The Black Folks Guide To Appreciating Amy Winehouse
-According To Sista Toldja
1) Thou Shalt Not Hail Amy Winehouse As The New "Queen of Soul"- Do not compare Winehouse to icons such as Aretha Franklin, Minnie Ripperton and Erykah Badu. She ain't the one. And "The One" should be a sister. Amy spent years listening to these artists to capture their sound. What she has is a skillful balance of natural talent and reverent mimicry.
2) Thou Shalt Not Use Winehouse As The Example By Which To Criticize Black Singers- Questlove notably broke this rule by stating that Winehouse's 2006 album is the record "Lauryn wishes she had". How fucking dare he? L-Boogie obviously has some issues, but at least she's not running around missing teeth and gargling with Henny. She's got three baby Marleys, at that! A feat so many of us wish we could accomplish (well, at least I wish I could. Holla at me, Steven). I like Questlove, but shit. He needs to get off of these White girl's nuts! Anyway, don't complain about the lack of real Black female artists in the same breath you praise Winehouse. It's not that White girls have come out and shown us that they can do Soul better than we can. It's that White women like Winehouse and Joss (VOMIT!!!!) Stone are considered novel and recieve the sort of hype and support that sisters don't. The industry doesn't make stars of the Amel Larrieuxs, N'Dea Davenports, Georgia Anne Muldrows, N'Dambis, Ledisis, Greniques, Davinas, Jaguar Wrights, etc, etc, ETC. But that's not to say they don't exist! Understand, it was decided that Ciara and Amy Winehouse would be stars and that Keke Wyatt would not.
3) Thou Shalt Not Date Amy Winehouse- Brothers, it's one thing to make us feel bad by running around with these Heather-Feather ass, super Nordic White women. But when you go and grab one who is praised for her near-Blackness, that shit hurts. Growing up in Chicago, I saw soooo many bohemian, b-girl type White women, rocking yucky looking "dreads", big silver necklaces and Adidas. Basically, they were low-rent versions of me. Except for one major difference: Black men love THEM. Come on, y'all. It's 2007. Just say no. Besides, she looks like Skeletor.
4) Thou Shalt Keep It In Context- Remember, Winehouse is a Jewish girl from the UK. She is NOT from the slums of Brooklyn, the streets of Detroit, nor the dirt roads of Georgia. Anything she says that sounds reminicient of those places was LEARNED, word.
___________________________________________________________________
-FLO$$Y
Labels: Other People's Blogs, Whitey, Winehouse