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I'm Black Like You, So Why Does My Music Define Me?

By Tamara Gardner
Contributing Writer

Maybe it was my own insecurities that caused me to hide the fact that I was a closet, "pop culture" music lover. I used to think music was universal language that all people could enjoy, and no one would be judged on what they listened to.

Boy, was I naive. The kids I grew up with would have had a field day with me if I mentioned that Big Daddy Kane is okay, but Madonna is better. I learned fairly early in school that this could cause laughter so loud that a 10-year-old rarely feels part of the crowd. So when we discussed our favorite artists, I didn't tell them who I really liked.

Nowadays, the music that I listen to causes people to place a label on me that I don't quite understand. People believe that I attended predominately white schools, lived in an upscale neighborhood, or all my friends were white because I listen to Aerosmith, Train, Everclear, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Spacehog, The Cranberries, and The Dave Matthews Band. None of these stereotypes is true.

Does my listening to this music make me any less black? Some choose to think so because they believe I don't support black music, and whites have been stealing music from blacks since the beginning. Some whites may have wanted to do that, but I am sure many of today's artists just want to contribute to the type of music that they like and invent new ways to listen to it.

Why is race such an important issue in music? In order to sell records, some artists had to hide their race. When the Beastie Boys released their first album, they didn't have pictures of themselves because Russell Simmons, their producer, believed blacks would not readily accept white rappers. Also, Dave Matthews was born in South Africa and most of his musicians are black. But didn you know that? Probably not.

Many artists have, and still are, trying to break down the barriers between genres. Run DMC and Aerosmith were the first to score a major smash with the song, "Walk This Way," which put both groups on the music map. Today, we have bands like Living Colour (an all-black rock band), Limp Bizkit, Kid Rock, and Rage Against The Machine who are merging rap with rock.

So why limit yourself to a certain type of music? Love it all, dance to it all, and let it move you in different ways.

Tamara Gardner, 20, a sophomore, is a journalism major.