Dude this is sooo relevant for me. As a brown metalhead, I get told this shit all the time: "you listen to metal? that's so white". music, especially metal, has NO RACE. just enjoy the shit lmao. spot on myke!
Andrew Louis I'd probably ask this a black guy too, but only if he didn't look Metal at all and he told me, he liked Metal. I appreciate anybody being into Metal!
As a white hiphop-head, I'm super glad to hear your thoughts on this! I get a lot of shit for my tastes based on my skin color as well, it really bothers me. I don't understand why people can't see others as individuals instead of stereotypes or whatever. I am sick of hearing about g-easy, and then having those people roll their eyes at me for listening to a black artist that I like more. Who gives a fuck about skin color, it's all the same art.
Growing up in the hood I remember being nervous to go buy Rock albums because I didn't know anybody that liked or knew about them. I thought the homies would laugh so I stayed away until I was in my mid 20's and was like FUCK it I like this so I'm buying it.
I love this. I'm a black guy and I get this from black and white people. These are strange times. I get looks and still feel uncomfortable when I go to rock shows. That to say it is better now than it was. Going to see REM back in the day I would get the LOOK. What the hell is this colored fella doing here? He MUST be lost. Damn it!!!!! That to say I have to admit that comments like these happen to me less today.
Right on man, well put. Also teach kids about the cultures of their classmates. Learn about perspectives and learn to realise yours is just one of many.
"AS A FUCKING ADULT, I STILL GET SHIT..." Damn, you hit it on the nail right there already in the beginning, Myke... I love this video, getting to hear you talk this candidly on a subject people been beating around the bush for years it seems. Honestly I just respect and appreciate you so much for your expression, man. Your obsessive presence of mind and keen perception on especially lyricism mirrors mine in my way of listening to music first of all, but also nothing's really that complicated as far as what music is when you think about it in that subjective way again. Anyway, I love what you're about (though honestly a lot of the HORROR and METAL stuff I probably won't ever go near ever myself as much as I love your intelligent conversation about them) so just thanks once and for all for doing all that you do on these channels. Anyway, interesting topic, glad to have you you on the side of wisdom in time, and peeeaaaace
One of the most beautiful things about music is that it brings us all together! Might seem like a small thing but I think its had a major role in opening people's minds to new ideas.
People forget that black musicians pioneered rock music, even though revisionist history will say it was Elvis. It's crazy that people get made fun of for this. It makes me wonder if in the future people will start calling jazz and hip hop white people music.
thank you Mike C!! i grew up in the hood and i too gravitated to Nirvana and Pearl Jam. One of my fav albums of all time is Metalica "And justice for all". But i rap and i also love hip hop. u spoke for the black eclectic.
Good music crosses all these lines. I always love seeing black guys and girls at metal shows. Hendrix is probably the best rock guitar player ever, even more likely the best lead guitar who also is the lead singer.
This is one of the best videos I've seen in a while. I actually like how comprehensive you get with your answers; you find every angle of the question. Really interesting points, man. I especially identify with you saying that people can find certain connections with music that may have previously been "foreign" to them, and it can completely expand the possibilities of how they interact with music from that point on.
Very articulate, very very true. "Being open to all avenues" sums up the black/white music issue excellently. The ridiculouness of the notion that music has colour: Billy Cobham in Mahavishnu Orchestra, Dave Matthews Band - these would be 'mixed race' music, right? Only for people of mixed race ;)
I feel for you dude, I don't know if you read comments on your old videos but I had a similar experience growing up as a white kid growing up in a rural area and having the AUDICITY, as you put it, to listen to both Metal music and Rap and R&B. I remember the pain of being asked "why do you listen to (I won't repeat that word) music?" By people who i thought at the time were my friends and family (had to cut alot of people out when i was a teen.) I know how much that fucks with your head, even if our exact circumstances are different, you have my sympathy and empathy dude and we need to mentor the generations growing up now and in the future to learn to accept and love themselves, love the music/art that makes them the happiest, and to actually respect other people
5:58 My mother is like that, too. I'm black too and lucky to have had that experience growing up. also you said "envious" which is long for envy. u know I love them. ANYWAY, I was never really bothered by any weird looks or comments I would get for listening to Avenged Sevenfold or Rammstein in middle school or My Chemical Romance in elementary school. I kinda loved and thought it was hilarious. And in high school I REALLY didn't care. I'd blast Ampere and Envy all throughout the fuckin halls if I felt like it. I'm sure this might be easier for me to say than others due to my experiences but don't let people's judgements of your "white music" get to you. I honestly don't think it's a very big deal to them, just an instinctive reaction to something they're not used to. And hey, maybe you can have an interesting talk with them about it and end up making a new friend or some shit. Listen to all the shitty harsh noise, gangsta rap, and hipster shit that you want.
Yeah, I like to tell people to just not give a fuck about what other people think too. But it's easy to say when you've already been through it. It's a bit harder for people who are currently in the thick of it, you know? But I'm with you.
I never thought about the whole "blank slate" idea but it's totally true. It's unfortunate that the black community imposes almost a cultural standard of how to be "black" I say that because I think that there are a lot of black kids out there who can't enjoy the things they like due to peer pressure. Sucks
@@mykectownSelf protection. "You" act and be black in harmony with the tight knit community you're supposed to be a part of so that "we" know you aren't playing for the other, oppressing, team. We need to know you aren't a Candace Owens
Hello from Wales man. Well said sir. I think your taste in music is eclectic. Some of it is not to my tastes but I have discovered some great shit through your channel. Couldn't care less who makes it or primarily listens to it.
It's frustrating how here in the states everyone is so obsessed with music and how it relates to your race. If you go to any non white country, you will find people listening to "white music" and their ethnicity is never questioned. Listen to whatever you like.
That comment about getting the right record player killed me!! I'm currently 20 records deep in my collection, it's made me broke! Loving your work on both DEHH and this channel!
Thanks for this video Myke! As a foreign kid in germany, it seemed you weren't supposed to listen to anything other than rap. I grew up listening to michael jackson just because the cd was lying around the house and just like that i discovered foo fighters, wu-tang and all that other stuff im listening to now. For me it was just a journey with no ending as im finding out about more and more music, but i always got looked at funny when i switched to slipknot from the roots and then put on justin timberlake. Today i couldn't care less about what people think about my musical taste as i am convinced that they are the ones who are missing out just because they think they "can not" listen to certain types of music.
Music is mathematical, it's a gift from the Universe and open for all of us to make, listen to, discover, like and dislike. And when we die, our ashes can be melted into a record and our bodies will be one with the music until the Sun absorbs all that we know.
I went to school with an African American kid and he loved White Zombie and we shared so much music at the time and skin color didn't mean shoi to me I just felt great someone loved my style of music at the time.
loved this Myke, So true regarding buying records, I think we've all bought a record instead of getting a hair cut lol. I need a new car tyre... I'll buy a record instead.
You say you're talking to black people primarily, but as a white person who listens to a LOT of hip hop this matters to me too. Yes, I listen to a lot of music by white artists as well, in the metal, pop, rock, experimental, ambiental, etc genres, but my daily music intake is usually hip hop currently. I worry about my influence on the scene and the music, not as an individual as much as a part of the wider music scene. As someone who goes to a LOT of concerts, I notice the audiences too, so it makes me think, and makes me want to understand. So thank you.
Liking hip hop and R&B while also liking country and metal just means you're too open-minded to care about what's "white music" or "black music." Obviously all genres originate from within certain cultures and have more appeal with certain demographics but if you think the color of someone's skin determines what they can or can't listen to, just fuck off. Hell, metal is seen as "white music" but it probably wouldn't exist without Jimi Hendrix's innovative guitar playing. Same goes for punk with Death and Bad Brains. Imagine where hip hop would be right now without Rick Ruben, DJ Shadow, Eminem or El-P. At a certain point it really doesn't matter anymore.
TJ Hastie Metal is an interesting one because it can be traced back to a few bands from the early 60s. The Beatles "Helten Skelter" had a significant influence on metal as did The Kinks and various other bands but it didn't really come into play until Sabbath, arguably on their first record but I'd say that was more rock based whereas their second release is probably where heavy metal as a music genre was formed - Deep Purple also have a huge influence on the genre and I'd also class them as some of the originators, especially with Blackmores guitar playing which inspired the likes of Priest & Maiden and that sort of metal. But as a genre it's pretty hard to trace due to so many influences as variables
I’m late as fuck to this video but reminds me of the time my friends brother (who was African American) told me I couldn’t enjoy TPAB and understand what Kendrick is talking about because I’m Caucasian. Shit really caught me off guard, thought it was weird as fuck. I explained the meaning of the album to him from my perspective and he sat there and told me that I’m not allowed to decipher it “properly” due to being white.
Thank you for making this video! I am in complete agreement! No one should allow him/herself to be pressured into only listening to one or two genres of music because of someone else's narrow cultural idea of how that person "should" be. I'm a white guy who listens to everything from punk, soul, hip-hop, country, jazz, and on and on (to the break of dawn!), and who is *anyone* to tell me that I shouldn't?! On a side (but related) note, I've just stumbled onto the greatest avant-jazz-progressive-rock website that I ever could have imagined, Wayside Music, and, also, the record label that Wayside spawned, Cuneiform Records. I've found amazing, challenging records and CDs on Wayside that I could not find anywhere else, and, in some cases, that I never even knew existed! It's an "off the beaten path" music-lover's dream! Thanks again for sharing your perspective here. I'll be subscribing to this channel!
I think it's dumb that people label rock music as "white music" even though it was pioneered by black artists. I know this point has been hammered on by thousands of other people, but it really goes to show that most people who try to impose their preconceived notions on art are the ones who don't know what they're talking about
I almost never cry, but hearing the frustration in your in voice actually made my eyes tear up. Why? I guess maybe because most of what you said mirrors a lot of thoughts that I have on a regular basis. "How are we ever going to get past this?" Will we ever get past this? Is it even possible to get past this? It seems impossible to me until someone's race isn't the first thing we see when we look at a person. I don't see how it can be done. I am 48 years old and when I was a younger man I had high hopes that it would be music, because I believed it could transcend nationality, religion, economic status, creed, or race, but thanks to the fact that many people feel that I shouldn't listen to hiphop and that you shouldn't listen to Nirvana, it looks dubious to me that we will gain any ground any time soon I still believe music could be a beneficial tool, but in a world where music itself has a "wrong color' to some I don't believe it can break down the barriers like I once did. I hope for the sake of my grandchildren and yours that I'm wrong. As hippie 196O's as it might sound for me to say, we are all one race. We are supposed to be made in the image of God. Then why can't we get passed something as fucking stupid as racism. We were also supposed to have dominion over the animals because we are "superior". Ok then when was the last time you saw a dog discriminate against a another dog because of it's color? I'm thankful to you for being brave enough to address this brother. Blessings and Peace☮️
The only way this statement would have any credit is if the lyrics had some uncle ruckus level white supremacist rhetoric. I'm not altering my preferences for shitty social points from anyone, like what you like, and say it with chest, no such thing as a "guilty" pleasure.
as a 35 year record nerd, i absolutely concur with all that was stated...but isnt that what we love about it! you my friend, seem a fantastic soul!this isnt about other people, it is about ourselves, and of course who we choose to support on some occasions that is a big part of why for me as well, supporting the art, but ill admit...its in a selfish way! i love vinyl especially, but any media of art
I just got out of the same struggle myke. As a black and Puerto Rican kid in Chicago people always looked at me crazy for listening to a variety of music and not just hip hop. really screwed me up confused me people used to ask if i was suicidal cause I listen to rock music or I was a bummy or dusty nigga for listen to jazz. Thanks bro
Great video. I don't believe music should really be put into "white" and "black" categories. People must just judge music on the content of its character, not the color of the preformers skin. Or the religious or political views of the preformer.
Your description of what to prepare for when buying a record player is exactly how I've felt for years but with Comic books. I want to start collecting vinyl but I cannot afford to be obsessed with both
Is not the majority of modern music "black" in origin anyway ?? Rock/Metal/Soul/Hip Hop etc etc etc are all derived from genres such as blues and gospel which are "black" (that word again sorry folks!) orientated ethnic art forms ? which in themselves come from more traditional music from Africa and Asia while classical music has its roots in ancient European Cultures but that does not mean that we should label anything as black or white music just simply music for everyone to enjoy as they wish you know? there are enough divisions in the world now lets not make music another one of them!!
indeed but the point I am trying to make is that ALL music comes from everyone - it might have its roots in a particular culture or ethnic background but has progressed through such man made barriers as a persons skin colour or background to be available to everyone?
Skin color is such a dumb ass barrier. It focuses on a superficial difference while neglecting the fact that we all have more in common than what some will admit.
agree completely my friend , I enjoy as most people do a wide range of music from across many genres or sub genres? I pay no attention to the musicians ethnic background but listen to the music for its entertainment value to me as an individual , whether it be black metal , Jazz , Classical , Country or electronic - all the same to me!!
Loved the video, as a light-brown skinned kid growing up in north-east of France where there is one of me every 20 miles, I used to get so much shit for listening to metal in middle school, but now I'm 20, I listen to rap/hip-hop and occasionally metal and people still give me shit for listening to all of that because "it's cliché", like jesus christ, why don't they grown up ? Loved the part about the record collection, it's so fucking true...
Imagine being me, a brown person, who grew up English speaking in America AND the UK, and listens to all kinds of music, but have NONE of them be identified as being “my” music, it fucking hurts and it fucking sucks when everything is quite literally black and white so it’s like I just don’t fit in anywhere reallly...how do I go about fighting this feeling? Thanks Myke!
Also, I think you truly encapsulate your rant, liking everything from hip hop to black metal to Merle Haggard to the Cure. You are a man that knows no genre.
When I dj with a hip hop/rap set people tell me shit about why I'm only playing black music. Yet they dont have problems with playing ragga music. People will always try to find an opportunity to voice their oppinion and pushing it on to others. Good for you that you are sticking to what you like. I also listen to hip hop and black metal. Good music is good music, the genre doesnt matter its still basically a melody and a rythm.
This resonates with me because i am both white and black but most people would only think I'm white because of my skin tone and music i like etc . It is really dumb to think of music in just " black and white" , My father was black and listened to everything from "Earth Wind and Fire" to "The Police"
Hey Mike, I get that shit too. I agree with you. Can I recommend you some Senegal, Afro-Cuban and Cuban music? I soo think you would fall in love with these songs.
Man I can relate to what you said about being Black and having your own people limiting you abou what you're supposed to listened to, how you're supposed to talk or behave, although I'm African living inEurope. That sh*t messed my mind up too when I was younger.
Dude I was gonna pass this video because how stupid it sounded until I saw the thumbnail saying does music have an ethnicity. After that I had complete respect for you. I hate how things these days always have a label on it when it comes to race. A majority of one race may like something more than other but that doesn't mean we all can't like it at the same time. This is why stereotypes are a thing. Thank you for making this. Respect to you.
The only thing that scares me these days is I feel like some black people may look at me and think I'm racist just because I'm white. I have tons of respect for black people. I think they're very nice. I mean I see them the same as white people because they're just people like anyone else. I don't wanna spark anything but I just want clarification I suppose if what I'm saying sounds over the top. I feel like just for being white I'm automatically racist. Maybe it's liberals or something idk.
Aye Myke idk if you'll read this because it's an older video but I've been sort of been getting into metal as of late. I like to be well versed with art like you said and I was wondering if you could recommend me some good classic metal albums to listen to. As of right now I'd have to say my favourite metal album I've listened to is The Number of the Beast
Man, I feel you 100%! I'm black and I still get shit from some of my family for listening to rock, metal, and punk. Even though I listen to hip hop, and soul too. People need to stop that shit. At the end of the day you can't deny a good song. Fuck everything else...
Word up Mike! Can you imagine all the critics that someone like Jimi Hendrix must have through... Fortunately it never stopped him from changing music forever
Hopefully more kids can use his life as inspiration. Except the part about dying at such a young age choking on vomit. But use him as a light in the tunnel. That's what I tried to do.
I can relate to this a lot as someone that was raised in a pretty strict Morrocan-Muslim household and grew up in the more (and i'll use this term very lightly) "hood" part of The Netherlands surrounded by Moroccans, Turks, Blacks. I had to pretty much hide from my family and friends that i loved Punk and Metal. To the point where i was feeling ashamed of going to shows in fear of being seen as a weirdo. I'm 18 now and i deal with it to this very day.
Hopefully I am VERY eclectic in my tastes, I can jump from Kamaiyah to Laura Gibson or from Morten HD to Damien Jurado or Josephine Foster to Phairin Phonphibun (to name some favorite releases in 2016). Ironically for being on this channel, I listen less to metal, but I try some, I liked the recent Oranssi Pazuzu (not the production, I wish the bass was louder, but music, yass). . EDIT: Ok, an album I liked that nobody here has heard: The Chi Factory - The Bamboo Recordings. It's like a sound collage with foreign instruments played, very soft relaxing experimental, took 30 years to complete (well, they abandoned it for very long).
woo thanks for speaking my mind myke, i always use to get crap all the time in middle school for liking rock but now no one really cares so that's great. but all music is great and has something special about it, i wish more black people could understand that too
You summed up my middle school high school and college years in that first segment myke... and my young homies still don't 100% get me. They'll have to figure it out for themselves nofx don't call me white was the theme during those days.
Man, I really feel ya on this one. Coming from the other side of the fence so to speak, growing up as a white kid mostly into metal and other hard stuff like that, I always caught flak from my peers about me loving the shit out of stuff like Wu Tang or NWA. I guess it didn't make sense to them, they just didn't get it. While there's been a few occasions where I've been confronted by Maroccans or Indonesians that felt they were more entitled to be into Hip Hop than myself (a white guy that was into all kinds of music), it has mostly been other white dudes giving me shit about it. In the end though, it's about the music and the connection you feel through it, fuck anyone who says you can't enjoy something like that. Hardcore really helped me understand this when I was in my teens, I ran into a lot of fucking ignorance on this issue back in the 90s. Hardcore AND Hip Hop for life! Fuck all the dumb shit!
I love you man.... tell it.... I love everything from black metal , death metal to industrial and got , old school country , to every era of and style of rap, jazz, blues, I even listen to chain gang songs and military cadence's... I have been told I am partaking in CULTURAL APPROPRIATION because I love some of the music I do... FUCK THAT!!!!!!
M*C, you are 1,000 %correct, it is ridiculous. We need to all be more open and quit judging and limiting ourselves. I hardly ever comment because it is to easy for me to get wordy without trying, just off the top and because of a little work that I do. Lets just say I am very open minded, objective, unbias and can see both sides of anything, good or bad, this is a gift and a curse...lol. I could write 100 pages on this, so I won't, but I know exactly what you are talking about. I am 49 and grew up in LA-Cali, my parents were record dealers in the 70s & 80s and I did a little DJing back in the 80s & 90's. My friends and family are very mixed and cultured, so I saw it a lot and saw people get up in curtain areas because of it. a lot of my friends and family were or are in entertainment, so you see a lot. I like that you say it like it is and you don't other people or society influence you on what to like and so on. My sister and mom were OG Old School Punks and some of my black homies would go and get the same thing, just like the ones that went to metal gigs. Best to you and yours, if you actually see this and ask any questions, I will happy to chat with you about this stuff, because it is definitely something you and I have in common. Have enjoyed D.E.E.H and M*C Town for at least a couple of years, keep Rockin and Talking...……..
If you haven't already, could you perhaps talk about your thoughts on people who are close-minded about music? In other words, elitism, or people who choose to not listen to a certain kind of music just because they won't think they'll like it, or judge before actually even listening to something.
Thank you for answering my question, and yes, I am prepared for being broke. I've already spent $60 on vinyl & I should've saved that money since I'm in college right now.
Yep, exactly right. I couldn't let people know I was into house music when I was young, or i'd be labeled as gay. Its silly stuff like that that I wish we could move past as a race.
This video really got me hard. As a soon-to-be 39 year old universal black rock musician and music fan, I love listening to everything since I was a baby from Parliament, Run-D.M.C. and Chaka Khan to The Rolling Stones, INXS and Judas Priest. And also inspired by all of them too. It's really hard to deal with the whole black music/white music thing here in Pittsburgh since I was a kid but like you said, I shouldn't give a fuck of what people...mostly my own race...thinks of me listening to and wanted to do all styles of music.
There are only two categories for music:
1. You like it.
2. You don't like it.
decolonize your mind, myke!
theneedledrop But it's so hard, Ainferknee! Teach me!
theneedledrop fuck you Anthony, isn't there a meme that needs to be reviewed?
I think Shaunzy3790 realizes that Anthony is a big phoney.
@@mykectown 😂
Myke is enjoying his W, Anthony. Don't rob him of it with your twisted worldview.
"who needs women when you have records?"
now i get why they have holes in the middle
I do not envy the man whose dick can fit inside one of those tiny little record holes
+TJ Hastie HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
+TJ Hastie
You absolute madman
@@1080TJ some records have big holes you know?
My dick is too small to use that hole
Dude this is sooo relevant for me. As a brown metalhead, I get told this shit all the time: "you listen to metal? that's so white". music, especially metal, has NO RACE. just enjoy the shit lmao. spot on myke!
Andrew Louis I'd probably ask this a black guy too, but only if he didn't look Metal at all and he told me, he liked Metal. I appreciate anybody being into Metal!
Im half black ive gotten that kinda shit a couple of times it pisses me off
Andrew Louis Where I'm from like 90% of metal/punk fans are Latino
Never sorry for listening to english language music mostly.
As a white hiphop-head, I'm super glad to hear your thoughts on this! I get a lot of shit for my tastes based on my skin color as well, it really bothers me. I don't understand why people can't see others as individuals instead of stereotypes or whatever.
I am sick of hearing about g-easy, and then having those people roll their eyes at me for listening to a black artist that I like more. Who gives a fuck about skin color, it's all the same art.
Typing this from a Starbucks in Tokyo- Myke is right about the black music thing, and my coffee is stale.
Growing up in the hood I remember being nervous to go buy Rock albums because I didn't know anybody that liked or knew about them. I thought the homies would laugh so I stayed away until I was in my mid 20's and was like FUCK it I like this so I'm buying it.
good for you. it seems like when people grow up the less we give a fuck lol
Right on.
Mike gonna bump that Spanish music with feefo break all boundaries
Myke*
david flores Bachata bumps in the whip bro..
Lmfaooo
#RealTalk I'll listen to Nirvana, John Lennon, Billie Holiday and 2pac, Nina Simone & Lauryn Hill. So?
KP Kev the Poet nice
Good taste if u were in east canada that would get u a drink from me
You are very articulate and insightful, Myke. Love your videos.
I love this. I'm a black guy and I get this from black and white people. These are strange times. I get looks and still feel uncomfortable when I go to rock shows. That to say it is better now than it was. Going to see REM back in the day I would get the LOOK. What the hell is this colored fella doing here? He MUST be lost. Damn it!!!!! That to say I have to admit that comments like these happen to me less today.
Right on man, well put. Also teach kids about the cultures of their classmates. Learn about perspectives and learn to realise yours is just one of many.
no such thing as white music. just music, plain and simple. You do you
Right on, man!
its just music.. there's black country singers black rock & roll artist just like theres white rappers
Totally agree with your answer on the first question. Smiled through as you were answering the second one. Thanks man!
"AS A FUCKING ADULT, I STILL GET SHIT..." Damn, you hit it on the nail right there already in the beginning, Myke... I love this video, getting to hear you talk this candidly on a subject people been beating around the bush for years it seems. Honestly I just respect and appreciate you so much for your expression, man. Your obsessive presence of mind and keen perception on especially lyricism mirrors mine in my way of listening to music first of all, but also nothing's really that complicated as far as what music is when you think about it in that subjective way again. Anyway, I love what you're about (though honestly a lot of the HORROR and METAL stuff I probably won't ever go near ever myself as much as I love your intelligent conversation about them) so just thanks once and for all for doing all that you do on these channels. Anyway, interesting topic, glad to have you you on the side of wisdom in time, and peeeaaaace
good music is good music, period
One of the most beautiful things about music is that it brings us all together! Might seem like a small thing but I think its had a major role in opening people's minds to new ideas.
God, that last part about record collecting was the most inspirational thing I've ever heard. Thanks, Myke!
People forget that black musicians pioneered rock music, even though revisionist history will say it was Elvis. It's crazy that people get made fun of for this. It makes me wonder if in the future people will start calling jazz and hip hop white people music.
thank you Mike C!! i grew up in the hood and i too gravitated to Nirvana and Pearl Jam. One of my fav albums of all time is Metalica "And justice for all". But i rap and i also love hip hop. u spoke for the black eclectic.
Good music crosses all these lines. I always love seeing black guys and girls at metal shows. Hendrix is probably the best rock guitar player ever, even more likely the best lead guitar who also is the lead singer.
I listen to soft rock and mentally stimulating HipHop. Right now 'real' HipHop is number one but soft rock was my favourite when I was younger.
This is one of the best videos I've seen in a while. I actually like how comprehensive you get with your answers; you find every angle of the question. Really interesting points, man. I especially identify with you saying that people can find certain connections with music that may have previously been "foreign" to them, and it can completely expand the possibilities of how they interact with music from that point on.
Thank you, man. I'm stoked you dug this.
Myke C-Town Fuck all those Twitter haters, keep doing what you do
love the conviction Myke spoke with.
Very articulate, very very true. "Being open to all avenues" sums up the black/white music issue excellently. The ridiculouness of the notion that music has colour: Billy Cobham in Mahavishnu Orchestra, Dave Matthews Band - these would be 'mixed race' music, right? Only for people of mixed race ;)
I feel for you dude, I don't know if you read comments on your old videos but I had a similar experience growing up as a white kid growing up in a rural area and having the AUDICITY, as you put it, to listen to both Metal music and Rap and R&B. I remember the pain of being asked "why do you listen to (I won't repeat that word) music?" By people who i thought at the time were my friends and family (had to cut alot of people out when i was a teen.) I know how much that fucks with your head, even if our exact circumstances are different, you have my sympathy and empathy dude and we need to mentor the generations growing up now and in the future to learn to accept and love themselves, love the music/art that makes them the happiest, and to actually respect other people
5:58 My mother is like that, too. I'm black too and lucky to have had that experience growing up.
also you said "envious" which is long for envy. u know I love them.
ANYWAY, I was never really bothered by any weird looks or comments I would get for listening to Avenged Sevenfold or Rammstein in middle school or My Chemical Romance in elementary school. I kinda loved and thought it was hilarious. And in high school I REALLY didn't care. I'd blast Ampere and Envy all throughout the fuckin halls if I felt like it.
I'm sure this might be easier for me to say than others due to my experiences but don't let people's judgements of your "white music" get to you. I honestly don't think it's a very big deal to them, just an instinctive reaction to something they're not used to. And hey, maybe you can have an interesting talk with them about it and end up making a new friend or some shit. Listen to all the shitty harsh noise, gangsta rap, and hipster shit that you want.
Yeah, I like to tell people to just not give a fuck about what other people think too. But it's easy to say when you've already been through it. It's a bit harder for people who are currently in the thick of it, you know? But I'm with you.
I never thought about the whole "blank slate" idea but it's totally true. It's unfortunate that the black community imposes almost a cultural standard of how to be "black" I say that because I think that there are a lot of black kids out there who can't enjoy the things they like due to peer pressure. Sucks
Yup. It's a self-imposed inferiority complex and I really don't understand where it came from. It really sucks.
@@mykectownSelf protection. "You" act and be black in harmony with the tight knit community you're supposed to be a part of so that "we" know you aren't playing for the other, oppressing, team. We need to know you aren't a Candace Owens
You're awesome. I love that you gave a complete answer to the question and it was visceral. I'm listening.
Hello from Wales man. Well said sir. I think your taste in music is eclectic. Some of it is not to my tastes but I have discovered some great shit through your channel. Couldn't care less who makes it or primarily listens to it.
It's frustrating how here in the states everyone is so obsessed with music and how it relates to your race. If you go to any non white country, you will find people listening to "white music" and their ethnicity is never questioned. Listen to whatever you like.
That comment about getting the right record player killed me!! I'm currently 20 records deep in my collection, it's made me broke! Loving your work on both DEHH and this channel!
Thanks for this video Myke! As a foreign kid in germany, it seemed you weren't supposed to listen to anything other than rap. I grew up listening to michael jackson just because the cd was lying around the house and just like that i discovered foo fighters, wu-tang and all that other stuff im listening to now. For me it was just a journey with no ending as im finding out about more and more music, but i always got looked at funny when i switched to slipknot from the roots and then put on justin timberlake. Today i couldn't care less about what people think about my musical taste as i am convinced that they are the ones who are missing out just because they think they "can not" listen to certain types of music.
Lovin the new animation on the intro, looking spiffy
Music is mathematical, it's a gift from the Universe and open for all of us to make, listen to, discover, like and dislike. And when we die, our ashes can be melted into a record and our bodies will be one with the music until the Sun absorbs all that we know.
Tweegrrl bruh..
I'd love to be turned into a record when I die. I might add that to my will.
Yes!!!! I love your response. So important to set the "record" straight.
I went to school with an African American kid and he loved White Zombie and we shared so much music at the time and skin color didn't mean shoi to me I just felt great someone loved my style of music at the time.
Thanks my man, this just needed to be said.
loved this Myke, So true regarding buying records, I think we've all bought a record instead of getting a hair cut lol. I need a new car tyre... I'll buy a record instead.
That's the life of a collector.
You say you're talking to black people primarily, but as a white person who listens to a LOT of hip hop this matters to me too. Yes, I listen to a lot of music by white artists as well, in the metal, pop, rock, experimental, ambiental, etc genres, but my daily music intake is usually hip hop currently. I worry about my influence on the scene and the music, not as an individual as much as a part of the wider music scene. As someone who goes to a LOT of concerts, I notice the audiences too, so it makes me think, and makes me want to understand. So thank you.
+Benjamin Tirone Nunes Right on, man. Thanks for the comment.
Liking hip hop and R&B while also liking country and metal just means you're too open-minded to care about what's "white music" or "black music." Obviously all genres originate from within certain cultures and have more appeal with certain demographics but if you think the color of someone's skin determines what they can or can't listen to, just fuck off. Hell, metal is seen as "white music" but it probably wouldn't exist without Jimi Hendrix's innovative guitar playing. Same goes for punk with Death and Bad Brains. Imagine where hip hop would be right now without Rick Ruben, DJ Shadow, Eminem or El-P. At a certain point it really doesn't matter anymore.
TJ Hastie Metal is an interesting one because it can be traced back to a few bands from the early 60s. The Beatles "Helten Skelter" had a significant influence on metal as did The Kinks and various other bands but it didn't really come into play until Sabbath, arguably on their first record but I'd say that was more rock based whereas their second release is probably where heavy metal as a music genre was formed - Deep Purple also have a huge influence on the genre and I'd also class them as some of the originators, especially with Blackmores guitar playing which inspired the likes of Priest & Maiden and that sort of metal. But as a genre it's pretty hard to trace due to so many influences as variables
TJ Hastie hip hop without Eminem wouldn’t really be that different
Culture Vulture
It wouldn't be as popular as it is right now because of the open eminem was for white people
I’m late as fuck to this video but reminds me of the time my friends brother (who was African American) told me I couldn’t enjoy TPAB and understand what Kendrick is talking about because I’m Caucasian. Shit really caught me off guard, thought it was weird as fuck. I explained the meaning of the album to him from my perspective and he sat there and told me that I’m not allowed to decipher it “properly” due to being white.
Thank you for making this video! I am in complete agreement! No one should allow him/herself to be pressured into only listening to one or two genres of music because of someone else's narrow cultural idea of how that person "should" be. I'm a white guy who listens to everything from punk, soul, hip-hop, country, jazz, and on and on (to the break of dawn!), and who is *anyone* to tell me that I shouldn't?! On a side (but related) note, I've just stumbled onto the greatest avant-jazz-progressive-rock website that I ever could have imagined, Wayside Music, and, also, the record label that Wayside spawned, Cuneiform Records. I've found amazing, challenging records and CDs on Wayside that I could not find anywhere else, and, in some cases, that I never even knew existed! It's an "off the beaten path" music-lover's dream! Thanks again for sharing your perspective here. I'll be subscribing to this channel!
I think it's dumb that people label rock music as "white music" even though it was pioneered by black artists. I know this point has been hammered on by thousands of other people, but it really goes to show that most people who try to impose their preconceived notions on art are the ones who don't know what they're talking about
Just started my vinyl collection.First albums - Cheap Thrills - Big Brother (1982) and Pink Floyd - Meddle(1976)
I almost never cry, but hearing the frustration in your in voice actually made my eyes tear up. Why? I guess maybe because most of what you said mirrors a lot of thoughts that I have on a regular basis. "How are we ever going to get past this?" Will we ever get past this? Is it even possible to get past this? It seems impossible to me until someone's race isn't the first thing we see when we look at a person. I don't see how it can be done. I am 48 years old and when I was a younger man I had high hopes that it would be music, because I believed it could transcend nationality, religion, economic status, creed, or race, but thanks to the fact that many people feel that I shouldn't listen to hiphop and that you shouldn't listen to Nirvana, it looks dubious to me that we will gain any ground any time soon
I still believe music could be a beneficial tool, but in a world where music itself
has a "wrong color' to some I don't believe it can break down the barriers like I once did. I hope for the sake of my grandchildren and yours that I'm wrong. As hippie 196O's as it might sound for me to say, we are all one race. We are supposed to be made in the image of God. Then why can't we get passed something as fucking stupid as racism. We were also supposed to have dominion over the animals because we are "superior". Ok then when was the last time you saw a dog discriminate against a another dog because of it's color? I'm thankful to you for being brave enough to address this brother. Blessings and Peace☮️
The only way this statement would have any credit is if the lyrics had some uncle ruckus level white supremacist rhetoric.
I'm not altering my preferences for shitty social points from anyone, like what you like, and say it with chest, no such thing as a "guilty" pleasure.
Favorite responses ever!
as a 35 year record nerd, i absolutely concur with all that was stated...but isnt that what we love about it! you my friend, seem a fantastic soul!this isnt about other people, it is about ourselves, and of course who we choose to support on some occasions that is a big part of why for me as well, supporting the art, but ill admit...its in a selfish way! i love vinyl especially, but any media of art
I just got out of the same struggle myke. As a black and Puerto Rican kid in Chicago people always looked at me crazy for listening to a variety of music and not just hip hop. really screwed me up confused me people used to ask if i was suicidal cause I listen to rock music or I was a bummy or dusty nigga for listen to jazz. Thanks bro
Great video. I don't believe music should really be put into "white" and "black" categories. People must just judge music on the content of its character, not the color of the preformers skin. Or the religious or political views of the preformer.
Your description of what to prepare for when buying a record player is exactly how I've felt for years but with Comic books. I want to start collecting vinyl but I cannot afford to be obsessed with both
Is not the majority of modern music "black" in origin anyway ?? Rock/Metal/Soul/Hip Hop etc etc etc are all derived from genres such as blues and gospel which are "black" (that word again sorry folks!) orientated ethnic art forms ? which in themselves come from more traditional music from Africa and Asia while classical music has its roots in ancient European Cultures but that does not mean that we should label anything as black or white music just simply music for everyone to enjoy as they wish you know? there are enough divisions in the world now lets not make music another one of them!!
Agree.
Actually rock is a mixture of blues, r&b and country.
indeed but the point I am trying to make is that ALL music comes from everyone - it might have its roots in a particular culture or ethnic background but has progressed through such man made barriers as a persons skin colour or background to be available to everyone?
Skin color is such a dumb ass barrier. It focuses on a superficial difference while neglecting the fact that we all have more in common than what some will admit.
agree completely my friend , I enjoy as most people do a wide range of music from across many genres or sub genres? I pay no attention to the musicians ethnic background but listen to the music for its entertainment value to me as an individual , whether it be black metal , Jazz , Classical , Country or electronic - all the same to me!!
I agree, i listen some many difference music and i really understand what you said
Loved the video, as a light-brown skinned kid growing up in north-east of France where there is one of me every 20 miles, I used to get so much shit for listening to metal in middle school, but now I'm 20, I listen to rap/hip-hop and occasionally metal and people still give me shit for listening to all of that because "it's cliché", like jesus christ, why don't they grown up ? Loved the part about the record collection, it's so fucking true...
100% agreed.
Imagine being me, a brown person, who grew up English speaking in America AND the UK, and listens to all kinds of music, but have NONE of them be identified as being “my” music, it fucking hurts and it fucking sucks when everything is quite literally black and white so it’s like I just don’t fit in anywhere reallly...how do I go about fighting this feeling? Thanks Myke!
Damn, man. You were itching for a rant, a pretty damn awesome rant.
Also, I think you truly encapsulate your rant, liking everything from hip hop to black metal to Merle Haggard to the Cure. You are a man that knows no genre.
When I dj with a hip hop/rap set people tell me shit about why I'm only playing black music. Yet they dont have problems with playing ragga music. People will always try to find an opportunity to voice their oppinion and pushing it on to others. Good for you that you are sticking to what you like. I also listen to hip hop and black metal. Good music is good music, the genre doesnt matter its still basically a melody and a rythm.
Thank you!
great video man, very well spoken. I agree with you, art/music is universal. let em know bruh.
note to self: buy vinyl, go broke.
This resonates with me because i am both white and black but most people would only think I'm white because of my skin tone and music i like etc . It is really dumb to think of music in just " black and white" , My father was black and listened to everything from "Earth Wind and Fire" to "The Police"
This was truly awesome, nice one!
This is perfect
Hey Mike, I get that shit too. I agree with you. Can I recommend you some Senegal, Afro-Cuban and Cuban music? I soo think you would fall in love with these songs.
God I love that intro
lmao love u myke, shit came from the soul
Man I can relate to what you said about being Black and having your own people limiting you abou what you're supposed to listened to, how you're supposed to talk or behave, although I'm African living inEurope. That sh*t messed my mind up too when I was younger.
A life of loneliness and desolation... This sounds like a black metal record.
Hmmm....I think you're onto something...
@@mykectownThe record should be called the Tales of Despero.
I just discovered you and you're my new fave! :)
Dude I was gonna pass this video because how stupid it sounded until I saw the thumbnail saying does music have an ethnicity. After that I had complete respect for you. I hate how things these days always have a label on it when it comes to race. A majority of one race may like something more than other but that doesn't mean we all can't like it at the same time. This is why stereotypes are a thing. Thank you for making this. Respect to you.
The only thing that scares me these days is I feel like some black people may look at me and think I'm racist just because I'm white. I have tons of respect for black people. I think they're very nice. I mean I see them the same as white people because they're just people like anyone else. I don't wanna spark anything but I just want clarification I suppose if what I'm saying sounds over the top. I feel like just for being white I'm automatically racist. Maybe it's liberals or something idk.
Aye Myke idk if you'll read this because it's an older video but I've been sort of been getting into metal as of late. I like to be well versed with art like you said and I was wondering if you could recommend me some good classic metal albums to listen to. As of right now I'd have to say my favourite metal album I've listened to is The Number of the Beast
so well said, always appreciate your take on things
Damn, you're so right about what you have to prepare for when collecting records.
Man, I feel you 100%! I'm black and I still get shit from some of my family for listening to rock, metal, and punk. Even though I listen to hip hop, and soul too. People need to stop that shit. At the end of the day you can't deny a good song. Fuck everything else...
Word up Mike! Can you imagine all the critics that someone like Jimi Hendrix must have through... Fortunately it never stopped him from changing music forever
Hopefully more kids can use his life as inspiration. Except the part about dying at such a young age choking on vomit. But use him as a light in the tunnel. That's what I tried to do.
really like what you say in this video! it's unfortunate that 4 years later this may still be a conversation piece.
I can relate to this a lot as someone that was raised in a pretty strict Morrocan-Muslim household and grew up in the more (and i'll use this term very lightly) "hood" part of The Netherlands surrounded by Moroccans, Turks, Blacks. I had to pretty much hide from my family and friends that i loved Punk and Metal. To the point where i was feeling ashamed of going to shows in fear of being seen as a weirdo. I'm 18 now and i deal with it to this very day.
Trek je d'r niks van aan gozer. Blijf altijd trouw aan jezelf.
exactly!!!
Hey Myke! Great video man. Was wondering if you're going to start reviewing movies again. Really enjoyed those videos.
Trying to get back into it.
Great video bro. Music is music, art is art. We all like what we like.
Hopefully I am VERY eclectic in my tastes, I can jump from Kamaiyah to Laura Gibson or from Morten HD to Damien Jurado or Josephine Foster to Phairin Phonphibun (to name some favorite releases in 2016). Ironically for being on this channel, I listen less to metal, but I try some, I liked the recent Oranssi Pazuzu (not the production, I wish the bass was louder, but music, yass). . EDIT: Ok, an album I liked that nobody here has heard: The Chi Factory - The Bamboo Recordings. It's like a sound collage with foreign instruments played, very soft relaxing experimental, took 30 years to complete (well, they abandoned it for very long).
Damn, Myke! This video is so full of truth. Thanks for the good dope.
woo thanks for speaking my mind myke, i always use to get crap all the time in middle school for liking rock but now no one really cares so that's great. but all music is great and has something special about it, i wish more black people could understand that too
Great points Myke. Sick Slidhr shirt! Have you heard their split w/ Acherontas?
Nah! I need to pick it up!
you make very good points I also believe it is possible to enjoy someone's art and disagree with their opinions at the same time.
You summed up my middle school high school and college years in that first segment myke... and my young homies still don't 100% get me. They'll have to figure it out for themselves nofx don't call me white was the theme during those days.
Man, I really feel ya on this one. Coming from the other side of the fence so to speak, growing up as a white kid mostly into metal and other hard stuff like that, I always caught flak from my peers about me loving the shit out of stuff like Wu Tang or NWA. I guess it didn't make sense to them, they just didn't get it. While there's been a few occasions where I've been confronted by Maroccans or Indonesians that felt they were more entitled to be into Hip Hop than myself (a white guy that was into all kinds of music), it has mostly been other white dudes giving me shit about it.
In the end though, it's about the music and the connection you feel through it, fuck anyone who says you can't enjoy something like that. Hardcore really helped me understand this when I was in my teens, I ran into a lot of fucking ignorance on this issue back in the 90s.
Hardcore AND Hip Hop for life! Fuck all the dumb shit!
I love you man.... tell it.... I love everything from black metal , death metal to industrial and got , old school country , to every era of and style of rap, jazz, blues, I even listen to chain gang songs and military cadence's... I have been told I am partaking in CULTURAL APPROPRIATION because I love some of the music I do... FUCK THAT!!!!!!
Well said, glad you're answering some more questions
M*C, you are 1,000 %correct, it is ridiculous. We need to all be more open and quit judging and limiting ourselves. I hardly ever comment because it is to easy for me to get wordy without trying, just off the top and because of a little work that I do. Lets just say I am very open minded, objective, unbias and can see both sides of anything, good or bad, this is a gift and a curse...lol. I could write 100 pages on this, so I won't, but I know exactly what you are talking about. I am 49 and grew up in LA-Cali, my parents were record dealers in the 70s & 80s and I did a little DJing back in the 80s & 90's. My friends and family are very mixed and cultured, so I saw it a lot and saw people get up in curtain areas because of it. a lot of my friends and family were or are in entertainment, so you see a lot. I like that you say it like it is and you don't other people or society influence you on what to like and so on. My sister and mom were OG Old School Punks and some of my black homies would go and get the same thing, just like the ones that went to metal gigs.
Best to you and yours, if you actually see this and ask any questions, I will happy to chat with you about this stuff, because it is definitely something you and I have in common. Have enjoyed D.E.E.H and M*C Town for at least a couple of years, keep Rockin and Talking...……..
Well said, dude.
Amen.. Amen..👍👍👍👏👏👏
If you haven't already, could you perhaps talk about your thoughts on people who are close-minded about music? In other words, elitism, or people who choose to not listen to a certain kind of music just because they won't think they'll like it, or judge before actually even listening to something.
I'm Asian. I don't give a fuck about a color, I always listen to white and black music. I don't even listen to kpop or jpop.
Respect. Spoken like a true human being.
Thank you for answering my question, and yes, I am prepared for being broke. I've already spent $60 on vinyl & I should've saved that money since I'm in college right now.
Being broke is part of the college experience! So you better get used to it!
people also give music a gender too. thats annoying
+Musiq 310 YES!!! You're right!
Yep, exactly right. I couldn't let people know I was into house music when I was young, or i'd be labeled as gay. Its silly stuff like that that I wish we could move past as a race.
+Titanium50 yeah just dont give a fuck lol i know its easy to say and not that easy to do but life gets way better if you do lol
I used to race and house music was my go to, to stay calm. You're not gay, i know plenty of girls that love that shit
This video really got me hard. As a soon-to-be 39 year old universal black rock musician and music fan, I love listening to everything since I was a baby from Parliament, Run-D.M.C. and Chaka Khan to The Rolling Stones, INXS and Judas Priest. And also inspired by all of them too. It's really hard to deal with the whole black music/white music thing here in Pittsburgh since I was a kid but like you said, I shouldn't give a fuck of what people...mostly my own race...thinks of me listening to and wanted to do all styles of music.