12/31/2025
His 👨🏿observation points to a historical and ongoing issue in the American music industry: while Black musical innovations are widely consumed and loved, systemic racism often sidelines Black artists, promoting white artists to achieve mainstream success with "sanitized" versions of Black music, a process called "whitewashing," leading to a preference for white performers in genres created by Black people. This creates a paradox where Black culture is celebrated, but Black creators face barriers to equal recognition and profit, with the industry historically favoring white artists who adopt Black sounds.
Key Factors Contributing to This Dynamic:
Historical Segregation: The industry's roots lie in racial segregation, creating separate marketing structures where Black music was confined to Black audiences, while white artists could "cross over".
Cultural Appropriation & Whitewashing: White artists often gained massive fame by performing Black-originated music (like Rock & Roll, Blues) without giving proper credit, while Black artists were excluded from mainstream platforms, notes The Lovepost.
Industry Structures: Marketing decisions by major labels, often controlled by white executives, historically promoted white artists in R&B/pop, limiting Black artists' reach until they achieved superstardom within their niche, says YouTube.
Devaluation of Black Culture: A pattern exists where Black culture is denigrated until white artists adopt it, making it palatable and profitable for mainstream (white) audiences, argue Vince Dixon Portfolio and Reddit users.
Examples & Manifestations:
Rock & Roll: White artists like Elvis Presley achieved massive success covering Black R&B and blues, effectively making Black sounds a "white" phenomenon for mass consumption, explains a post on the Dominican Scholar website.
Modern Music: Even today, systemic racism leads to Black artists being underrepresented in leadership and awards, despite creating nearly every major genre, notes Vince Dixon Portfolio.
Evolving Landscape:
Increased Power: Younger Black artists now have more tools (home recording, digital distribution) to create and share music independently, challenging outdated models, according to Pitchfork.
Genre Bending: Artists like Beyoncé continue to break barriers, showing Black artists can evolve and succeed across genres, as noted on the SiriusXM Media insights page.
Black music, Black history, African American music, and cultural influence reveal how modern pop was shaped by Black artists. This video explores how Black c...