Masochist: The Future Of Black Music

Masochist 10.12.16	To summarize--I'm not saying these are the only people pushing Black music in a positive direction. I just really like the overall general sound all the folks produce, and they are all constantly featuring on each others albums and collaborating with each other, so I wanted to highlight these people. I also didn't want to include past legends who are also still producing quality music, like D'Angelo, The Roots, Sun Ra and Erykah Badu--that would have been too easy, I think. Also, I probably should have put more straight-up hip-hop on the list--folks like Killer Mike, Danny Brown, Shabazz Palaces, other Top Dawg artists like Schoolboy Q and AbSoul, etc. Oh, well.
Drifter 10.12.16	Love 1 and 12. Black people make the best music tbh. I mean as a whole, not just now
Masochist 10.12.16	I was gonna be humble and deny it...but nah, yeah, our music is pretty great. At the same time, though, it can also be really, really bad.
Drifter 10.12.16
Hep Kat 10.12.16	Yeah i wrote a kendrick diss that disproves your postulation of 1 so i guess that'll hafta ve recorded soon
50iL 10.12.16	Good list, Kendrick is definitely leading the movement.
BlackTaxi2d 10.12.16	Black lives matter
Masochist 10.12.16	HepKat - I changed my description for #1. Is it still in opposition to your diss track? Also...what specifically about TPaB does your diss track diss? 50iL - Agreed BlackTaxi2d - That they do!
Keyblade 10.12.16	man i had the wrong impression of anderson paak it seems after seeing him on that XL freestyle, he was awful. now i realize he's not actually a rapper. might have to peep him good list brother, the future looks good
Shadowmire 10.12.16	great list. 1 is good and 6 is fantastic – will check the ones i haven't heard
omgbecky 10.12.16	Any other female artists you would recommend?
Hep Kat 10.12.16	MC Lyte
spookynewghostfriend 10.12.16	wheres GROTESQUE
iloveyouall 10.12.16	list = L O L
Masochist 10.12.16	Keyblade - Yeah man, check him out. His latest album, especially, has some great grooves on it! Shadowmire - Please do! omgbecky - Really like Jill Scott, Emeli Sande and (of course) Corinne Bailey Rae, though the latter bridges the gap into more acoustic-based melodies. So those might be three ladies other I'd check out if you haven't already. Hep Kat - Didn't she put out an album recently? spooky - Just barely missed the cut, lol iloveyouall - I love you, too
tempest-- 10.12.16	Thundercat and Janelle are my jams... FlyLo goes hard too of course.
BrandNewEyes 10.12.16	Black music for the whitey
theNateman 10.12.16	Someone needs to drag Mf doom out of his basement too and put him back on top
Sinternet 10.12.16	black music
CaliggyJack 10.12.16	Kamasi and Bilal are lit af
ArsMoriendi 10.12.16	"The Future Of Black Music" Talk about a list title than only a veteran user could get away with
Minnesota 10.12.16	talk about a list title in which only an idiot would think you have to "get away with"
Keyblade 10.12.16	honestly
JeetJeet 10.12.16	Thread title is kinda cringe though.
osmark86 10.12.16	The cringe is on you, list delivers on its premise. These artists are all crème de la crème.
ArsMoriendi 10.12.16	I mean it's still a good list
JeetJeet 10.12.16	Nah the cringe is on him. Good intentions, shit list title. No such thing as black music. I fucks with some of the artists on here tho.
osmark86 10.12.16	Agreed with the fucking. Why do you believe there's no such thing as black music?
JeetJeet 10.12.16	What exactly makes music black? Tread lightly with your answer.
osmark86 10.12.16	Position of the artist
JeetJeet 10.12.16	Now that is a very interesting take on it.
WatchItExplode 10.12.16	hmmmm...not a black metal list
Masochist 10.12.16	Because "The Future Of Music Made By, And Predominantly For, Black People" sounds super clunky. Also the Afro-Centric themes, Afro-futurist aesthetic, and soul, funk and gospel roots give some hints.
Masochist 10.12.16	But seriously, I was hoping people wouldn't take the title too literally. The whole point is that I love what these artists are doing with their music, and how they're collaborating, and I'm hoping that it continues to influence the rest of popular culture...especially black musicians.
zakalwe 10.12.16	Comes across as a bit Blazing Saddles tbh
EyesWideShut 10.12.16	not sure why you forgot to put Future on a Future of Black Music list..
Masochist 10.12.16	"Comes across as a bit Blazing Saddles tbh" That's only because no one here knows where da white women at.
Minnesota 10.13.16	"What exactly makes music black?" uhh
brainmelter 10.13.16	you can't argue that the title of the list doesn't make you double take to make sure what you read was right
Minnesota 10.13.16	no, I kinda can
theacademy 10.13.16	lotta stupid metacommentary on the list title
theacademy 10.13.16	sup maso
JeetJeet 10.13.16	“uhh" Something got you stumped?
brobama420 10.13.16	Taylor Mcferrin should be on this list too
worthlessscab 10.13.16	questionable pattern recognition - the list
Masochist 10.13.16	Brobama - Oooh, I dig this! Haven't heard it before now.
Lord(e)Po)))ts 10.13.16	Hip hop is not "black music" retard
Lord(e)Po)))ts 10.13.16	https://youtu.be/ivmYDaBRa3E get learnt
DoofusWainwright 10.13.16	I imagine a lot of these artists have peaked already, the future belongs to the next generation just starting out now
JeetJeet 10.13.16	Kendrick and Flylo still got a lot left in the tank IMO.
DoofusWainwright 10.13.16	If Kendrick and Flylo release two more albums as good as each of their best two so far I'll be very pleasantly surprised...but I doubt they will
Lord(e)Po)))ts 10.13.16	This entire list should be deleted for blatant stupidity tbh. I mean even the genres here that were once "black music" no longer belong to any culture
Lord(e)Po)))ts 10.13.16	So therefore they are irrelevant to the "future of black music" and furthermore you'd have to be mentally deficient to use the term "black music" to begin with.
JeetJeet 10.13.16	I just think the title needs a change. Black people don't go around referring to shit as black music. We just call it what it is.
DoofusWainwright 10.13.16	Well he could change it to 'the most important black artists of the next five/ten years imo' or whatever but my opinion is we don't know who they'll be.
Lord(e)Po)))ts 10.13.16	Or he could delete this list and fuck off
DoofusWainwright 10.13.16	That would be easier
ArsMoriendi 10.13.16	See torts I was right^ the title did upset people Wish I put money on it
Lord(e)Po)))ts 10.13.16	Bilals new album is frickin awful as fuck too btw
Shadowmire 10.13.16	damn i just respected the effort
Lord(e)Po)))ts 10.13.16	Literally none of these genres are predominately made by or for black people either so your clunky alt title is equally mentally deficient
Lord(e)Po)))ts 10.13.16	It is 2016 my man not the 70s and 80s bud
ZippaThaRippa 10.13.16	Damn you are really upset by this. Just take a breath man.
Lord(e)Po)))ts 10.13.16	You just know sowing featured this too
Lord(e)Po)))ts 10.13.16	If I was truly upset I would be using more swear words with my ableist language tbh, I just don't like masochist and this list is Hella dumb
Lord(e)Po)))ts 10.13.16	Oh wait I'm thinking of eclecticist, he sucks List is still dumb tho
ArsMoriendi 10.13.16	There's a user called Eclecticist? Damn talk about patting yourself on the back
Masochist 10.13.16	"Oh wait I'm thinking of eclecticist, he sucks List is still dumb tho" Hahahaha! I was wondering where this was coming from, Pots. We've been on this site for ages together, back when you were still SilentPotato, and we never once had beef that I can remember. To be clear, it's not entire umbrella genres I'm talking about, it's facets of these genres that are gaining traction in the mainstream that I'm excited about. Flying Lotus doesn't make Black music, he doesn't make his music specifically for black people, but (willingly or otherwise) he falls into the Afro-Futurist sound, and getting that sort of sound and distinction to so many people goes a long way in trying to get past this prevalent (and stubbornly persistent) notion that mainstream black music is degrading and destructive. That's the real hope here--the folks on this list bubble under the mainstream, and I think their influence is spreading. You're starting to see even club and trap music have real social commentary in them, thanks to the success of Top Dawg, Brainfeeder, and the influence of a few of the folks on this list. I'm hoping that as time goes on, this influence might intrude on the minds of those who STILL, for some ridiculous reason, don't see rap as a legitimate art form, or think that the only way to be a successful black musician is to make thumping, bass-heavy dance music and diss tracks. "Black people don't go around referring to shit as black music. We just call it what it is." I'm black too, in case that wasn't clear. (Ringabel in my profile pic probably doesn't help) But more than that, plenty more paint hip-hop and R&B with that brush, just like a movie with a predominantly Black cast is a "Black Movie" that is supposedly made for a black audience. I would just like it if mainstream Black music didn't carry a negative connotation, and I think the folks on this list are in the best position to change that perception.
Trundle 10.13.16	......wait pots is silentpotato?
RosaParks 10.13.16	love the positive vibes itt
RosaParks 10.13.16	love ur name on ur profile btw masochist
Trundle 10.13.16	kendrick is more white than me
ZippaThaRippa 10.13.16	Tbh I initially thought this was going to be a list about the future of black metal and it's various subgenres. I am disappointed.
tacos n stuff 10.13.16	first thing i thought when i saw it too
rabidfish 10.13.16	there are black people on this site? [logs off] no but seriously... While KL's latest effort might (I say might) set the path for short-mid term hip hop, it is far from being ground-breaking. There is nothing in that record that can't be traced back beat-by-beat to mid 90's/early 00's jazz-hop subgenre. I mean, I get it, you love it, (everybody claims to, at least) but shit plays the nostalgia card hard af. YD! is worst FlyLo-- but dude's a powerhouse anyway.
Masochist 10.14.16	"no but seriously... While KL's latest effort might (I say might) set the path for short-mid term hip hop, it is far from being ground-breaking. There is nothing in that record that can't be traced back beat-by-beat to mid 90's/early 00's jazz-hop subgenre. I mean, I get it, you love it, (everybody claims to, at least) but shit plays the nostalgia card hard af." Good criticisms! I do love it, but for different reasons. I don't feel that it pretends to be groundbreaking--the whole album is him speaking to Tupac, and it was purportedly supposed to be called "Tu Pimp A Caterpiller" (Tu P.A.C.). If that doesn't make it self-aware of treading worn ground, I don't know what does. But the truth is, a lot of hip hop released around that time followed the same route. We had jazz rap hitting from all sides, with J. Cole, Lupe Fiasco, Kendrick and Joey Bada$$ releasing albums within 6 months of each other. But it's not nostagia that I'm playing it for, it's because I honestly enjoy that type of hip-hop best. This album doesn't remind me of anything before it, at least, not in the way that 'B4.DA.$$' did (talk about an album driven by nostalgia), but it takes that well worn style and gives it an edge fitting of 2015. What 'To Pimp A Butterfly's' legacy will be, in my opinion, is that it's given credibility to the idea that social commentary can again have a place in mainstream, Billboard hip-hop made by black people (because before, the only time you heard social commentary in rap on the radio was if a white guy . All the folks I spoke of earlier had albums that talked about issues, but TPAB got that message to the Grammy's. Also...the albums on the list are just the latest from each artist, not necessarily the best or my favorites (with #1 being the exception, as I had something to say about that specific album). FlyLo's latest was probably his worst, but that's only by default because his previous albums were so damn good.
rabidfish 10.14.16	While I respect your argument, I can't help but feel the album to be awfully boring. All the issues and problematics it set up for discussion in the hardcore hip hop circle as well as in the general public is to be respected and celebrated, but the album itself, on its own merits, does little to nothing for me. Its another discussion to be held not only about Black Music, but about politically charged music in general and that is when the message that it tries to convey gets in the way of the integrity of the musical message. I'm not trying to say this is the case of TPaB, but I can't help but feel ever discussion about the quality of the album eventually devolves into "you don't get it because you don't understand what it feels like to be black in America" or even worse "if you don't like this, you are racist".
BallsToTheWall 10.14.16	2 didn't do anything for me but then I discovered serpentwithfeet's debut and I don't even care.
Masochist 10.14.16	rabidfish - ""you don't get it because you don't understand what it feels like to be black in America"/"if you don't like this, you are racist"" -- I hope no one has told you these things. Just because art is created for a particular group of people doesn't mean that it can't be enjoyed outside of those bounds. 'To Pimp A Butterfly' is definitely an album written about, for, and to black people--Kendrick speaks about the black condition in "Alright," he confronts America for black people in "For Free?," and he speaks to Black People in "The Blacker The Berry," just to cherry pick examples--but in no way is being black a requirement to having an great appreciation for the album. Now to be clear, I do absolutely think that my experience listening to this album will be different from yours simply by virtue of being Black, but I don't think that you coming at this album with a different experience than me means that you can't derive the same level of enjoyment or appreciation that I can. If that were true of art, then maybe only Japanese people "get" Miyazaki films, and maybe only angry white kids "get" Punk music. I don't believe that to be true, however. All that to say--when you say you don't like it, I'm not going to think that it's because you aren't black, and you certainly aren't forced to like it so that you aren't racist...but my opinion differs vastly from yours, either way.
Masochist 10.14.16	Also, I completely missed Rosa Parks's comment. You watched Steins;Gate? Man, that's one of my favorites!
rabidfish 10.14.16	Well, luckly I haven't been told I'm a racist, but yea, it's been brought to my attention that I don't "get" TPaB only because I'm white. Not that it affects me in any level and I'm 100% on board of what you say, but I hate it when a political issue, or a gender issue, or a race issue gets in the way of a pure musical/aesthetics discussion and while I understand that these sort of albums can't get taken away from these sort of discussions without taking an important part of their inherent value out of them, it annoys me when that aspect of the music overshadows all the others.
Masochist 10.14.16	I can say that I came into TPaB semi-blindly. I wasn't a Kendrick fan before this album, other than for the song "Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe." I may have mentioned before, but I'm still not that big a fan of 'GKmC'. It wasn't until Flylo's 'You're Dead!' the previous year that I really started checking out Kendrick a little more. I didn't know what to expect with this new album. All I knew was that at that time in my life, I was taking the bus an hour and a half to and from work, and the hip-hop of that year was getting me through. All those artists I mentioned before? Lupe, Joey, J. Cole, etc...they got me through that time (I also discovered Jay Electronica's "Exhibit C" right about then, too, and I was still high on FlyLo's "Never Catch Me"). Those jazzy rap beats with that 2015 edge by these mainstream artists...I was so excited for this new wave of positive-sounding hip-hop albums coming out. So when Kendrick came out around that time, he just fit right in with the music I was already so connected to at that particular time period. It's just...unlike the others, I (and everyone else) knew that this album would destroy worlds. I was just thinking in terms of chart sales, however--I didn't realize it would become the voice of an estranged people. That came well after it was released, of course; I was into it by then, because it was jazzy, positive-sounding, uplifting, with lyrics that you can dive into and take something meaningful out of. This became the crown jewel of all that music I was listening to. That it also became a rallying cry for perseverance, like the Millennial version of "We Shall Not Be Moved," just cemented it's legacy. Anyways...that's why I enjoyed it. I do get a lot out of it on the virtue of my being black, because (and I think I mentioned this earlier) I hate feeling like mainstream black hip-hop (i.e. not Macklemore or Eminem) is still tagged as degrading, etc. It bothers me. So hearing something like this hit the peaks it did warms my soul, and gives me hope that more music like this pushes through, that can help defy and destroy those stupid stereotypes about mainstream hip-hop, and mainstream black music in general. Hence this list.
Masochist 10.14.16	Damn, I talk a lot. I'm not trying to drown you out, man, I promise. I defend my liking of the album only because of my personal attachment to all of the music I was listening to during that time, not because I feel the album is flawless (I don't...I think it may be a bit overblown, artistically speaking). Your criticisms of the message overriding the music are valid, and are criticisms I have about other albums cough'Never Mind The Bollocks'cough.
rabidfish 10.14.16	Never catch me is amazing, agreed.
Shadowmire 10.15.16	s;g is a 9/10 bravely default isnt bad either
botb 10.15.16	3 is forreal so good
Hep Kat 10.17.16	https://clyp.it/uu5ble5n Danny K- "Dan's Imperial" Mind you i still have quite a cold, my voice is hoarse from screaming at the Gettysburg Bullets game (the fuckers lost), and i didnt totally perfect the flow/syllable count on this, but here it is.
Hep Kat 10.17.16	So yeah
Hep Kat 10.17.16	Threw a leaf of shade atcha boi there. I can do more damage if you'd like
Jots 10.17.16	Hep is the future of black music
Hep Kat 10.17.16	Now hand me them headphones N let me n my boiz spit sum'n N if u like it, we get the NATURAL SPIRIT
Masochist 10.18.16	That shit is the MAD notes
dcalderon 10.21.16	Missing Kelela
Drifter 11.23.17	Damn is this list really this old? Man
Deathconscious 11.23.17	What about Oceano?
CaimanJesus 11.23.17	Sepultura is the real future of black music
DoofusWainwright 11.23.17	Still the future, solid bumppp
Papa Universe 11.23.17	Is there anyone even remotely tanned on Sputnik? (except for SandwichBubble)
Masochist 11.26.17	Wow, this was a year ago, holy shit. Hadn't realized that it even got bumped a couple days ago. Also, Unique, I'm definitely black. Though I am light-skinned, so I can tan. Though it's not the season for tanning, so I'm most certainly my lightest right now. Though I do live in Texas, where it's still 78 degrees during the day, so that may change...we'll see. And yeah, I missed Kelala on here.
TVC15 11.26.17	@Unique Fripp and BoneyKing are black