A Response to Texas Monthly’s Takedown of Saving Country Music’s Defense of Leon Bridges
Hey mom, look! I made Texas Monthly!
…wait, what?
Well you know what they say, always attack up. Unfortunately in this case I’m being attacked for being a racist for coming to the defense of a black artist, which is a little confusing. But I’m happy to be of service to Texas Monthly if it helps get their clicks up. You know, you always got to help the little guy next in line. 🙂
I just wish that if they were going to devote nearly their entire article to reefing little ol’ Saving Country Music in the nuts when I was nothing more than a bit player in a much bigger issue, they could have at least put my name in the headline, or extended the courtesy of an email to let me know it was coming, let alone the opportunity to elaborate on my position, clarify my comments if necessary, if not offer an invitation to come together to actually broach the subject in a meaningful and subsnative manner to help solve a problem as opposed to playing some game of politically-motivated gotcha journalism with out-of-context pull quotes.
But again, I don’t want to come across as ungrateful for being inked by a periodical I’ve looked up to my entire life. I’d thought I’d made it when I was interviewed by The New York Times and BBC, but I will cherish this distinction proudly until they bury me in the fertile Texas ground.
The reason for the skirmish centers around the Houston Rodeo (or Rodeo Houston as they prefer) booking throwback R&B roots artist Leon Bridges for their upcoming season, and specifically as the entertainment for the rodeo’s Black Heritage Day. Now before we get too far, it appears we’re all in agreement that the Houston Rodeo is so infinitely clueless on how to book the musical talent for its event, it’s an embarrassment to all Texans, and Americans, regardless of their ethnicity or origin. If you’re paying attention and have half a brain, it’s clear the Houston Rodeo gets this so embarrassingly wrong each and every year that it’s an opinion of rare consensus, and the only correct moves the Rodeo does happen to make are tantamount to a broken clock being right twice a day.
So they booked Leon Bridges this year for Black Heritage Day, and there was a big backlash from folks on social media saying that Leon Bridges was not popular enough to have earned the performance slot. And so I came to the defense of Bridges, not because I am a fan of his music, but because I have been on record over many years advocating for more Texans, and more diversity to be represented in the Houston Rodeo lineup. As a black performer from Texas, Leon Bridges embodied exactly the type of artist the Houston Rodeo should be extending an invitation to.
But that is not how it was taken by some who conflated the issue of Leon Bridges being appropriate for the Houston Rodeo, and Leon Bridges being appropriate for Black Heritage Day.
The way the issue was posed by numerous media outlets before Saving Country Music ever brought it up was that nobody knew who Leon Bridges was. His appropriateness to the Black Heritage Day audience was never broached in any other manner. So Saving Country Music illustrated how Bridges was an artist who was plenty popular, it was just the individuals attacking him were uninformed of who he was. In fact as commenters from the Houston community—including representatives from the Black Trail Riders, which Black Heritage Day is supposed to honor—joined in the discussion on Saving Country Music, a consensus of sorts emerged. Yes, Leon Bridges probably wasn’t appropriate for Black Heritage Day for a number of reasons, including that his fan base is predominantly white, and his sound doesn’t really have any kinship to the Black Trail Riders theme. But that doesn’t mean that Leon Bridges is not popular, or that he’s not the type of performer the rodeo should be booking.
But instead of extending this healthy conversation that Saving Country Music fostered, Texas Monthly saw an opportunity to stir even more divisiveness.
There are many flaws to the rebuttal Texas Monthly‘s Senior Editor John Nova Lomax makes in his assessment of Saving Country Music’s opinion that he ultimately resolves into a charge of racism. The first is how he goes about substantiating the basis of the article with anecdotal social media opinions, just as earlier media outlets did to establish their stories of the public outcry about the Leon Bridges booking.
As Saving Country Music said in its article defending Leon Bridges:
It’s hard to tell just how much of the Leon Bridges backlash is real, or if it’s just derived from local Houston media looking for drama. The impetus for a News Channel 2 story on the matter was people leaving feedback on the NBC affiliate’s Facebook page complaining about the Leon Bridges pick. Using Facebook comments as a barometer of public sentiment—or even worse, as the basis for media stories—is one of the fundamental problems with news coverage today. Facebook comments sections are often a slag pit of embarrassing illustrations from the worst of humanity, and I’d offer up your average Facebook comments section of Saving Country Music’s own articles as substantial evidence. They’re like funnels of idiocracy.
Granted, Texas Monthly used tweets instead of Facebook comments to establish much of its argument—as well as comments from Saving Country Music’s comments section—but the issue is the same: Why are we giving unverified, anecdotal opinions often shared from aliases such credence that they become the foundations of news stories or opinion columns? Not to say that there aren’t individuals angry at the Leon Bridges booking, or that social media cannot help gauge public opinion. But sifting selectively through the flotsam and jestsam of social media to establish arguments is not journalism. It’s the death of journalism, as is journalists veering way too far out of their realm of expertise to attack other journalists on flimsy pretenses because their attempting to report on a world they only know from the outside looking in.
Texas Monthly makes some assertions about Saving Country Music that are downright laughable.
…Coroneos unfairly contends that black audiences should be open to an unfamiliar artist, while the bulk of the rest of the Rodeo line-up are tried-and-true country acts popular on white radio, even if they are not to the exacting tastes of country traditionalists. Coroneos, one of those traditionalists, would prefer to see more country purists on the bill, like honky-tonker Chris Stapleton.
Hahahahah!
Chris Stapleton is a “purist” and a “honky tonker” ?!? Oh my word. Twice in just the last week on this website I have gone out of my way to explain how Chris Stapleton is the most vilified individual by country purists in country music right now, and is even more polarizing than Sam Hunt. Furthermore, most purists hate Saving Country Music for being a proponent of Chris Stapleton. This just shows the level of misunderstanding many modern journalists bring to subjects they attempt to be authoritarian over due to a sense of political and moral superiority.
Saving Country Music said in a review of Chris Stapleton’s collaboration with Justin Timberlake (and before I was aware of the Texas Monthly article):
Stapleton has become more polarizing to country purists than Sam Hunt, and that’s not hyperbole. They believe he is destroying country music, that he’s a liar and a complete fake, and wrote all the worst popular country songs of the last half decade.
And trust me Texas Monthly, just look in the comments section of the article to verify that opinion is true, since you’re so obsessed with people’s public comments.
The Texas Monthly article also seems quite obsessed with race in the article, talking about “white” country radio, and at one point saying,
“The people complaining on Facebook don’t care if it’s a Texas native playing Black Heritage Day, or have any desire to potentially discover something new,” Coroneos, who is white, wrote.
“They want Nicki Minaj to take the Houston Rodeo stage in a bodysuit, and rub up against a pole for 90 minutes while she lip syncs, because that’s what they’re familiar with.”
Many African-American fans saw Coroneos’s comments as uninformed, if not downright racist.
But how do you know I’m white, Texas Monthly? Did you email me to verify this? Did you just assume it since I’m such a country purist? Did you cyber-stalk photos of me on Facebook? Perhaps I’m Hispanic, or partly Hispanic. Doesn’t “Coroneos” kind of look like a Hispanic name? After all, I did name the album In Time by the Cuban-American country group The Mavericks Saving Country Music’s Album of the Year in 2013—the only country music periodical to ever name a top distinction like that to a predominately Latin artist or group. Does that sound like the work of a country “purist”? The album isn’t even really country. It’s Latin.
Why did it take so long for Texas Monthly to post its rebuttal to my article of why Leon Bridges belonged at the Houston Rodeo? Is it because I posted an in-depth look at the influence of African Americans in traditional country music and with a current list of black country stars on January 15th, which would have flown in the face of the idea that my white gaze looks beyond the experience of African Americans in music? In fact I’ll hold the record of this website in championing artists of minority status up against any others. And this isn’t just an “I’ve got black friends” argument. This site has posted some 4,500 articles over 10 years. You think you can get an in-depth understanding of what makes someone tick from tearing down one article and sniffing around the Home page for a bit? That’s why a discussion on this matter before Texas Monthly posted its article would have been more appropriate, especially when it came with the gravity of racism charges?
But you’re right, Mr. Lomax. I am white. I’m as white as the wind-driven snow. “Coroneos” is a Greek name, not Hispanic. But I don’t know what the hell that has to do with anything.
Anyway, the crux of the racist accusation comes in later in the Texas Monthly article.
Some R&B enthusiasts found Coroneos’s comments to be offensive as well as incorrect. Houston radio DJ Bobby Phats, host of KPFT’s “The Groove,” which showcases underground hip-hop and progressive soul and R&B, said that Coroneos’s assumption about hip-hop, Minaj and African-American music preferences was “incredibly insensitive” and “inflammatory.”
“The assumption that Black Heritage Night attendees would only want to see a female rapper ‘rub’ against a ‘pole’ while lip-synching is outright ignorant,” Phats wrote in an email interview. “The author not only assumes that black audiences are not open to new music and artists, but also that only a half-naked female rapper with access to a stripper pole would be sufficient enough to satisfy them.”
But I never said that Black Heritage Night attendees, hip-hop fans, or African Americans in general would prefer Nicki Minaj rubbing up against a pole. What I said very specifically was the Facebook commenters complaining that Leon Bridges was not popular enough to play the Houston Rodeo would prefer that, because their sole argument against Leon Bridges was his lack of popularity. I also said as much in a comment on the Leon Bridges article, but that was selectively left out, while other comments were cut and pasted to corroborate Texas Monthly‘s precomposed argument. Also, it wasn’t just my personal assessment that black music has become a virtual monoculture centered around hip-hop. Questlove of The Roots said this, and I used his opinions as an established and respected black performer as the basis for that opinion.
And obviously, the comment about Nicki Minaj was illustrative hyperbolic bullshit. But of course in this politically-charged world, that can’t be accounted for.
By the way, here’s Nicki Minaj’s most popular video on YouTube if you would like some context to my comments about her. Pay special attention to the line, “Ass on Houston Texas, but the face look just like Clair Huxtable…” That’s what made me think of her.
Look, could I have been more careful with my words when defending the Leon Bridges pick? I probably could have. I probably should have left the Nikki Minaj comment out, and calling the losers on Facebook saying Leon Bridges wasn’t popular enough to play the rodeo “Cretins” was a poor choice of words. I was miffed because finally we got a bona fide Texan on the lineup, and he was the name receiving the most fervent backlash.
But the problem is not that Leon Bridges isn’t popular enough to play the rodeo. The problem is he’s not black enough for certain fans. And hey, that’s fine. I agree that the African American community should have the right to choose whomever they wish to perform on Black Heritage Day, and be representative of their tastes and interests as opposed to some outside critic’s opinion. In fact as I said as a response to one of the commenters on the original Saving Country Music article who was complaining about the Leon Bridges booking,
I think you and I probably have a lot more in common than you think. We’re both frustrated at the Houston Rodeo lineup annually. We both feel like they’re not representing the best interests of the music, or the public. You think real country music fans want to have anything to do with Florida Georgia Line? It’s embarrassing. This is two sides to the same coin. You want to tell me that Leon Bridges is not appropriate for Black Heritage Day because his music doesn’t fit the spirit of the day, then I will defer to your judgement. But what I didn’t want to go unchecked was the idea that Leon Bridges in not popular enough to play the Houston Rodeo, and the precedent protesting his inclusion in the lineup does for the future prospects of artists who do not fit the mainstream mold. We need artists like Leon Bridges, all of us. Just as the Houston Rodeo needs artists of diversity, and artists actually from Texas in their lineup. Leon Bridges fits both of those needs, even if he doesn’t fit in Black Heritage Day perfectly.
We also need to engage with the process, like you said. And that’s is what we’re both doing by voicing our concerns. Even though we may not agree 100%, I think this is a healthy discussion.
But that discussion wasn’t carried on by Texas Monthly, it was befuddled by it. Don’t bring the burden down on a bad booking for Black Heritage Day on Leon Bridges, or Saving Country Music of all places. Bring it down on the Houston Rodeo. Instead of Texas-based media outlets lobbing grenades at each other, how about we come together in discussion and consensus, figure out how to get the Houston Rodeo to listen to all the concerns from not just the African American community, but the Hispanic community that is also disappointed, and yeah, fans of Texas country that feel under-represented at the rodeo each year as well. We all have grievances, and they’re all of the same vein, which means we all have a universal purpose here.
The Houston Rodeo has the unenviable position in trying to keep everyone happy. But it appears they’re not making anyone happy. And that’s how you know there’s a greater problem, and our personal perspectives on it should not get in the way of a consensus that something should be done.
MH
January 31, 2018 @ 1:33 pm
And herein lies the issue with social justice warriors – when facts are brought up, they default to calling someone racist.
This is why Trump won and why he will get a second term.
James
January 31, 2018 @ 1:56 pm
Yeeehaw buddy!
Gina
January 31, 2018 @ 2:34 pm
That’s true, and I campaigned for the person who didn’t win.
Jim Z.
January 31, 2018 @ 2:50 pm
y’all are funny
jimsouls
January 31, 2018 @ 6:14 pm
Trump won because of white people who are afraid of becoming the minority race in America (which is indeed going to happen). Screw those bigots.
CountryKnight
January 31, 2018 @ 9:25 pm
Que the Wrong GIF.
GrantH
January 31, 2018 @ 10:10 pm
Never start culture wars with the people who have all the guns. Good luck to ya.
Ulysses McCaskill
February 1, 2018 @ 1:19 am
Nah he won because Hillary is an embarrassment, Gary Johnson is a lunatic, Jill Stein is a whackjob, and also because folks felt like retaining their gun rights and they’re sick to death of politically correct horseshit. But let’s say you’re correct with your reasoning for Trump’s victory. Under that logic, all you have to do is wait till the evil white bigots are outnumbered and then we can morph into the lovely communist society so many folks seem to desire. Seriously, I wasn’t a huge fan of Trump, but he was the best choice of the lot.
Benny Lee
February 1, 2018 @ 8:58 am
They were all bad choices. I agree with you there.
Don’t agree that he was anything but the worst of those bad choices, though.
He has a long, well-documented history of shady business practices that have consistently run his businesses into the ground and would have landed him in prison if he hadn’t been born into enough wealth to afford the most expensive lawyers available.
He has a long, well-documented history of racism and sexism in both word and deed. The SJWs often take that shit too far, but they’re not wrong at all about him.
His last three accomplishments are a rebuilt real estate empire financed by foreign criminals because no US bank would touch him, a reality TV show, and BSing every morning with the Fox News whores (to use a Ray Wylie Hubbard term).
Ulysses McCaskill
February 1, 2018 @ 4:09 pm
If you think Jill Stein was a better choice than Trump then you all but proved you’re one of the folks in my second and third sentence above. Sorry dude…we can’t make everything free. And you have as much proof of Trump’s wrong-doings as most folks do of HIllary’s. That is to say, nothing concrete or discernible.
Benny Lee
February 2, 2018 @ 9:36 am
Like I said, they were all bad choices.
Stein at least would not be working to dismantle important agencies like the EPA, CDC, NPS, DoE, CFPB. She would have demanded sCHIP be reauthorized and strengthened. She wouldn’t have filled the WH with racists.
Plus, with a republican controlled Congress, her bigger ideas, like them or not, would have gone nowhere.
Benny Lee
February 2, 2018 @ 9:46 am
I wasn’t defending jimsouls’ comment, I was responding to your assertion that dt was the least bad candidate. And I never said anything about making “everything free”.
You’re projecting.
Charlie
February 1, 2018 @ 5:33 am
That was quick. Trumped, right out of the gate!
Isaac
January 31, 2018 @ 1:37 pm
#1: Never thought I’d live to see the day that Bobby Phats’ name made it into SCM (I’m a fan).
#2: serious question: is Leon Bridges for real more popular with white folks than black? Is there data to back this up? Because that sounds really…something. I’m not sure what, but that sounds really something.
Gina
January 31, 2018 @ 2:34 pm
I’ve never seen evidence to back this up, but it does seem to be true that blues and R n B artists have a bigger white audience in Texas. They also tend to skew older. This is just based on my experience covering and promoting live blues and r n b music in Austin.
I saw this article awhile back and it definitely has an agenda. Bridges is still a great artist and does fit the description for what a Heritage Day artist should be. People may disagree on how big he is, but that’s a whole different argument. It’s too bad that people can’t focus on how great Leon is. That’s all been lost in this mix.
Gabe
January 31, 2018 @ 8:43 pm
Irrespective of the fact that he got a nomination for his debut in the r&b category most black people still don’t know who he is because unfortunately only the triple A format plays him
BetsyG
February 1, 2018 @ 12:54 pm
If the racial makeup of the live show I saw him at is any indication, then yes, Leon Bridges is more popular with white people. And I saw him in Oakland, CA, home of the Black Panther party (albeit increasingly populated by white gentrifiers).
Tom Clark
January 31, 2018 @ 3:34 pm
It was only a matter of time, seeing as how not being racist now means being a racist because its 2018.
Clyde
January 31, 2018 @ 3:35 pm
So Trigger says this, “The problem is not that Leon Bridges isn’t well-known enough. It’s that he’s an artist that cuts across the cultural and racial divide, and that he’s not a rapper.” The TexasMonthly article is saying that African Americans from Houston don’t view Leon Bridges as an artist that cuts across the cultural and racial divide. They cite Michael Jackson and Prince as artists that do cross the divide.
Who’s right about that? I don’t know, but my money would be on TexasMonthly. Either way, the Nicki Minaj comment is…well, you know.
You may have to look yourself in the mirror on this one Trigger.
DJ
January 31, 2018 @ 3:48 pm
I wouldn’t listen to Michael Jackson or Prince if someone was holding a gun to my head. I don’t like their music and think they’re way over rated.
Whiskey_Pete
January 31, 2018 @ 3:42 pm
Stop trying to appease the black community. They always get offended by something. It’s never ending. They shouldn’t even bother with celebrating black history month.
CountryKnight
January 31, 2018 @ 4:33 pm
Yeah, the Black Caucus didn’t even chap when the historic unemployment rate for African Americans was mentioned.
Reminds me of the old story, “when you give a mouse a cookie…”
Lord Honky Of Crackersley
January 31, 2018 @ 7:02 pm
Actually, in 2018, I can’t understand why anyone would feel compelled to isolate themselves as a community, based on an immutable characteristic such as race. It’s so B.C.
I’ll put it another way. If being white is the primary thing I’ve got going for me, then I’m probably a loser, because I didn’t work to become Caucasian I didn’t use my skills to become white, so it’s meaningless.
Our common ideas, or values, should bind us together as communities. Our skills and our achievements should be what we take pride in; not something we have no control over.
Leroy
January 31, 2018 @ 8:11 pm
How do you explain the Pride Parade then, following this?
“Our common ideas, or values, should bind us together as communities. Our skills and our achievements should be what we take pride in; not something we have no control over.”
The LGBTQQ community take Pride in something they have no control over. Their sexual orientation and identification.
Are you saying that the LGBTQQ community isn’t the “community” that all “communities” must model themselves after. The only “community” that ever pushed change through so fast it made the mind boggle? You’re going to get yourself in more trouble with a whooooole loto people.
Whiskey_Pete
February 1, 2018 @ 12:07 pm
But have you checked your white privileges? Helloo.
Leroy
February 1, 2018 @ 9:33 pm
What’s up with Lord Crackersley? No back and forth? No answering a question with a question? No tried and true war tactics to share with everyone? Too busy setting people up for spying on them with your webcams? Ah, the good life of a Lord.
Trainwreck92
January 31, 2018 @ 7:51 pm
You seem like a guy that has a lot of interesting, nuanced opinions on race-relations, Petey. I’d love to hear more.
Whiskey_Pete
February 1, 2018 @ 12:10 pm
I’m doing a book signing at your local Barnes & Noble. Come see me.
DJ
January 31, 2018 @ 3:45 pm
Good come back Trigger….. but, you know how alleged journalist are. Their opinion(s) are the facts regardless that they don’t consider all the facts- which makes their opinion(s) subjective, which means they are just opinion columnist, not journalist whose job is to report the facts, all the facts, objectively, and let the reader decide. They think waaaaaaayyyyyyyy too much of themselves no matter who signs their checks, but, when it’s a semi-respected magazine, well, they get a certain cred thing going for their party’s, which is what their search is for. They care not for Truth. They care only for opinions that agree with theirs.
GrantH
January 31, 2018 @ 4:06 pm
Wow. The last thing we need is Texas freakin’ Monthly to be waving the flag for the “oppressed” peoples in this country and going full SJW. Forget building a wall at the Mexican-American border, build a wall around Texas so no more of these coastal elites will invade.
the pistolero
January 31, 2018 @ 4:07 pm
Texas Monthly has some good stuff in it now and then, but that is leavened by the fact that it seems to be staffed by Austin leftists who are embarrassed by and ashamed of Texas as it exists outside of Austin and Travis County.
Also, what the hell is this?
Coroneos unfairly contends that black audiences should be open to an unfamiliar artist, while the bulk of the rest of the Rodeo line-up are tried-and-true country acts popular on white radio, even if they are not to the exacting tastes of country traditionalists.
I guess Lomax missed the part where you called out the rest of the Houston Rodeo lineup for the dumpster fire that it is for at least the last three years that I remember. But I guess we shouldn’t expect anything better from Texas Monthly, or at least from the magazine it has become.
Scotty J
January 31, 2018 @ 6:12 pm
And ‘white radio’?
the pistolero
January 31, 2018 @ 6:33 pm
Yes. And that is also something to be expected from Texas Monthly.
It’s funny he should characterize “country” radio as such, though, considering there are people out there saying these hip-hop influences are breaking down country music’s racial barriers, as if the likes of Ray Charles, Charley Pride, Freddy Fender, and Johnny Rodriguez never existed.
(Yes, I know the latter two are Latino, but surely you see what I am getting at.)
Scotty J
January 31, 2018 @ 7:01 pm
The funny(really pathetic) thing is if you complain about the hip hop influences you’re racist and if you embrace them you are appropriating some other culture or some damn thing.
I bounce back and forth in thinking that these people genuinely believe this stuff or are in fact running some con on society. Not sure which is worse. Probably true believers because that is scary since these are our future leaders.
Sugafused
January 31, 2018 @ 4:07 pm
Anyone who doesn’t know Leon Bridges music is missing out on one of the finest current artists in today’s musical landscape – including the “country” of Texas .
CountryKnight
January 31, 2018 @ 4:35 pm
When in doubt, label your opponent as a racist. Because that is guaranteed to place them on the defensive and they have to exert all their energy denying the bogus claim that they run of energy to pursue the original debate.
Tried and true tactic. Fortunately, the worm is starting to turn on it. Hopefully.
Leroy
January 31, 2018 @ 7:12 pm
Only seek worthy opponents?
CountryKnight
January 31, 2018 @ 9:24 pm
That is a good idea in theory but one doesn’t have supreme control on those their opponents are.
Ulysses McCaskill
February 1, 2018 @ 4:16 pm
I think I recall labelling your opponents as racist being a certified tried and true communist goal/tactic to gain power. You see shit like that is the reason why a guy like myself, a (mostly) politically moderate with a few left-wing views almost always ends up voting for a Conservative/Republican. They open their radical mouths spewing unrealistic and irresponsible utopian nonsense and they turn me off from ever casting a vote for them.
Lil Dale savin country music hall of fame membre class of 2015
January 31, 2018 @ 5:14 pm
let me find out theres wun dad gum ledder from a Lil Dale coment n there artickle n my lawyurs will be on Texas monthley like wite on rise
Leroy
January 31, 2018 @ 7:12 pm
exactly right, it’s the only way to handle the lying, thieving, up to no good bastards, caring only for their wormy, hell bound selves.
Aggc
January 31, 2018 @ 6:47 pm
Political correctness has crippled our country and provided excuses for those who deserve none. No doubt about it.
Leroy
January 31, 2018 @ 7:14 pm
The only excuse is being stupid as shit.
Gina
February 1, 2018 @ 1:30 am
Yes, to all of this. It has just gotten worse. I’m a left leaning girl and even I can’t stand it.
Ulysses McCaskill
January 31, 2018 @ 7:14 pm
Attaboy Trig. If you’re not being accused of being a racist these days you’re doing something wrong. You done made it buddy!
Leroy
January 31, 2018 @ 7:16 pm
Are people booing one set of country bros off the stage and cheering for tradition approved bros, yet?
Todd Villars
January 31, 2018 @ 7:57 pm
That was a ridiculous article from somebody that obviously has an agenda, I am not going to defend the Houston Rodeo, but they have to tailor the concerts toward the clientele that frequents Rodeos. Personally, I think Charlie Pride would have been the perfect choice.
Mike Jordan
January 31, 2018 @ 8:59 pm
Trigger, I wouldn’t put too much credence in that article. After reading it, I came across an older article from 2012 called “That 70’s Show” about Willie Nelson and the birth of the Outlaw Country sound. I was surprised that there were zero comments for a very informative article. I went back and found zero comments for the Leon Bridges article as well. I am not sure how many people actually read it, but it didn’t seem to stir up too much interest. BTW, I wasn’t aware of Leon Bridges until your initial article and found his music very good. But what do I know, I’m just a music lover from North Carolina, especially Americana. Keep up the good work.
Todd
February 1, 2018 @ 12:28 am
Trig,
You are mistakenly operating under the assumption that Texas Monthly has some sort of ethics or journalistic integrity, when they don’t.
It’s a rag, whose sole redeeming qualty is the yearly ranking of Texas BBQ joints, and usually they get that wrong too.
Charlie
February 1, 2018 @ 5:37 am
Somebody’s eventually going to figure out how to do journalism on Facebook and Twitter and blogs, right?
I should find a discussion to learn more about all this crap. Maybe Snapchat.
Chris
February 1, 2018 @ 6:01 am
Looks like you pissed on TM’a sacred cow, Trig.
I dropped my subscription years ago.
DG
February 1, 2018 @ 10:05 am
Trigger – I think you’re missing the point on the backlash here. While you may have intended to refer to a particular subset of audiences – notably those consumed by poor quality, provocative hip-hop – you ignored a large reason for the displeasure with Bridges’ selection – he’s self-admittedly not marketed towards black audiences. It is very reasonable for black audiences to clamor for artists that are geared towards their interests, the same way this site clamors for artists catered to your tastes.
While you may have reasonably intended to criticize those that are truly appeased by this poor quality of music the same way you regularly criticize bro-country, you failed to point to the number of high-quality hip-hop performers that appeal to black audiences and could have been included. Rather than advocating for their inclusion, you quoted Questlove saying that “today black music is hip-hop, and hip-hop only” right after you got done characterizing hip-hop audiences as a group that is simple minded and will be appeased by lip syncing and stripper poles. In effect, you made this statement about black audiences as a whole.
It would be the equivalent of your being outraged if someone characterized country music fans as a bunch of dumb rednecks that only like Florida Georgia Line due to the majority seemingly finding themselves in this bucket these days. Add to this justifiable heightened sensitivities due to 1000 years of systematic racism and the response to such incendiary comments are understandable.
I don’t have any reason to believe you’re a racist as you frequently make it a point to advocate for the inclusion and promotion minority artists. For a group to report on as much without viewing the full scope of your work is irresponsible, but you have to understand why such a historically marginalized group of people would react poorly to someone marginalizing their opinions.
Moses
February 1, 2018 @ 12:54 pm
I’m mostly in agreement with everything you write here, except I think it’s pretty sad that Texas Monthly read the comments section in the original post and didn’t bother to reflect on the more nuanced reflections that followed on there from Trigger. In a sense they took a conversation that was already taking place on SCM, turned into an article of their own, and then presented SCM point a bit cartoonishly. Probably would have been better to skip the Nikki Minaj comment when wading into waters this charged, but as you point out it’s no different than how he might describe bro country artists and their fans. I love this blog but it does sadden me when I come on here and read some of the comments on posts like this one. I like interacting with people whose beliefs differ from mine, especially over a mutually discovered interest, but some of these downright racist commenters just kill me.
Jack Williams
February 2, 2018 @ 8:41 am
Yes, but that conversation started with the Trigger’s words “Who are these cretins?” As the old adage goes, you only have one chance to make a first impression. And speaking of cartoonish presentations, I’d say that’s a good way to describe the “they want to see Nicki Minaj on a stripper’s pole” assertion. I hear what you’re saying about the similarities between that and how he talks about bro country acts, but here’s one big difference. His wheelhouse is country music (the good, the bad and ugly) and those clowns are claiming to be country music. I’m not so sure he has his pulse on what black music fans are into. Not that I do either, but I get the idea that black folks as a whole don’t tend to be big into vintage sounding music, especially if they weren’t around when the style was new. One possible reason (and I am guessing to an extent) that black folks in this country don’t tend to want to live in the past.
Moses
February 2, 2018 @ 8:48 am
Yeah, I have to agree that what you’re saying is fair. The Minaj comments are regrettable, and they make it easier to misrepresent the actual point of his original post – which is that hiring Bridges is a rare example of making a good performer choice – musically at least. I don’t know if I’m buying the larger “black listeners aren’t into vintage music” theory. The whole Neo-soul movement would seem to refute that.
Jack Williams
February 2, 2018 @ 9:33 am
Well, that’s just been my experience at live shows and hearsay about the crowd at other artist shows, like Bridges. Anecdotal for sure.
One good thing that’s come out of this story arc for me personally is that I’ve given Leon Bridges a second look and ended up buying his album. I dig it.
Trigger
February 2, 2018 @ 10:18 am
DG,
As I said in this rebuttal, and as I said in the comments of my original article, yes, it is a very fair and valid point that Leon Bridges tends to appeal to a more white audience than most African American performers, and that deserves to be budgeted in when the Houston Rodeo decides who to book for talent. So I don’t think I’m missing the point at all. I have addressed it very specifically, and on numerous occasions. The African American community should be able to choose who represents them in the Houston Rodeo lineup for themselves, not some country blogger. However, that issue is completely separate from coming to the defense of Leon Bridges for “not being popular enough” to play the Houston Rodeo, as was asserted by many, or that he’s not appropriate to play the Houston Rodeo at all. Was it foolish to book him on Black Heritage Day? Yes. But he is exactly the type of artist the Houston Rodeo should be booking as a native Texan and an artist who represents diversity. I went out of my way to try and make that point in this rebuttal, and clarified my statements as part of the original article.
My other point here is that Texas Monthly helped none by focusing the ire of the booking on my dumb little words about it. I should have not used the words “cretins.” I should not have brought up Nicki Minaj as an example. I was pissed off that people were cutting down Leon Bridges, and decided to fight fire with fire. If I’d known the article was going to blow up like it did, I would have chosen my words more wisely. But the underlying point of my original argument still remains: Leon Bridges is the type of performer the Houston Rodeo needs more of—a Texan, someone who represents a diverse background, but is still popular enough to sell tickets and fill the arena, which is the ultimate goal of the organizers.
Krissy
February 1, 2018 @ 11:48 am
You’ve been called a sexist and a racist in about a weeks time. Have to wonder what next week will bring.
RP
February 17, 2018 @ 1:16 pm
I’m late to the party, sorry, and echoing most of the others who responded, but Texas Monthly, of which I am a subscriber, does not always deal in facts and definitely wants to be a social justice warrior, so they’ll spin just about everything possible to be anti this or anti that in hopes of furthering their own liberal cause. I clicked on the link and read the TM article and could clearly see you were not talking about the people attending the concert, but the people who post on social media. It was pretty blatant in my view. It’s also very blatant that TM is a sad excuse for journalism.