Craig’s Pop Life

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Craig's Pop Life: 6.18.22
craigspoplife.substack.com

Craig's Pop Life: 6.18.22

Craig Seymour, storyteller
Jun 19
4
Share this post
Craig's Pop Life: 6.18.22
craigspoplife.substack.com

Hey, party people!

Hope you had a great week. Mine has been, um, interesting. I posted one simple tweet suggesting that it was a micro-aggression to refer to all dance music as "oontz oontz” music. I explained that it was reductive. Also, most of the younger people using the term don’t know enough about club music to make distinctions between what they should respect and what they should critique. It is very simply a way to dissmiss an entire genre of music—with Black queer roots—and the people who listen to it.

Twitter avatar for @craigspoplifeCraig Seymour, Black gay music critic @craigspoplife
“Oontz Oontz” is a micro-aggression, suggesting Black-rooted forms of dance music are so indistinct & lacking in complexity that they can be summed up by the sounds of an infant. This has largely been the discourse on Black dance music for the history of recorded sound. 💥

June 17th 2022

273 Retweets1,413 Likes

I’ve gotten thousands of racist and/or homophobic responses and even a coupla death threats, where I had to get Twitter involved.

Twitter avatar for @craigspoplifeCraig Seymour, Black gay music critic @craigspoplife
The thousands of QTs of my post about this term, which some say is benign or onomatopoeia, have been overwhelmingly racist &/or homophobic. They’ve included death threats, which Twitter has taken seriously. You’ll never convince me the term doesn’t have malicious implications.
Image

June 18th 2022

4 Retweets20 Likes
Twitter avatar for @craigspoplifeCraig Seymour, Black gay music critic @craigspoplife
Anotha one!
Image

June 18th 2022

1 Retweet4 Likes

All this to say, please don’t use the term, and when you feel comfortable, ask others not to use it.

On to happier things, I have an extraordinary Pride edition of the Craig’s Pop Life podcast. It’s an interview with singer Marc Sandane (some might remember him as the original vocalist that Luther replaced on “The Glow Of Love.”) Anyway, this legend has crossed paths with a number of cultural luminaries, including James Baldwin, Phyllis Hyman, Sylvester, Larry Levan, Cissy Houston, her daughter Whitney, and Labelle. He has stories! (And some pictures).

Check it out. It’s a whole kiki-filled history:

Mr. Sadane also figures in my recent story, “How Black Gay Men Changed Pop Music”

Some people had trouble reading the pdf, so here are links to read and share. Thanks!

Part I

Part II

DO YOU REMEMBER HOUSE?

From Thing magazine, Spring ‘88

HOUSE IS ALIVE

Distant People Ft Leah- Blessings (Francois A Remix)

Stoim & Lee Wilson - Thankful (Dj Kone & Marc Palacios Extended Remix)

Jesse Saunders & Josephine Banig Roberto - “Rock It (Til The Dawn) [Stranger Danger Deep Gruv Remix]”

CLUB VAULT

Loleatta Holloway - “All About The Paper (Extended Mix)”

Marc Sadane - “One Minute From Love (Extended Mix)”

P.M. Dawn - “Reality Used To Be A Friend Of Mine (CJ Mackintosh Club Dub)”

Black Box (w/o Martha Wash) - “Native New Yorker (Steve “Silk” Hurley House Remix)”

J. Supreme w/ Cheryl Lynn - “Your Love (Encore) [Knee Deep Remix]”

AMEN CORNER

The Banks Brothers - “God Will Take Care Of You”

Thanks for hanging out again. I hope you enjoyed the letter. Until next week, be cool, be kind, be creative, be yourself. Love, Craig

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Craig's Pop Life: 6.18.22
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