This appeal comes in the wake of last week’s Blackout Tuesday, a grassroots social media campaign instigated by music professionals Brianna Agyemang and Jamila Thomas that urged the industry to halt their ‘business as usual’ online presence in solidarity with the worldwide protests sparked by the death of George Floyd. Floyd, a 46-year-old unarmed black man, was suffocated to death on the 25th of May whilst under arrest by several officers of the Minneapolis Police Department. 

Echoing Agyemang and Thomas’ desire to hold to account a multi-billion dollar industry “that has profited predominantly from black art”, the letter highlighted how despite the music industry having “long profited from the rich and varied culture of black people for many generations”, it nevertheless “has failed to acknowledge the structural and systematic racism affecting the very same black community”. The letter also repurposed a phrase originally spoken by American actor and DJ Amanda Seales and later quoted by radio broadcaster Clara Amfo, accusing the industry of “effectively enjoying the rhythm and ignoring the blues”.

BBC 1 Radio host Clara Amfo recently delivered a moving speech addressing how the death of George Floyd had impacted her mental health.

Another notable demand was for the words ‘urban music’ be dropped as an industry term and be replaced by ‘black music’ with immediate effect. The descriptor has long been a hotbed for controversy owing to accusations that it demarcates (and thus implicitly subordinates) the work of black artists into a separate category from their white counterparts. 

January’s 62nd Grammy Awards faced harsh criticism from its own recipients on this very issue. Tyler, the Creator, winner of 2020’s Best Rap Album, lamented that despite a nod from a major awards academy, he felt his album IGOR had been miscategorised as ‘rap’ (the album mostly comprises of sung vocals) based on the colour of his skin. “Whenever we – and I mean guys that look like me – do anything that’s genre-bending or anything, they always put it in a rap or urban category”, he said whilst backstage after accepting his award. “I don’t like that ‘urban’ word. It’s just a politically correct way to say the N-word … why can’t we just be in pop?”, he asked in frustration, presumably referencing fellow award winner Lizzo whose album Cuz I Love You was nominated for the Best Urban Contemporary Album category, rather than as an entry for Best Pop Vocal Album. 

Following in the footsteps of major label Republic Records, who on Friday announced they would no longer be using the term ‘urban’, as of today the Grammy Awards announced that they would be renaming their ‘Best Urban Contemporary Album’ category to ‘Best Progressive R&B Album’. Curiously however, ‘Best Latin Pop Album’ (a category that was mired in its own controversies this year) has also been renamed ‘Best Latin and Urban Pop Album’.

Read the full letter published online by IQ Magazine here.

#TheShowMustBePaused

— Morrissey (@officialmoz) June 2, 2020

Aiming to show solidarity with those protesting the death of George Floyd – an unarmed black man who was suffocated last week whilst under arrest by officers of the Minneapolis Police Department – the tweet had been Morrissey’s public way participating in ‘Blackout Tuesday’, a grassroots social media campaign started by music industry professionals Brianna Agyemang and Jamila Thomas. Agyemang and Thomas’ campaign called for a halt to usual business and social media presence for those in the music industry, in order to call attention to the contradiction between a multi-billion dollar industry “that has profited predominantly from black art” versus the treatment of those who create it.  

You support the far right of For Britain and Anne-Marie Waters. You’re part of the problem. — Andy Cumella (@acumella) June 2, 2020

However it didn’t take long for Twitter to point out Morrissey’s well-documented history of racist comments and support for racist political groups. One user picked up on Morrissey’s vocal advocacy for the far-right fringe party For Britain, calling him “part of the problem”. Despite the party having only accrued a total of 425 votes in their entire Parliamentary history, Morrissey stated in an interview on a fan website that “For Britain seem to say what many British people are currently thinking”. The 61-year-old went on to name them as the “only … British political party that can safeguard our security” and heaped praise onto its leader Anne Marie Waters, a believer in the Great Replacement conspiracy theory who founded the party after losing in the 2017 UKIP leadership election.

The post falls into a pattern of Morrissey’s performative declarations of anti-racism that have been nullified by his own actions. Despite his claim of “abhor[ring] racism”, the former Smiths frontman took to the same fan website to call the word ‘racist’ “meaningless” since “everyone ultimately prefers their own race”. The most frequent victim of his attacks are muslim immigrants, who he has called responsible for the erasure of British identity and erroneously blamed as the source of London’s spate of acid attacks. “All of the attacks are non-white” he once claimed, though data from London’s Metropolitan Police shows between 2002-2016, just 6% of the perpetrators of acid attacks were Asian. Morrissey has bemoaned the city as “debased”, mocking Mayor Sadiq Khan’s South London accent as evidence of being uneducated and implying that because of his faith he supports Islamic State.

pic.twitter.com/qMj3rdNOGc

— mundinho Bernadete chocolate c/ pimenta (@dxsintegration) June 2, 2020

Other Twitter accounts did away with calmly calling out the hypocrisy. One opted to post a photo of several hands giving his album the finger, whilst Primal Scream’s Simone Marie Butler wrote “Heaven knows ur into far right nationalistic groups run by anti Islamists now”. One popular counter to the initial tweet was to reply with the JPEGMAFIA track “I Cannot Fucking Wait Til Morrissey Dies”, a song which criticises the veneration of white rock artists (including Morrissey) who have exhibited racist views and sympathies.   

Heaven knows ur into far right nationalistic groups run by anti Islamists now . — simone marie (@simonemarie4) June 3, 2020

It should be noted that according to the account’s bio, @officialmoz is the home of “Official Moz Info. Not Moz”, though that has not stopped the account from frequently posting personal opinions that we can only assume represent those of Morrissey himself. Given that he has a proven track record for falsely denying views he has previously expressed, it’s possible that the description in the bio is a mechanism through which Morrissey can distance himself from his online persona. Listen to the JPEGMAFIA track posted in the Twitter thread below:

Publishing groups such as Warner, Universal and Dirty Hit outlined plans to “disconnect from work and reconnect with our community” for the day, as quoted in NME - yet the event was instead utilised by Masa, aka Alex Crossan, to platform black women within the live music industry. Asking the industry to think against remaining silent, asserting that “silence is not what’s needed,” he called upon others to “share resources, allow space for others,” to educate themselves as to the ordeals of other minority groups.

As Masa proposed yesterday, in a tweet posted on his official Twitter page, @muru_masa_, the 24-year-old artist is assembling his management and touring to crew to organise “a free, 12-week weekend course for 10 black women to train in live music roles (specifically crew roles like front of house/mixing/monitor engineering, lighting technician).”

link is here: https://t.co/rr0HaZ85zc

please don’t be silent today music industry, silence is not what’s needed. Share resources, allow space for voices that need it, educate yourself and those around you. Love x pic.twitter.com/aXGfK7AvCP

— Mura Masa (@mura_masa_) June 2, 2020

Underlining the decision for this new initiative, Masa said it was due to the “serious, serious lack of women of colour occupying these roles,” an anomaly that he and his team “would love to have … change.” Within the post he shared a link to Native Management, the platform through which prospective applicants can submit their interest. Stating that he has “personally committed to funding for this project and can’t wait to commit my time and any help that I can give to this,” he urges his peers within the industry to similarly “investigate how they can put weight and funding into creating or assisting programmes like this.”

Pinned at the top of their official Twitter page, @Spotify, the streaming giant presented a message of solidarity promising to “stand with the Black community,” assuring all that their employees, partners, signed artists and creators would be represented in “the fight against racism, injustice and inequality.”

pic.twitter.com/nmJR8E7ZQN

— Spotify (@Spotify) May 30, 2020

The changes made to the site include blacked-out cover images at the head of over a dozen of their “flagship playlists and podcasts,” as well as a temporary ceasing of social media publication in support of the need to upset the status quo. This interruption to standard operating service is a challenge to the ongoing institutional racism that has afflicted Black people in our society, and it is hoped that this disruptive action will draw attention to the need for change.

Spotify have also implemented within specific participating playlists and podcasts “an 8-minute, 46-second track of silence as a solemn acknowledgement for the length of time that George Floyd was suffocated.” Beyond this, the site aims to elevate Black voices onto a higher platform of influence through their Black History is Now hub, which they will position as a “a central resource and home for music, playlists, and podcasts.”

In closing, the statement asserts that “Now is not a time for silence, and Spotify stands with the Black community. As our support continues to evolve, we hope that these initial steps and actions will help push these conversations forward,” ushering in a legacy of lasting change.

In a powerful statement posted onto Bandcamp yesterday, Diamond wrote that “The current moment is part of a long-standing, widespread, and entrenched system of structural oppression of people of color”. “Real progress”, he continued “requires a sustained and sincere commitment to political, social, and economic racial justice and change”. With a well-documented history of fighting for the legal rights of African Americans and instigating public education toward America’s institutionalised racism, the NAACP are a more than appropriate recipient of this financial aid.

In addition to a pledge allocating $30,000 every year to organisations “that fight for racial justice and create opportunities for people of color”, the statement detailed that the 19th of June initiative would also be repeated annually. This date, often referred to as ‘Juneteenth’, holds significance as the day of emancipation for the last enslaved African Americans in the Confederacy in 1865, two and a half years after Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. Unlike the highly contentious Columbus Day, the US does not officially celebrate the 19th of June as a national holiday.

If you yourself want to offer financial support, below is a list of funds you can donate to other than the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. The Minnesota Freedom Fund has advised that they are overwhelmed with donations, and recommended donating to other funds to best help protestors:

– The Atlanta Solidarity Fund is raising bail and bond money for jailed protestors in Atlanta.

– The Black Visions Collective are a black, trans, and queer-led social justice organisation and legal fund based in Minneapolis-St. Paul

– Communities United Against Police Brutality operate a crisis hotline where people can report abuse; offer legal, medical, and psychological resource referrals; and engage in political action against police brutality.

– The Know Your Rights Camp is an organisation founded by Colin Kaepernick that provides education and training in black communities and has set up a legal fund for Minneapolis protestors.

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#TheShowMustBePaused

A post shared by Universal Music UK (@umusicuk) on Jun 1, 2020 at 1:11am PDT

The three major labels, Sony Music, Warner Music, and Universal Music, along with their subsidiaries, announced their partaking through social media today. Universal Music Group made a statement which reads “This Tuesday, June 2, the Universal Music Group family will observe “Black Out Tuesday” – a day to contemplate, connect, and organise,” using the hashtag #TheShowMustBePaused.

Universal UK will also be showing their support, saying “Universal Music UK stands proudly alongside the black community against all forms of racism, bigotry and injustice.” Further statements were made by Sony, as well as Columbia Records, Apple Music, and Interscope Records, who will be spending the rest of the week “taking long-term action”.

 

 

 

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  A post shared by Interscope Records (@interscope) on May 31, 2020 at 10:57am PDT

‘Black Out Tuesday’ will allow employees to reflect, connect, and take action. Whether the time is spent protesting, donating, or spreading the word, the music industry has shown that racism and injustice will not be tolerated. Artists who have joined the fight include Yungblud, Sam Fender, Mahalia, Ariana Grande, Halsey, and Beyoncé.

#TheShowMustBePaused is an initiative that is perfectly explained by Jamila Thomas and Brianna Agyemang of Atlantic Records, the two women who created it. In their statement, they wrote “The music industry is a multi-billion dollar industry. An industry that has profited prominently from Black art,” continuing, “This is not just a 24-hour initiative. We are and will be in this fight for the long haul.”

 

 

 

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#TheShowMustPause tomorrow. A post shared by Kojo Ebro Odogwu (@oldmanebro) on Jun 1, 2020 at 7:28am PDT