referring to himself as a "pretty bitch" or throwing down the gauntlet to the biggest female rapper around: "Nicki Minaj, I'm the finest bitch out!" And with songs entitled I'm God, I Am the Ocean and I'm Paris Hilton, I'm Gay is less of a grand statement than it might appear.

Thousands of words have been expended on Odd Future's lyrical content and What It All Means since their rise to prominence over the past year, but only now - as lead member Tyler, the Creator gears up for the release of his second album Goblin - have they been pressed to explain themselves. Which, in recent interviews, Tyler has done in a particularly mealy-mouthed fashion. "I'm not homophobic," he declared to NME last week. "I just think 'faggot' hits and hurts people." It would appear that Tyler's much-vaunted genius does not stretch to making a connection between these statements. Notwithstanding his inability to distinguish between active and cultural homophobia, though, it's important to remember that Odd Future is not a monolith. Frank Ocean, their R&B associate, has penned a song with an explicitly pro-gay marriage slant: "I believe that marriage isn't between a man and woman, but between love and love." And the collective's sound engineer, Syd tha Kyd, is an open lesbian whose response to the controversy is telling: "When I first started really fucking with Odd Future heavy, my dad was like, 'Really? They talk about some crazy shit and as a female, you're slapping a lot of women in the face.' I'm like, 'That's what I do. I slap bitches.'"..." [Guardian]

RELATED: Tyler the Creator was featured heavily in Sunday's NY Times, and "Thurnis Haley Golf Wang" is now up to Part Three. All three videos below...

Continue reading "'Is hip-hop homophobia at a tipping point?' ('Goblin' out Tues.)"

by BBG

Brand Nubian with Grand Puba at BHHF 2009 (more here)


A Grand Puba-less Brand Nubian will play Knitting Factory on September 1st (tickets) in honor of their classic, yet controversial In God We Trust LP:

[The lead single] "Punks Jump up to Get Beat Down"... was met with controversy over blatant homophobic content, referencing the Sadat X line "I can freak, fly, flow, fuck up a faggot/I don't understand their ways, I ain't down with gays." Despite the controversy, the single charted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 77. Later versions omitted the line, including the version on the greatest hits compilation The Very Best of Brand Nubian. -[Wikipedia]

In a 2009 interview, Sadat X revisited his ideas on the lyric. That interview, some video, and more, below...

Continue reading "Brand Nubian will perform 'In God We Trust' in full "

photos by Jessica Amaya

"The title of [the below] video is "The Black Lips' Jared Swilley apologizes for homophobia, kisses gay blogger" which made me worried that someone had forced Jared into a Michael-Richards/Dog-the-Bounty-Hunter public shaming situation over calling the fag from Wavves a fag.

Turns out it's mainly just him breaking down the difference between the high-school and hate-crime usages of "faggot" and then kissing a guy to atone for his slurs. I'd describe more of what they talk about but the make-out anticipation in interviewer guy's voice is severely putting me on edge. This must be what girls feel like ALL THE TIME. " [Vice]

Watch the above-described video (where Jared does end up making out with the interviewer) at the end of this set of pictures from last night's show at Bowery Ballroom (we'll talk more about the show in the set of pictures we have from their show one night earlier at Brooklyn Bowl)...

Continue reading "Jared Swilley apologizes for homophobia (video), Black Lips played Bowery Ballroom w/ Box Elders & New House (pics) "

photos by Kyle Dean Reinford

Every other band at Fun Fun Fun Fest over the weekend made it a point to give the fest's co-headliner Bad Brains a shout-out - a respect kind of thing. It makes sense. That's kind of what you do when you're sharing a bill with a band that helped paved the way for your own sound. That said, it was also really refreshing to hear one band take a slightly different approach. Leftover Crack's Stza also gave Bad Brains, or more specifically HR, lots of shout-outs. They were even positive shout-outs, but they were to call out HR's questionable politics/alleged-still homophobia. They were positive because they started with a speech about equality for all people, and were said in a way as to educate HR (if he was listening), AND Stza even announced his cell phone number in case HR wanted to give him a call. You can hear that last part in the first video below.

So, as pointed out, NYC's anarchist ska punk band Leftover Crack (who I had no idea were so popular because I honestly don't follow punk music that much) love everyone, EXCEPT, notoriously,...

...Oddly, the visit from detectives came just after cops arrested Leftover Crack lead singer Scott Sturgeon [also known as Stza Crack] on Friday for--no kidding--throwing donuts at the police during a demonstration outside the 9th Precinct in the East Village. Sturgeon says he was pissed off that the cops wouldn't let the band play their music at a reasonable volume.

In the complaint, Officer Richard Labore wrote that Sturgeon's antic "caused people to express alarm." Labore also wrote that Sturgeon was chanting "kill the police, kill the police."... [Village Voice, September 2008]

...police. The other video below is the band performing their hit "Fuck the Police" at the Austin festival. The show was a ton of fun. There's more pictures down there too...

Continue reading "Leftover Crack calls out HR, police @ FFF Fest - pics & video "

February 7th in Brooklyn, and then on TV....

Continue reading "NYC Forum on Anti-Gay Lyrics in Reggae Music"