Race, Identity, and Music

Hello Everyone, I hope you are all safe and healthy during this pandemic. Today I wanted to write about something that’s been on my mind due to the tragic and horrific violence that black Americans have been subject to in recent months, years, and centuries. As a classical music student in a diverse and progressive city, I’ve been blessed to be spared from the most blatant forms of racism and prejudice. However, prejudice in the music industry is still an issue, and it’s something I wanted to dive deeper into. For the purposes of this article, I refer to people of color (POC) as blacks, Hispanics, those of south and east Asian descent, first nations, and any other minority who historically has not been seen in the United States as “white”.

The first reality is that the fields of classical music, opera, and musical theatre are historically and overwhelmingly dominated by white men and women. If you try to name 5 incredibly successful people of color in any of those fields, you can probably do it, but it will take you longer than you would think. The consequence of this is that many young POC who are interested in studying classical music spent lots of time being the only POC in a room, and that effect is hard to explain to someone who’s never experienced it. You can’t shake the feeling of having something to prove, as if you carry the burden of your entire race on your shoulders with every rehearsal. We also very rarely see ourselves represented on the stage. The talents of George Walker, Anthony Davis, Jessye Norman, Leontyne Price, Audra McDonald, Lin Manuel-Miranda are once in a generation, and history has no shortage of stories on how hard it was for them to achieve their success. Being a POC in the fields of classical music, opera, and musical theatre means you will constantly be put in boxes of what type of music you should be invested in. Actors and singers have limited access to roles, composers have limits on subject matter, and in general expectations are put on us that are not put on our white counterparts. Although there are many works of art specifically conceived by and for performers of color, works like Porgy and Bess or Hamilton are lightning in a bottle at best. Another layer that recently occurred to me, is whether the great composers like Mozart, Beethoven, or Verdi even considered people who looked like me as human beings. There’s little evidence to suggest they thought this way but considering the times it’s not farfetched.

However, this conflict is not necessary mitigated in other musical fields, such as jazz, gospel, or Hip-Hop. These 3 fields in particular have long struggled to reach mainstream respect and appreciation. My studies of jazz have shown that the lives of Miles Davis and John Coltrane had as much musical knowledge and imagination as Mozart and Beethoven, but academically jazz is still seen as niche. Jazz concerts rarely get the audience of more popular genres, and many who attend such concerts still see jazz as primarily background or atmosphere music. Of course, there are plenty of talented white jazz performers and composers, but I can’t help but think that the lack of attention paid to jazz music stems from its history as a black art form. Gospel music has become very popular among professional, college, and high school choirs, but this crossover appeal is bittersweet. As wonderful as it is to see white choral singers and directors embrace our heritage through spirituals and gospel arrangements, I often wonder if they are aware of the full historical context of what they are singing. When a spiritual or gospel arrangement gets an enthusiastic response at a choral concert, would those same audience members attend concerts entirely of spirituals? Hip-Hop probably suffers the most bias of traditionally black art forms. Albums from the likes of Kendrick Lamar, Outkast, A Tribe Called Quest, and numerous others have proven the artistic merit of hip-hop albums again and again, yet to this day there are pundits who don’t even consider hip-hop “music”. The occasionally sexist, misogynistic, and violent content of hip-hop is given much more scrutiny than when those same themes appear and pop, rock, or country music. Not to mention that the black community deals with these issues more than other communities, so naturally our music will reflect that. Cultural appropriation is a major issue as well, every decade features at least one white artist profiting from music traditionally sang by black artists, some with respect to the heritage (Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Eminem) but many with limited respect and no intention of expanding their cultural purview (Iggy Azalea, Miley Cyrus, Macklemore, Robin Thicke, Justin Timberlake).

That leaves black musicians, singers, and composers in a catch 22. When we work in traditionally white genres such as classical music, opera, or musical theatre, we usually standout in an overwhelmingly white environment. When we work in traditionally black genres such as jazz, gospel, or hip-hop, our contributions are either scrutinized, ignored, or appropriated. I personally have struggled with feeling like an imposter because I’ve always been drawn more to musical theatre and classical music regardless of my deep respect for jazz and hip-hop. These same difficulties apply to artists who are Hispanic, Asian, or from a community where their art is ignored, appropriated, and otherized long before it’s accepted as equal. Music can often be a transformative experience that unifies everyone involved but for artists of color, our background and heritage is something that we can rarely hide or fully express.

However, there are multiple silver linings to be seen. I’ve been blessed to work with and know multiple white artists who are conscious and aware of these issues. They make every effort to program works by composers of color, feature soloists of color, and talk about these issues to when it’s appropriate to do so. For every racist, prejudiced, and violent white person in the United States, there have been thousands and thousands of white artists who have championed the works of POC, and the success of works like Porgy and Bess and Hamilton or the success of artists like Jessye Norman or Audra McDonald is evidence of this. If you’re an artist of color reading this, know that your voice and experience is of value. Express your heritage as often as vividly as you see fit, but don’t hesitate to express yourself in mediums outside of your history. If you’re a white artist wondering what you can do to combat the injustice around us, continue to support and patron the work of POC. Your understanding and empathy during these times is something our community has never and will never take for granted.