My brother calls me all the time from Oakland, asking me if I've heard this song, or that song, and I rarely know of it. Want to know why? Because here, in Portland, the only station that it seems "whoever"thinks black people would listen to is 95.5, which is like hip hop on crack.
Do non black or even some black people think that A) all black people listen to hip hop and B) Hip hop rap is the only thing black people listen to?
I listen to literally every type of music. Like, I love me some Bonnie Raitt or John Mayer. But I also like Alicia Keys or 50 cent and lots in betwen. In fact, sometimes with my black friends in the car, even my mom, I'm afraid to put in my cd's or my favorite radio stations for fear of ridicule. But that's how it is in Portland. There's not a lot of selection when it comes to black music. There is no R&B station. And if you don't have cable to watch videos (like me), how do you find out about good R&B?
Let me know if you have an idea.
4 comments:
Have you listened to KBOO? They sometimes have good music. (But I'm white, so what do I know :) )
I know what you mean about not having more choices of radio stations. It drives me crazy and has for more years than I'd like to remember.
Just think at one time all we had was KBOO 90.7 for two hours per night and like four hours on Saturday. Then they came up with KBMS 1480AM. That was a genius move... lol
Now that I am 40 years old, I have given up trying to please everyone. My taste in music, much like yours, ranges from Bonnie Raitt to Beethoven and everything in between. I have a teen daughter that has even turned me onto the “Disney” sound and some of her rock. Go figure :-) … All I can suggest is hang in there on the music tip and “keep hope alive”.
Invent your own music! Download Audacity online and play a metronome. Then hook up a mic to the computer and just start spitting away!
Best of luck!
I completely agree. I grew up in Jax FL. I moved to Portland 2 yrs ago. I was amazed at how "white" the music & culture was here. Im white myself but growing up in the south majority of my friends were black & my whole demeanor was black/hip hop culture influenced. When i got here the 1st thing i noticed was there was barely any black people & no hip hop ststion on the radio! Talk about my mind being blown! Staight culture shock! My biggest concern is raising my daughter here. She is 9 & listens to the radio but, without even a hip hop station as a choice she is stuck listening to pop music all the time. In a few more years she will have lost all her souther/hip hop culture & if we were back in FL then she would be surrounded with hip hop culture. I just think its weird that Portland acts like its all about music but, it doesnt even have a radio station with the most popular genre of music (hip hop). Is there really so little urban cultured people here that a hip hop radio statuon wouldnt work? Portland is musical, weird, & a very unique place but, its missing 1 thing.....Some SOUL!
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