I'm gonna go ahead and call the folks at Pandora Radio a bunch o' racists. At the very least, prejudiced...
I understand that no person, or any organization for that matter, could ever keep up with the exponential growth of the world of music. But while I suppose keeping on the cutting edge of music would be difficult, is it that hard to research our past? I'm a bit disappointed in Pandora (one of the most ingenious web applications ever devised due to its ease of use of non-existent price tag) for not having Fela Kuti, Bobby Benson, or any early artists from Nigeria, Ghana, and the funkiest parts of Africa.
Where's Yoruba music, Pandora? What about Highlife and AfroBeat? You present your wonderful web application as if these genres don't exist, yet they are the source of some of the most popular music in collective world culture - without the rhythm that originated in Africa, we would have no blues, no funk, no jazz, no improvisation or flexibility in professional musicianship. The artists from the various genres of Africa are masters of their craft, yet they remain unnoticed.
The Beatles understood this - all of their earliest endeavors were R&B, Blues, Soul, and Motown covers; if plans hadn't fallen through, Revolver would have been recorded in a Motown studio; George Harrison brought sitars and ethnic instruments to the world of pop culture - their appreciation for world music allowed them to revolutionize pop music and become the most influential artists of the 20th century. They saw it, Pandora, why can't you?
Pandora, I don't mean to be insulting, but I bet you could make some room for these artists if you got rid of a few of the fourteen holiday and Christian stations under your genre selector. People who like holiday and Christian music are the folks who are most likely to own holiday and Christian music. They probably have iTunes genius playlists inspired by Carrie Underwood, Janet Paschal, Creed, and Celine Dion - they're all set. I and the countless others whose tastes are left unrepresented by your handy invention, on the other hand, are not set. You've got a rare groove station, I'll give you that, but so much else is missing.
I might add that all of your advertisements are geared towards Bud Light, hockey games, American apparel, indie movies and Volkswagons...
White people eat that shit up, that's all I'm saying.
But I digress - if I can't find what I need on Pandora, I'll have to keep looking elsewhere. Our rich musical past has so much that has yet to be listened to by people of the Post-Modern era...
Folks who have no idea what I'm talking about, you may be in for a treat. If you like what you heard from the video above, or even if you didn't, there is a whole world of music outside of American pop culture that is absolutely ripe with funk and jazz and ways of making music you've never heard before. This music has nurtured the creation of so much, including political activism in music. Check out "Best of the Black President" from Fela Kuti, or Wikipedia Yoruba music and have a field day. There's a little bit of everything for every person in the variations that grew from this genre - its finiteness and rarity are coupled with a powerhouse of authenticity from each artist within it. I particularly like early Nigerian Blues, even if it's on the outskirts of the genre, but you're likely to hear something you enjoy along the way if you spend enough time at it.
Africa is our ancestral home; the origin of our species' existence and the motherland of music to move your mind, body and soul. Don't let this aural gift remain in seclusion - seek it out and soak it in as you see fit.
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Update March 14th:
If you really have no wish to check out older music from Nigeria, at least check out K'naan, one of Somalia's more recognized hip-hop/world artists, as well as Amadou and Mariam, a wonderful duo from Mali.
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