Vybz Kartel and Elephant Man were asked for written apologies for homophobic lyrics in some of their earlier work and having failed to make them, the best reggae act category will now be contested by just Toots and The Maytals and Sean Paul.
Mobo issued a statement saying: “Mobo believes in free speech, but does not condone homophobia or bigotry and has been active, on an ongoing basis, to reduce such prejudice and broaden the debate.”
The Mobo awards take place on 30th September at London's Royal Albert Hall.
DiScuss: Surely ALL music is ‘music of black origin’? Would a ‘music of WHITE origin’ awards ceremony be condemned as racist? Should they include a ‘best bottling’ category for 50 Cent?
Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
Re: Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
Re: Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
Re: Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
And there can be audience voted sections for music best listened to under certain substances... What then? Movie awards and book awards that have drugs central to the plot? What next? Kids told drugs are ok and magic mushrooms given out with milk and cookies? Then we'll have the MOSO for music about sex.... babies in bondage...
Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
but, unless youre getting pointlessly anthropological on our asses, europe did actually have music when there were very very few non white people?
and it isnt racist, as white people and asians and anyone else can win it.
music of purely white origin doesnt have enough of a young, contemporary following to put on a similar event, but i guess you could say the classic fm award or something are pretty close.
Re: Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
This is the kind of intelligent, rational response that so rarely gets posted on this place.
My work here is done. Off to pub for lunch.
Re: Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
N.
Re: Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
Re: Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
the mobos aren't racist because they don't offend anyone, and like you said, anyone can win them.
Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
Re: Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
Re: Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
Re: Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
Re: Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
Re: Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
Re: Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
Re: Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
Whoopie Goldberg
and that ugly singer from The Realistics HAS to be Jewish.
I hear 50 Cent's turning to the Kabalah too.
Re: Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
Re: Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
Re: Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
The more.. erm.. indiosyncratic sects like Jehovahs Witnesses often place a lot of stock in the vaguer bits of the Old Testament, Book Of Revelations (which is meant to be St. John describing his dream of the end of the world in writing) or the writings of the first missionary, St. Paul. Sadly, those are also the esoteric bits of the Bible most subject to interpretation and most twisted around by cults and extremists.
The Bible itself, since Constantine institutionalised Christianity as the state religion of Rome and declared himself the first Pope, has undergone many translations/edits that were undoubtedly coloured by the thinking/politics of the time. While the core messages of Christianity (be nice to each other, and don't freak out about screwing up now and again - you're only human) are probably untainted, many doctrines (like Catholics and contraception or Priests Celibacy) may fall down like a pack of cards if, as some have speculated about the contents of Dead Sea Scrolls, missing chapters were discovered that threw new light upon the missing twenty years of the life of Christ. (his life as a teenager and twenty something - the years when most of us do most of our growing up/experimenting/screwing around ).
Back to the point:
So you're growing up in Jamaica, and a priest says that
it's wrong to be gay. Is he infallible? Nope... just a bloke. So you ask how he backs up his statement, and find out that it's not a commandment or something Jesus said, but one of the other characters in the Bible. Do you actively discriminate (or worse) against gays?
The choice is yours.
Re: Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
The unfortunate fact being, though, that most people who subscribe to organised religions do so to avoid having to make choices.
So they're growing up in Jamaica, and a priest says that it's wrong to be gay. And they just believe him, because that's easy.
N.
Re: Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
And don't the people subscribing to organised religion have to make a choice to do that ( and a pretty big one at that). Surely if they simply wanted to avoid making choices and be lemmings they wouldn't make a choice like that?
Re: Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
Having said that, can't they remove Sean Paul as well, just for being absolute shite?
The awesome Toots and The Maytals deserve to win that award! Who decides who wins it anyway? as it would be criminal if Sean Paul won it!
Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
Re: Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
Re: Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
Re: Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
weird timing. or similar thinking. either way
Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
And if it did, what would be on there? I dont want another fucking awards show with U2 gobshite on it or Blur singing about how 'my old man's a jellied eel'.
The point lost is that it isnt a ceremony just for blacks but for origin of music, as the title suggests. That said, why do they have to fill it with r'n'b crap.
Get rid of award ceremonies altogether and focus on great bands that have been inspired by black culture (Clash, Marley, Specials, Sabbath, Blues) and inspire others (me)
~x~
Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
But then so is Sean Paul...'ear me know...
(the opinions expressed in this post do not reflect the views or opinions of the writer or DiS)
Re: Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
does she happen to be in a band now.....? ;)
p.s. Toots deserve to win every award going. Probably.
Re: Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
Re: Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
Re: Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
smartarse.
Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
but it's not.
Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
nobody's asking if the NME awards or the Kerrang awards are racist. i've been watchting them for some time and pretty much all it's recipients and nominees are white as rock music seems to be the domain of skinny whiteboys (i've always found rock/indie crowds to be less tolerant and progressive than they claim to be but that's a different topic altogether). the MOBO's are at least a bit more inclusive and many winners and nominees are from more diverse racial backgrounds. like it or not the reality is that there is a distiction between 'white' music and 'black' music. the origins may be the same (and so in that respect the name MOBO isn't entirely accurate. i think they just picked it because it had a cool acronym) but the gap has widened with time and 'white' music gets significantly more exposure and than black music and so i do think it is necessary to have an award ceremony of this kind.
Re: Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
so i suggest the buju banton award for most mysoginistc hate filled homophobic rant.
Re: Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
Me, I have twatophobia!
Re: Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
and that's a fear of a ladies'... no, i will restrain myself...
Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
also arent the lyrics in question from material released a few years ago? so its not like the album the mobo is plugging contains homophobic lyrics.
i reckon they shouldnt have banned them and made a fuss over nothing. maybe they just wanted the free publicity for the mobo awards as a whole.
Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
I dunno but if the MOBO's are knuckling down on such behaviour then they have to ban half the rap and hip hop artists from the awards too.
Are Eminem and Fiddy not biggots wrapped up in an expensive facade of loose beats and contreversial rhymes?
Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
At least one. Soce The Elemental Wizard is Jewish and gay.
Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
Re: Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
Oh I forgot White rappers are ironic while Black rappers are homophobic.
Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
And so as they arent it really is just music written by Black people? as opposed to being based on blues etc.
Re: Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
the streets
eminem
sugarbabes
Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
Re: Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
It's fairly sad when you think some of the most ridiculous replies to this news stories are somehow an implicit justification for that old pile of nonsense. You shoulda been back last time this all came up.....ah, delusion...
Re: Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
N.
Re: Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
*read above* i'm really quite irritable when I've not slept in 36 hours, sorry.
Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
Should we not start growing up and stop pretending skin colour is remotely relevant to anything? Any correlation between being "black" (whatever the fuck that means nowadays - anybody that doesn't have totally European ancestry?) and "having rhythm" isn't a causal one. Is it supposed to be genetic or something? There is no "blackness" gene.
I suggest widening the definition of "racism" as thinking that there is actually any such thing as "race". Its just a shit idea made up by misguided colonialists and makes about as much sense as a "music by people who wear glasses award". Fuck race.
Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
There don't really need to be any other awards ceremonies, but if the MOBOs were created to give encouragement and prestige to black performers or those who produce 'music of black origin', then what's the problem? After all, aren't most of the other awards ceremonies, whether the Brits, Mercury Music Prize, or those run by magazines like Kerrang and Q, rock and pop-centred, and therefore often white-centred? It goes without saying that we don't need a MOWO awards...
Yes, the concept of 'race' was produced to provide justification for oppression, and ideally it shouldn't be a deciding factor or a cause of 'difference' for anything. But we can't just sweep hundreds of years of racism under the carpet like it hasn't happened, and still doesn't happen. I agree with you though, Chiaroscuro, that in a ideal world there wouldn't need to be such ghettoisation - but this isn't an ideal world.
Now back to music....
Re: Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
Re: Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
And if you think about it, A MOWO award ceremony would be set upon by most proponents of political correctness, and rightly so. The MOFO French Awards would be hilarious though. A Jonny Halliday-Daft Punk collaboration!
Mobos: not homophobic, but are they racist?
if you invent an award ceremony that rewards r&b and rap acts a large number of it's reipients will not be white. no matter what the awards are called. that is the way things will stay until things change outside the music industry. so the issue isnt whether or not there shoud be a music of white origin awards.
i don't like the term 'urban' as it's just become shorthand for nonwhite anyway. and whan manufactuers talk about an 'urban' (read: black) audience it assumes that they all live in inner cites and hold certain attitudes etc, which is very insulting to a lot of people.
andrew-future wrote
"Ali G
Whoopie Goldberg
and that ugly singer from The Realistics HAS to be Jewish."
in response to the question how many jewish rappers are there?
ali G or the guy who plays him is jewish but he's not a rapper
whoopi goldberg may well be jewish but i've never heard of any rap releases from her.
and as for the 'ugly singer from the realistics', what he has to be jewish because he's ugly? i don't even want to get started on that.