"Sue Me, I'm Rooting for Everybody That's Black"

If we have learnt anything from this Coronavirus induced lockdown, its that Black culture is popular culture. And Black people continue to move the needle and dominate what’s important within society. It has been readily accepted for over a decade now that the music genres dominated by Black people; Hip-hop, Soul, R&B and Drill, are the most popular forms of music on the planet.

But what this period of lockdown and quarantine has shown, in no uncertain terms, is just how much Black people and the culture that we cultivate truly dominates popular culture and wider society in ways that no other cultural force or phenomenon can even compare to. Now, of course I’m biased and thus think Black British Afro-Caribbean culture is the true dominant force in this aspect, but really Black people of all nationalities, ethnicities, and cultures hold this power to have monumental impact just by virtue of being ourselves.

Within this lockdown period alone, we’ve seen Swizz Beatz & Timbaland create the Verzuz series which has brought historic beat battles between legends such as Nelly, Ludacris, Erykah Badu & Jill Scott and has simultaneous crashed Instagram feeds pretty much every time they take the air. No Signal Radio have created their own lane in this same field also and you need look no further than the damage they did globally during the Wizkid whitewash of Vybz Kartel to see just how astronomical their impact has been, and long may that continue. IDPizzle made Billie Jin famous and has the greatest remix I’ve ever heard. Whilst in this same period Tory Lanez had everyone’s attention with Quarantine Radio, and to his credit Swarmz did his thing in this same lane too. Black people continue to be the leading innovators and entertainers on TikTok. @Mbbants1, Mo Gilligan and Michael Dapaah have continued to provide entertaining content. Somehow, Jason Derulo has singlehandedly revitalized his career and Meg has terminally engrained the line “Classy, Bougie, Rachet” into my brain, even before Jay Z told Beyonce to mention ‘Demon Time’ on her feature verse. Kehlani dropped a great album, Future did what Future always does, Gunna came correct, DVSN delivered a beautiful body of work, Westside Gunn & Conway the Machine both dropped albums reasserting Griselda’s dominance of hip-hop, and PND dropped a lackluster album despite having what is honestly one of the best songs I’ve ever heard in “SAVAGE ANTHEM”. And above all that, it took just one person promoting one likkle cake to wreak irrevocable havoc upon the whole TL.

       

                                                                                                                                                

In sum, we as a people have entertained, innovated and captivated the world throughout this pandemic as we pretty much always do.

However, as is routinely the case when Black people are having fun and entertaining one another white insecurity rears its ugly head and people from other cultures feel the need to insert themselves into the conversation, wave or trend. Now speaking for me and me alone, I’ve never really had an issue with white people and people of other cultures being involved in contemporary black musical spaces. However, what I do take issue to is when people from other cultures within these spaces overstep their bounds, talk out of place on things that don’t concern them, fail to recognize that they are a visitor and not a fixture and when they think their presence is doing Black People a favour, when in reality it is Black People that are handing out the favours. In this very short space of time, that Alhan yute in the UK has forgotten his place, 68 + 1 has ratted his way back on my social feeds and into other people’s business and even Lana Del Rey seems to have taken issue to Black Women being themselves from out of nowhere. In summary, alongside Black people and Black Culture continuing to shine, a lot of people who’s opinions and voices don’t in anyway shape or form matter, seem to be trying to force their opinions and voices to matter.

Now, one of the best things about Black people, is that we aren’t a monolith. There is no singular Black person or experience that speaks for us all. And by that token we each feel differently and hold different opinions on how to deal with these dissenting and nonsensical voices that attempt to speak within our culture. For me, I don’t really engage in ‘Cancel’ Culture simply because I favour ‘Don’t let the opinions of people you don’t know and thus people who don’t matter have an effect on your life’ Culture. Moreover, I also choose to not engage with, comment on or pay any attention to certain people’s idiotic comments and opinions on things relating to Black Culture, because the less I feed into their nonsense, the quicker they fade back into obscurity.

But to the white people, and people from other walks of life who find themselves present in discussions, topics and issues pertaining to Black people and Black culture, I would implore you to consider these questions: Have you been invited into this setting, or did you insert yourself? Why are you here in the first place? Why can’t you have an opinion and keep it to yourself or your book club? Who has told you that your opinion matters? Is you voicing your opinion invalidating a Black persons existence? Are you asking a question or are you conducting an interrogation? Before you speak, are you sure you’re informed enough or qualified to speak openly on said topic? And my personal favourite; do you know that it is in fact possible to celebrate something you may genuinely and innocently enjoy, without fixing your mouth to speak or pressing send on that Tweet or Instagram post?

Just some food for thought. Continue to Wash your hand diligently. Continue to practice social distancing if you’re privileged enough to do so, and don’t let money hungry governments or corporations risk your health by forcing you back to work.