This is my third blog in my music focused world and it is an open letter to Noel Gallagher. There is little chance that he will read it so I guess its open to all that choose to read. Hopefully it will make the people who agree with Noels recent statement rethink their stance and if not you can take a horse to water but you can’t make it drink and you certainly can’t make it think.
For those that are unaware of the comment Noel made regarding hip hop and the Glastonbury music festival and the fact that Jay-Z will be headlining this year’s event I shall explain.
In short Noel, of Oasis has gone on record stating it was wrong to have hip hop headlining and that the organizers had changed things too much. The guitarist and sometimes singer claimed that Jay-Z was not in keeping with the nature of Glastonbury Gallagher said:
“If it aint broke don’t fix it. If you start to break it the people aren’t going to go. I’m sorry, but Jay-Z? No chance. Glastonbury has a tradition of guitar music.” He ended his statement with “I’m not having hip hop at Glastonbury. It’s wrong”
So now that we have covered the background my letter starts like all good letters should………..
Dear Noel,
I hope you are well. I recently read the reports on your statement and was moved to write to you. Firstly can I say that I, like many people, have showed some admiration for your song “Wonderwall” and for quite a few of your other northern guitar classics. You, for a short minute, gave a revolutionary zeal to lads in pubs everywhere as they stood beer glasses in hand singing along to your many anthem like guitar pop/rock songs while effortlessly mimicking your brother Liam’s characteristic swagger. You gave a feeling of belonging to many of these guys who otherwise may have been lured into Ecstasy filled night clubs to dance the water out of their bodies. Although I have come from another musical perspective I can appreciate you and your music. The reason I can do this will become clear as you read on. So I thank you for this and I thank you on behalf of every swagger loving blagger from our home town of Manchester.
But noel I must admit that the wonder fell off my wall when I heard what you had said about Jay-Z. I have heard you make many a statement regarding your music and it has never bothered me in the least. Statements like Oasis being the greatest band in the world, you being the next Beatles, or inferring it at least, it never really bothered me I mean you have a right to your opinion even when you embraced New Labour and tried to resurrect Rule Britannia under the guise of cool Britannia that never bothered me much either because I knew it would come back to bite you and make you look back, not with anger, but with regret.
However when an artist of your eminence decides that a whole genre of music should be excluded from the united kingdoms largest music festival then I think we should all ask what does Mr. Gallagher mean by terms like “traditional” and hip hop being “wrong”? I am not defending Jay-Z’s form of hip hop and anyone who has listened to my music will know that I have a different take on hip hop and music in general, but I will defend his right to play at a musical festival as long music festivals exists.
What could inspire you to endorse nothing less than Musical Apartheid? Were you really saying no hip hop should be entertained? Or was it Jay-Z you have a problem with? Does the term traditional mean only bands from the UK? Does it mean only bands with the basic set up of drums, guitars and bass? With hip hop being a music primarily created by black people do you mean only bands with a white heritage? Oh Noel, what do you mean? I think its time to educate you in the hope that you can clarify your thinking and in so doing help us to understand you.
You have made it very very clear that one of your main influences is the Beatles. You have taken every opportunity to align yourself with their legacy and to those with musical ears you have taken chord progression and many phrases from their back catalogue. For example “don’t look back in anger” in which you used the chord progression from Lennon’s “imagine” in the intro of the song. So I think it should be clear to assume that in your mind the Beatles would be considered traditional.
In the case of the Beatles, they came to prominence as part of a wider musical legacy which became known as “the Mersey Beat”, which I am sure you are aware of.
What you may not be aware of or have overlooked is the fact that the Mersey beat was inspired by the influx of black music into the city in the post war years. In addition to the fact that black GIs were coming into Liverpool bringing along with them Afro-American music the cause of black music was also championed by many a white seaman. It was this music that was not openly sold in music shops but instead trafficked under counters that the likes of Paul McCartney and john Lennon would learn to play as youngsters in the same way that you learned to play their music. This hidden but powerful source of music became known as “Race Music” for obvious reasons.
To this day Liverpool as a city has an uneasy relationship with its past and for some reason seems to refuse to accept the major role black music played in the development of the cities musical culture. Even though evidence of that history is lost in the mainstream it always resides just below the surface but ever present in the psyche of us all and in the minds of musicologists like Portia Maultsby who concluded that the success of white rock and rollers was very much boosted by black influence. There was also the proliferation of the “cover Syndrome”. Which was a way for record companies to counteract the immense crossover influence of R’n’B in the early fifties. Record companies deliberately copied/covered versions with white artists to repackage and make the music more palatable to a white audience or a ‘traditional’ audience. These are the kinds of issues that we are trying to leave behind.
Maybe Noel you can speak to your father or maybe an uncle about the fact that many white males of this time would gain access to clubs to listen to black music the same clubs that had color bars preventing black people from attending
Noel are you saying you would wish for this influence to have not happened in the early development of what you call traditional music?
What about Hendrix, who revolutionized rock music? As you know he was essentially a blues musician, again blues is a musical form with a black tradition.
But hey, I’m sure you know about the influences in the music you love. I mean Paul Weller is one of your idols in fact you have taken great pleasure in his work and in working with him. Why don’t you ask Paul about his early influences of SKA, two tone and mod music I’m sure he would tell you where that ‘skank dat’ he loves so much came from and how Skin heads and Mods took there music from the SKA ‘riddims’ of Jamaica. If your musical greats have taken such strong influences from black music then how have you got a problem with the man they call Jay-Z? In fact have you not seen festival or music events like the Diana memorial concert where white and black folk were shaking their collective ass to the music of Kanye West? I heard that even Prince William can be heard in the palace blasting Pharrell and Snoop.
For arguments sake lets say you were able to get a ban on hip hop at Glastonbury. What then? Would you screen the hundreds of thousands of visitors to make sure there were no hip hop lovers sneaking in amongst the traditional music lovers? NO, I’m sure even you would see how preposterous that would be.
Noel, I would like to say that both the Beetles and Paul Weller, in his time with The Jam and The Style Council, did not put a musical ban on Sam Cooke, The Shirelles, Al Hibbler, Roy Hamilton, Ray Charles, Little Richard, Colin Areety, James brown, Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davies, duke Ellington, B.B king, Marvin Gaye, chuck berry. If they had done this the music you have come to love would today be a very different thing. Although you may say none of the artist I have listed can be called hip hop. The point is as a hip hop artist I know in my soul that hip hop would not be here without these greats who went before me to lay the foundations of hip hop. As the phrase goes there is nothing new under the sun.
So please don’t reject hip hop because you fear it or you hate it or it makes you feel a little put out. You must embrace it in the understanding that all music is related just as you have close relatives and distant ones, nevertheless you are all from the same line. Music is the same we are all connected through it. So use your position to unite not to grab headlines that make you seem ignorant and backward in your grip on reality and lost in an outdated mentality.
There is nothing greater than when music from two different branches comes together to prove clearly that they are rooted in the same tree.
Can you imagine if you had asked to Jay-Z to hook up and drop a track together for Glastonbury? It is obvious that Jay-Z has a mind open to such collaboration because of his work with Linkin Park. But I guess I am dreaming because although I would have rather read a headline saying that said ‘Noel Gallagher and Jay-Z join forces for one track to open Glastonbury’. The truth is I know your ego is too great to share the stage with an artist you feel is inferior to yourself and that is the saddest thing about your statement; it reveals something inside you that is ignorant and maybe a little bitter that your band didn’t break America in the same way that Jay-Z has broken everywhere…….
Elavi AKA the Educator
CLOCKWORK by ELAVI
WWW.ELAVI.COM
For those that are unaware of the comment Noel made regarding hip hop and the Glastonbury music festival and the fact that Jay-Z will be headlining this year’s event I shall explain.
In short Noel, of Oasis has gone on record stating it was wrong to have hip hop headlining and that the organizers had changed things too much. The guitarist and sometimes singer claimed that Jay-Z was not in keeping with the nature of Glastonbury Gallagher said:
“If it aint broke don’t fix it. If you start to break it the people aren’t going to go. I’m sorry, but Jay-Z? No chance. Glastonbury has a tradition of guitar music.” He ended his statement with “I’m not having hip hop at Glastonbury. It’s wrong”
So now that we have covered the background my letter starts like all good letters should………..
Dear Noel,
I hope you are well. I recently read the reports on your statement and was moved to write to you. Firstly can I say that I, like many people, have showed some admiration for your song “Wonderwall” and for quite a few of your other northern guitar classics. You, for a short minute, gave a revolutionary zeal to lads in pubs everywhere as they stood beer glasses in hand singing along to your many anthem like guitar pop/rock songs while effortlessly mimicking your brother Liam’s characteristic swagger. You gave a feeling of belonging to many of these guys who otherwise may have been lured into Ecstasy filled night clubs to dance the water out of their bodies. Although I have come from another musical perspective I can appreciate you and your music. The reason I can do this will become clear as you read on. So I thank you for this and I thank you on behalf of every swagger loving blagger from our home town of Manchester.
But noel I must admit that the wonder fell off my wall when I heard what you had said about Jay-Z. I have heard you make many a statement regarding your music and it has never bothered me in the least. Statements like Oasis being the greatest band in the world, you being the next Beatles, or inferring it at least, it never really bothered me I mean you have a right to your opinion even when you embraced New Labour and tried to resurrect Rule Britannia under the guise of cool Britannia that never bothered me much either because I knew it would come back to bite you and make you look back, not with anger, but with regret.
However when an artist of your eminence decides that a whole genre of music should be excluded from the united kingdoms largest music festival then I think we should all ask what does Mr. Gallagher mean by terms like “traditional” and hip hop being “wrong”? I am not defending Jay-Z’s form of hip hop and anyone who has listened to my music will know that I have a different take on hip hop and music in general, but I will defend his right to play at a musical festival as long music festivals exists.
What could inspire you to endorse nothing less than Musical Apartheid? Were you really saying no hip hop should be entertained? Or was it Jay-Z you have a problem with? Does the term traditional mean only bands from the UK? Does it mean only bands with the basic set up of drums, guitars and bass? With hip hop being a music primarily created by black people do you mean only bands with a white heritage? Oh Noel, what do you mean? I think its time to educate you in the hope that you can clarify your thinking and in so doing help us to understand you.
You have made it very very clear that one of your main influences is the Beatles. You have taken every opportunity to align yourself with their legacy and to those with musical ears you have taken chord progression and many phrases from their back catalogue. For example “don’t look back in anger” in which you used the chord progression from Lennon’s “imagine” in the intro of the song. So I think it should be clear to assume that in your mind the Beatles would be considered traditional.
In the case of the Beatles, they came to prominence as part of a wider musical legacy which became known as “the Mersey Beat”, which I am sure you are aware of.
What you may not be aware of or have overlooked is the fact that the Mersey beat was inspired by the influx of black music into the city in the post war years. In addition to the fact that black GIs were coming into Liverpool bringing along with them Afro-American music the cause of black music was also championed by many a white seaman. It was this music that was not openly sold in music shops but instead trafficked under counters that the likes of Paul McCartney and john Lennon would learn to play as youngsters in the same way that you learned to play their music. This hidden but powerful source of music became known as “Race Music” for obvious reasons.
To this day Liverpool as a city has an uneasy relationship with its past and for some reason seems to refuse to accept the major role black music played in the development of the cities musical culture. Even though evidence of that history is lost in the mainstream it always resides just below the surface but ever present in the psyche of us all and in the minds of musicologists like Portia Maultsby who concluded that the success of white rock and rollers was very much boosted by black influence. There was also the proliferation of the “cover Syndrome”. Which was a way for record companies to counteract the immense crossover influence of R’n’B in the early fifties. Record companies deliberately copied/covered versions with white artists to repackage and make the music more palatable to a white audience or a ‘traditional’ audience. These are the kinds of issues that we are trying to leave behind.
Maybe Noel you can speak to your father or maybe an uncle about the fact that many white males of this time would gain access to clubs to listen to black music the same clubs that had color bars preventing black people from attending
Noel are you saying you would wish for this influence to have not happened in the early development of what you call traditional music?
What about Hendrix, who revolutionized rock music? As you know he was essentially a blues musician, again blues is a musical form with a black tradition.
But hey, I’m sure you know about the influences in the music you love. I mean Paul Weller is one of your idols in fact you have taken great pleasure in his work and in working with him. Why don’t you ask Paul about his early influences of SKA, two tone and mod music I’m sure he would tell you where that ‘skank dat’ he loves so much came from and how Skin heads and Mods took there music from the SKA ‘riddims’ of Jamaica. If your musical greats have taken such strong influences from black music then how have you got a problem with the man they call Jay-Z? In fact have you not seen festival or music events like the Diana memorial concert where white and black folk were shaking their collective ass to the music of Kanye West? I heard that even Prince William can be heard in the palace blasting Pharrell and Snoop.
For arguments sake lets say you were able to get a ban on hip hop at Glastonbury. What then? Would you screen the hundreds of thousands of visitors to make sure there were no hip hop lovers sneaking in amongst the traditional music lovers? NO, I’m sure even you would see how preposterous that would be.
Noel, I would like to say that both the Beetles and Paul Weller, in his time with The Jam and The Style Council, did not put a musical ban on Sam Cooke, The Shirelles, Al Hibbler, Roy Hamilton, Ray Charles, Little Richard, Colin Areety, James brown, Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davies, duke Ellington, B.B king, Marvin Gaye, chuck berry. If they had done this the music you have come to love would today be a very different thing. Although you may say none of the artist I have listed can be called hip hop. The point is as a hip hop artist I know in my soul that hip hop would not be here without these greats who went before me to lay the foundations of hip hop. As the phrase goes there is nothing new under the sun.
So please don’t reject hip hop because you fear it or you hate it or it makes you feel a little put out. You must embrace it in the understanding that all music is related just as you have close relatives and distant ones, nevertheless you are all from the same line. Music is the same we are all connected through it. So use your position to unite not to grab headlines that make you seem ignorant and backward in your grip on reality and lost in an outdated mentality.
There is nothing greater than when music from two different branches comes together to prove clearly that they are rooted in the same tree.
Can you imagine if you had asked to Jay-Z to hook up and drop a track together for Glastonbury? It is obvious that Jay-Z has a mind open to such collaboration because of his work with Linkin Park. But I guess I am dreaming because although I would have rather read a headline saying that said ‘Noel Gallagher and Jay-Z join forces for one track to open Glastonbury’. The truth is I know your ego is too great to share the stage with an artist you feel is inferior to yourself and that is the saddest thing about your statement; it reveals something inside you that is ignorant and maybe a little bitter that your band didn’t break America in the same way that Jay-Z has broken everywhere…….
Elavi AKA the Educator
CLOCKWORK by ELAVI
WWW.ELAVI.COM
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