@melvingibbs
Human Creator: Composer/Musician/Writer Out Now! : Amasia: Anamibia Sessions 2 on Hausu Mountain Next Up: Electrical Field Of Love - out March 27th on Pi Recordings and How Black Music Took Over The World - pub. Apr 14th on Basic Books
what you said: right
what they said: wrong
the mass audience is not going away
corporate America's ability to drive what they pay attention to is
& "Micro-Community", like "Superfan" is a digital marketing term - an attempt to redefine & capture something that already exists beyond technofeudalism
I've said it before
but at this point it's undeniable
the French postmodernists/deconstructionists were right
and their naysayers are wrong
right now
we're watching the most speculative/far out s#it
Baudrillard talked about
play out in real time
he's owed an apology lol
If he's saying "don't listen to lawyers" publicly
He's already said it privately
to the people at DHS & ICE
the "how" of "How Black Music Took Over The World"
is more a "This is How" examination of how Black music embeds itself in culture & a look at what that culture is/consists of
& less a David Byrne-style "How Music Works" breakdown of the structures surrounding (Black) music
just so you know
"an illuminating and comprehensive story"
"great Black musicology"
just in time for World Book Day
you can pre-order the book using the link in the article
thank you @gtra1n.bsky.social
brooklynrail.org/2026/03/musi...
this was my exact talking point 10 years ago when I was pres of
Content Creators Coalition (thankfully renamed "Artist Rights Now")
the corps I was addressing were Spotify & Google - but the point stands
we were working on new music for Arto
I make no promises about when you'll hear it
but it's likely that you'll hear it eventually
here's a track that Arto did with Nação Zumbi back in the day
with Pupillo on it. Denge (the band's bassist) is playing bass.
I'm playing keys - other than the Rhodes, which played by Stephen Barber. I'm doing the rhythm stuff, noise pads, and organ.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrmK...
Arto Lindsay & I worked at Mario Caldato Jr's (who produced this record) studio a few months ago
He told us about it, but I didn't get a chance to hear the record.
I'm looking forward to it.
Grammarly WAS a useful tool
but a couple of years ago
it started making editing suggestions that in 2026 are recognizable markers of AI slop
I decided back then that my "mistakes" were better than its suggestions
and turned it off
I’m gonna go ahead and say it
there are some great current jazz groups
but
There is no group this group’s level right now
Murray/Lake/Bluiett…AND Hemphill?
nobody’s touching them
there's no way to blame this on DEI
until now
the justification for fascism has been
"they make the trains run on time"
Mamdani's stealing that from them
"Democratic Socialism keeps the streets clean & the city(s) running"
sounds good to me
I LOVE this video
b/c of the onstage power play
Prince set the band up perfectly, then broke them down for Miles
Miles (musically) said: F that - u ain't MY boss mf
he waited - then played when HE felt like it
you can see Prince shaking his head in disgust
lmao
here's another example of counterclockwise ritual movement in the Black world - as seen in Haitian Vodou
@blackazizanansi.blacksky.app
utd-ir.tdl.org/server/api/c...
It's like saying
"Kool Herc created hip-hop"
or
"Buddy Bolden created jazz"
the story is not that simple
I wrote about the ring shout in "How Black Music Took Over The World"
- counterclockwise circular rotating movement isn't JUST about circling the Kaaba
- that would be the case on the Bilali's' islands - but not necessarily on others
- it was pan-African
which is why it stuck
I'm a fan of the furniture music/ambient music concept
but the goal of Turiyasangitananda & Miles' music is VERY FAR from the goals of Eno & Satie
I just did Black Bliss Krishnanada
www.fouroneoneprojects.org/events/black...
so this is front of mind for me
I don't feel like the term "ambient jazz" works
what we just did, what Alice Coltrane & Miles did
is a different intention than
Andre 3K/Nala Sinaphro/Floating Points & Pharoah
just got caught up on the BAFTA N- word situation
simple question: if there was a 2 hour tape delay
specifically for the purpose of being able to cut out swear words - why didn't they cut THAT one?
back in the day I'd talk abt it in terms of
inside/outside
inside=internet outside=irl
outside has 100% effect outside & significant effect inside
inside has fractional effect inside & slight to negligible effect outside
knowing that, where should you direct your efforts,
& how?
text-based info spread won't be "viral"
it'll be like this:
Bluesky in 2026 functions the way Twitter did back in the
Arab Spring days --- it's a news service
but cause its 2026
you won't see its influence publicly
info-based influence/movement isn't "viral"
when I see ppl on here arguing going back to Elmo's World
I laugh to myself
Twitter NEVER drove irl "engagement" - never translated in sales!
& anybody who posts on here thinking that (their) text/written posts should go viral in the Tiktok era (?) - I can't help them
I have a book coming out
so growing my digital footprint to accommodate the new eyeballs that will be drawn is prudent
but
I'm very aware that the developed "wisdom" people my peers have imbibed about social media is flawed
Black Bliss Krishnananda --
put together on 3 weeks notice
w no Spotify streams & no discernible social media footprint
sold out Shapeshifter Labs in BK
conversely Shapeshifter has done shows where the artist has MM of streams & Ks of followers & the audience was 1/10th of what I pulled
...and then you see the fit ---
he's wearing a f-in flannel shirt lol
why did he bother?
I don't always agree w him - but I always read him
here Sam Newsome talks abt the thing I've been trying to get people to grok (yeah, I'm still using the term - Elmo) for YEARS
Clicks & Digital engagement does not translate into asses in the seats/music sold
sanewsome.substack.com/p/the-fan-il...
I hadn't seen that before
go to 18:00 (rofl)
