Comments by "A.J. Hart" (@cobbler88) on "The Difference Between Black American Culture And Everywhere Else" video.

@melissasimmons3222 Blacks weren't making rock music when MTV began. MTV began as a rock-only network. That's why it didn't have much in the way of black artists. Outside of unsubstantiated bluster from former record execs, there's no evidence that the network didn't want to play "Thriller" cuts. By then, it has sort of pivoted from rock to pop, which opened the door for those other artists you mentioned (plus Lionel Richie, who got play and who had an album out the same time as "Thriller.") It was more of a timing issue than racism.
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I remember how there wasn't really rap music outside of block parties in the early to mid-70s. There weren't many rap albums being made - let alone with widespread distribution - at the time. "Rapper's Delight" was the first commercially viable single and that didn't come around until '79. And I will still use it to goof on current rap when forced to listen to it, or I will reply to the lyrics, "I know who you are, and what you're here to say." 🤣 As for MTV, it was originally created to be a rock network - not a catch-all music network. And most black artists were not only not rock, but they were not making videos, period. There's a reason certain artists were in high rotation in the early days. You'll find race hustlers puffing their chests out, claiming they had to force MTV to play cuts from "Thriller," but there's no evidence of that and Lionel Richie hit the same time Michael Jackson did and had no trouble getting on the network which, by that point, was more pop than rock. By '87 I think "Yo! MTV Raps" had a two-hour show. These are all details, though, and a lot depends on where you grew up. I agree regarding when it was at it's "best," though, in the same way I view R&B. Once you get past Bobby Brown's prime, did it really get any better, or just more lazy, nasty and requiring less talent from the actual artist? I think it could have matured to be a great outlet for social commentary, but it was eclipsed by half-baked ideas buried inside generic beats and look-at-me lyrics.
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@jamesellis701 Hard rock is obviously different than rock. It was established as a rock network. But there wasnt exactly a lot of music video in that first heard or so. There was a lotnof po stuff in the rotation that wasn't really rock, which makes claims that itrefusednto play Michael Jackson, Whitney, etc., more ridiculous. It became a pop network, then Whitney hit the PO charts and MTV started playing her stuff. No one ever wants to put these things into context. it's like claiming that NASCAR hated electric cars because there were no Priuses at Talladega in 1978. 🤣
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Another thing that (unfortunately) bolsters stereotypes? Meeting people and seeing why those stereotypes emerged in the first place. I know people who grew up on the Central Plains who didn't really grow up around many "minorities" other than First Nations people. Then they joined the military, graduated from college, etc., and saw the country and world. How they viewed these folks when they returned was MUCH more negative than before they'd experienced them in person. It's no surprise and may just be part of maturing and aging. When you're young, you buy into all the BS that everyone who is not succeeding in life is a victim of society, the legal system, etc., so they're pretty much at the top of the empathy ladder when you finally get out in the world. They have nowhere to go but down at that point. And the more you learn, the sharper the plummet.
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When he said, "Those are all interesting questions" then chose to shift the subject and not give answers, I pretty much had this guy pegged regarding how willing he was to put himself out there. The answer about 10:50 in was simply the final nail. 🤣
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@IwillNeverVoteBlueAgain Yes. All those evil conservatives with their kooky ideas about slippery slopes ... and about a .750 batting average, turns out. 🤣
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Kyle Connor If we're looking to go Thomas Sowell on all this, these garbage cultures harken back to the streets of England. 🤣🤣🤣
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QUESTION! Seeing a lot of comments about music - a lot of them "fact challenged" - so I have a question: What is the most recent you would go back in time where you would be happy with the state of the music scene? What is the roughly year before you think it jumped the shark? It's hackneyed to say the '60s, but if that's your bag, own it. Without doing too much digging, I think I'd maybe go mid-90s. I was 19 when the decade began so I grew up on the 80s stuff, but I think there was still plenty satisfying going into the 90s. There was still a viable R&B chart, rap was less full of self-aggrandizing posers, rock music still existed on the airwaves, Florida-Georgia Line didn't exist and our standards hadn't yet reached the depths that we would accept "auto-tuned, synthed-out" garbage that kids today allow to exist and flourish. Sooo ... what'cha got?
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@neverettebrakensiek8771 Pretty much along the same lines I was thinking.
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@neverettebrakensiek8771 Yes, it wasn't perfect. Voices were still being auto-tuned more often as we get into the 90s, but I think that the music loses a little of its soul once it doesn't sound like it has actual instruments being played. I'll accept a synth as an instrument, but not much further than that. I gave up trying to keep up with the music some time ago, but occasionally I'll check out a year-end Billboard 100 chart and give those songs a listen to see what I deem suitable to put in a playlist. Always expanding, even if just by a little. Sometimes you discover a fairly atypical artist who managed to break through at least a little.
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@taxalexander253 Yes. "Let me be honest" is right up there with my argument about Extra Strength Tylenol. Shouldn't it always have been extra strength? We can always chop it up for kids. What's the use for less-than-extra-strength Tylenol? 🤣
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