African-Americans have contributed so much to popular music, it’s no wonder that many of them have never really received their proper due. February is Black History Month, so here’s a little musical history lesson: 15 visionary but under-appreciated black artists who have shaped our culture in immeasurable ways. Let’s appreciate them, shall we?
Black History Month Lesson
[Scott Thill, Metromix]
Screamin’ Jay Hawkins
This outrageously awesome showman utterly deranged pop and blues from the ’50s onward, propelled by his immortal stalker anthem “I Put a Spell on You.” But his antics always overshadowed a pure instinct for the weird and wonderful, influencing generations to come. To date, “I Put a Spell on You,” recorded during drunken abandon, has been covered by everyone from Nina Simone to the Who to Marilyn Manson and beyond. Jim Jarmusch honored him with a role in “Mystery Train,” Chris Carter lifted his psycho serenade “Frenzy” for “The X-Files,” and new bands like the Heavy and King Khan and the Shrines are aping his style and sound outright. R.I.P., you crazy bastard. We still miss you—and copy you whenever possible.
Photo: Jean-Marc Giboux/Getty Images
DJ Spooky
Those who think hip-hop is for dummies should match wits with this multifaceted turntablist. Known as Paul Miller to the academics that hire him to lecture and teach, and as DJ Spooky, That Subliminal Kid to beat-junkies who like their sonic bricolage served up with space-funk, he is a genius by any other name. Besides releasing a slew of head-tripping electronic music explorations such as “Songs of a Dead Dreamer” and “Riddim Warfare,” he’s visually recombined D.W. Griffith’s classic but racist film “Birth of a Nation” into “Rebirth of a Nation,” written books like “Sound Unbound,” composed multimedia pieces like the recent “Terra Nova,” and even teamed up with Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo for a project called “Drums of Death.”
[DJ Spooky photo credit: Jean-Christian Bourcart/Getty Images]
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.