I'm not ashamed of being black and in fact I like it. My ancestors were kings in Africa until cruelly stolen away by Arab and Chinese slave traders. Here they were smarter than other slaves, and got generation after generation of us through school and on to college so we're now a prosperous black family. I'm comfortable in my skin... well, except when it comes to metal. See, I like a lot of metal, from Judas Priest to Suffocation to Sleep Terror to Gorguts, but my favorite genre has always ended up being the Hitler metal bands. You know. Graveland. Burzum. Darkthrone. Infernum. Absurd. Ohtar. And it's pretty hard to escape. Mayhem used to have Nazi flags in their practice space, Immortal are always waving that Norwegian flag around, and most other bands have at least one member that's either a Nazi or well on the way there. That's cool by me since Nazis and me usually steer clear of each other, but sometimes, I feel really bad liking this stuff. Thinking about my grandmother saving up to put my dad through college at a time when white folks wouldn't let us into theatres. Or my great-great-grandfather working his way up from sharecropper after the civil war. And here I am, in my suburban bedroom, cranking some music about white people crushing everyone else and laughing about it. Is there something wrong with me?
It's OK to like the music. You don't have to agree with the ideals of the band members to like the music. Music is an art form, not a form of ethics and morals. Just be careful though - if you buy the music, think of what causes the money will support.
You have to separate the artist from the art. Obviously that's not 100 percent possible since the art derives from the entire spirit of the artist and the crap is in there along with the other stuff. I had a hard time listening to the wonderful, peaceful music of Cat Stevens after he converted to Islam, became their equivalent of a Redneck, and signed the death threat against Salman Rushdie. But you know what I decided? No damn shit-head Muslim Redneck is going to deprive me of the music I like! Maybe some day I'll send him a letter telling him that an old hippie who bought his wife "Midnight's Children" for a birthday present listens to "Moon Shadow" while drafting his passionate diatribes against the war-mongering Abrahamist religions on SciForums. Thanking him for recording the music that brings peace to my soul and allows me to forgive him for being an asshole. And wishing him a happy ascension to heaven, where he'll be greeted by 72 Virginians, including George Washington and Robert E. Lee. Write a fan letter to your bands and send them an autographed picture of yourself in one of their t-shirts. You're a better person than they are, so take the upper hand here and rise above feuding. Tell them how much you get off on their obvious sarcasm and play-acting. Bad people sometimes produce great art, and we humans are perfectly capable of handling life's little complexities, so we don't let it befuddle us. Plenty of Jews love Wagner's music. Since the most devout Jews don't believe that anyone has actually gone to heaven yet, they can add to the entertainment value by literally picturing Wagner turning over in his grave. Remember that no matter how serious these guys appear, they are professional entertainers. That means they have an image to maintain even when they're off duty. Rock and roll has always produced the most outrageous interviews with musicians who feel they owe it to their fans to uphold the illusion of being real bad boys. These guys are getting ink by going to Nazi meetings now, in five years it might be Greenpeace. Don't be so hard on Norway. Lots of little countries with token military forces were occupied by the Nazis. Norway is one of several--Bulgaria is another--whose leaders and common folk took risks and did everything they could to shield their Jewish citizens from the Holocaust. The Norwegian flag is a symbol of peace and brotherhood, don't let a couple of nouveau-Vaudeville clowns ruin it for you.
musik is energi, dont waste time contemplateing who made it just find the form of musik/energy which fits ou best.
Yeah, I hear a lot of people say that U2 sucks, or Kanye West sucks, because of their political views or actions or whatever. But like Fraggle's example with Cat Stevens, I can't bring myself to stop listening to music I like just because the performer does something I don't agree with. So if you like the music, listen to it, there's really no good reason not to.
Yeah ... I was going to mention the possibility of stealing it instead (not difficult these days, what with the Internet, and too many people do it even for music from bands they don't disagree with ideologically...) but I like Fraggle's suggestion better.
Thanks for the great replies. I think I'm not going to let it bother me. I am going to buy the music, though, because the artists deserve the money and I'm going to show them I'm not afraid. Maybe they'll make room for a Black Hitler.
If you were white the responses would be very different. I think the fact that you injoy some white supremacist racist crap, shows a clear lack of intelligence.
Why? Music is music, and if it's good music, I like it. Do you want me to be forced to listen to rap or blues just because I'm black? That seems "racist" to me.
