Black folks mad cuz Joss Stone is Billboard's Reggae Album of the year

Don't really care one way or the other. I never cared for her music. White folks will buy the music. But, she seems to take the craft seriously.

 

I can understand why black people are sour about this. This just another time where white people steal our culture and get rich off of it. She'll get praise and recognition by white media and after a while white people will pretend they created reggae sort like what happened with rock and roll, the blues, etcetera.

 

I personaly like Joss Stones and thinks she makes great music. I just wish other black soul artist like Anthony Hamilton, Luke James, Bilal, Angie Stone could get the same numbers as white artist that do the same art. Reggea has always been a niche market so unless you are a big star or have a marketing machine behind you or collab with a pop star its really hard for reggae artist to get large sales in todays market.

 

What does it matter. I think Joss Stone makes good music. I wish black people would get more outraged over actual injustices and start promoting their own which means buying reggae albums in this case.

 

Here's the thing. I've discussed this topic with @SB3 over and over again. I feel like at the end of the day, BLACK PEOPLE DON'T SUPPORT BLACK PEOPLE when it comes to the music industry regarding sales of albums, EPs, singles, etc. R. Kelly was talking about how his most recent album FLOPPED and how black people need to support each other. This year, only THREE ALBUMS WENT PLATINUM. The music industry is a dying industry in my opinion.

 

Yes, Black Folk are mad because she's white and did good in a "Black Caribbean" genre. Just like yeeeears ago, during some Step Show competition, I think it was a 7Up sponsored event (its on YouTube), these white chicks (I forget the Soror they were from) RIPPED they fuckin routine to PIECES and sh!tted on EH-VER-REE-BAH-DEE. Black folks was all applause and cheers and excitement and "I see Youuuu, okaaaaay!! I see you white girrrrl!!" during the routine, but was PISSED when they won. SMH No one (in general, some, ppl like myself, could give less than a f#4k) enjoys seeing another culture step up and excel within what is considered "their culture". They take it as a slap in the face. While it's true white people have "stolen" more than enough of "Black Culture", some muhf@kaz just have the talent to excel in activities not "inherent" to their own cultures. Good for Joss. I haven't heard this reggae album of hers, to be honest I didn't know she even had it. I don't keep up with Pop Culture much anymore, but I like her music a lot.

 

Maybe R Kelly's album just sucked. I'm surprised 3 albums made it to platinum. Most {majority of} Black and Brown folk are not BUYING music anymore, muhf@#kz is downloading shit for free. White/ Other People free download as well, but they are more likely to actually BUY something because in general they have the disposable income to do so. We don't know what ethnic group comprised the majority of Joss' sales on this album but I guarantee you it wasn't "us" so I personally don't think its a matter of black folk not supporting their own. White people have always been enthralled by reggae music because of the whole "Bob Marley, Peace and Love, Weed Smoking" association with it, and if its another white person making the music then expect to see high sales. That's how it is.

 

Shaggy wasn't Jamaican. *shrugs*

 

It matters because culture matters. Culture is used to shape thought and opinions. If you can steal someone else's culture and pass it off as your own that says something about the power of the thief. No one is saying injustices don't matter but let's not pretend culture and art are inconsequential. If that was the case one can make the argument that it doesn't matter if the people who make films stopped casting nonwhites in movies and started making movies as if we're still 1949.

 

It would be one thing if she did a reggae album and then CONTINUE to ONLY make reggae albums, then one could say she stole the culture and is attempting to make it her own. But she made one album, dude.

 

I don't think culture is monolithic. No one person or race or group of people have ownership of culture or art or music. I believe culture changes and presents differently to different folks. I think there is a difference between actual theft and perceived theft. In this case the use of the term "cultural appropriation" is misplaced. I guess this only matter if you believe that Joss Stone but virtue of her white body shouldn't be allowed to explore the musical artform of Reggae. If that is the case black people should not attempt to play golf or learn opera music or be a classically trained anything....

 

I enjoyed Joss's album (I can only listen to two of them all the way through and "Water" is one of them.) I don't think I would've classified it as reggae though. It actually had more of a country vibe to me.