BLACK MUSIC AND THE 1980s By: Alyssia Muela The 1970s affect on the 80s ● During 1971 former president, Richard Nixon began the war on drugs which gave him a way to vilify his two main political enemies which included Black Americans and the anti-war left. ○ Nixon’s aide confirmed that this was the case with the quote to the right. “We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by ○ This caused significant damage and had an getting the public to associate the hippies immense impact on black communities with marijuana and blacks with heroin. And then criminalizing both heavily, we everywhere in the US. could disrupt those communities, We could arrest their leaders. raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.” -John Ehrlichman The 1980s ● On January 20th, 1981 Ronald Reagan was inaugurated as president of the United States who put legislature into place that massively impacted black communities. ○ He heavily reinforced the the War on drugs. ○ Reagan crafted stereotypes about welfare like “welfare queens” and put into place legislature against welfare which impacted black communities. ○ Reagan also put into place Trickle Down Economics AKA Reaganomics which also heavily impacted black communities. Black Music in the 1980s (NWA) ● Songs like Dope Man by NWA were influenced by drug culture and the war on drugs in black communities. ○ The drug culture in black communities is suspected to be the result of the CIA introducing drugs into such communities. ● This song seems to make light of the iron grip that men like the “Dope Man” in the song had on these communities. ● Songs like Fuck Tha Police were also aimed to bring light to police brutality going on in black communities. ○ Police in the eighties would racially profile members of the black community and assume that they had drugs or were involved with gang activity. ● According to Dr. Dre specifically “All police ain’t bad police just like 90% of them.” ● https://www.theguardian.com/music/video/2015/aug/10/nwa-straight-outta -compton-1988-video ● In this Interview by NWA they go more into depth on why they make the music that they do. ○ The members of the group say that they make music about what is going on around them ● They make music for themselves and they feel as though if others don’t like it then they shouldn’t buy their music. Black Music in the 1980s (LL Cool J) ● LL Cool J in this interview claims that the reason he makes music isn’t for the same reasons as groups that rap about how hard life is, he makes music to remind people that there is good in life. ● He doesn't want people to listen to his music and feel depressed he wants them to feel better. ● Cool J made love songs and songs that made others happy in order to distract himself and others from how messed up the world is. ● He claims that the songs he makes are to make people feel better instead of making depressing music. Black Music in the 1980s (Michael Jackson) ● Michael Jackson paved the way for a lot of black musicians by being one of the first black people to be on MTV a primarily white space ○ His hit Billie Jean had to be fought for to get it on MTV but after his music video started to be played on a more regular basis it opened the door for a lot of other black artists to continue to make music ● Jackson was inspired by many different artists and also inspired many other artists. ● He became very famous for his music and was dubbed the King of Pop. ● Another hit of his, Thriller, got an almost 14 minute music video which was the most expensive at the time ○ This music video cemented his Career and also paved the way for many other black artists. How the 1990s was affected by the 1980s ● People who were making music in the 1980s continued to make the same type of music in the 1990s that brought light to issues that were happening the black community. ● TuPac had a tattoo on his chest that said T.H.U.G. L.I.F.E. which stood for “The Hate U Give Little Infants F*cks Everyone” which was directly about how the hate that black kids get messes everyone’s lives up. ● Michael Jackson also came out with songs like They Don’t Really Care About Us which is about police brutality and how people don’t really care about the black community and their suffering. ● The music in the 1980s definitely affected the the music of the 90s and a lot of the artists from the 80s even carried over into the 90s. References Marcel Vanthilt, Marcel. “LL Cool J Interview - Old School HipHop 1986.” YouTube, VPRO, 20 May 2008, www.youtube.com/watch?v=8V8sQ7avsg0 Cooper, Mark. “NWA: 'Our Raps Are Documentary. We Don't Take Sides'.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 7 Aug. 2013, www.theguardian.com/music/2013/aug/07/nwa-1989-classic-interview McDaniel, Matthew McDaniel. “NWA on Straight Outta Compton in 1988: 'It's Gonna Start \ Some Shit' – Video.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 10 Aug. 2015,www.theguardian.com/music/video/2015/aug/10/nwa-straight-outta-compton-1988- video LoBianco, Tom. “Report: Aide Says Nixon's War on Drugs Targeted Blacks, Hippies - CNN Politics.” CNN, Cable News Network, 24 Mar. 2016, www.cnn.com/2016/03/23/politics/john-ehrlichman-richard-nixon-drug-war-blacks-hipp ie/index.html References Nittle, Nadra Kareem. “How MTV Handled Accusations of Racism and Became More Inclusive.” LiveAbout, www.liveabout.com/when-mtv-first-aired-black-videos-2834657 “Progression of Black Music in the 1980s.” Black Music Scholar, https://blackmusicscholar.com/progression-of-black-music-in-the-1980s/ Simmons, Sylvie. “An Interview with Michael Jackson from 1983.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 27 June 2009, www.theguardian.com/music/2009/jun/28/michael-jackson-interview Reid, Claire. “The Real Meaning Behind Tupac's 'Thug Life' Tattoo.” LADbible, LADbible, 30 May 2018, www.ladbible.com/entertainment/celebrity-the-real-meaning-behind-tupacs-thug-life-ta ttoo-20180530 .