As mentioned in an earlier post, I have a mild fascination with Down's Phil Anselmo. I was a huge Pantera fan, and back in their heyday I saw them a few times. About a week ago, I was reading a Deciblog entry by Jeanne Fury, who posted a recent talk Anselmo had done at a Louisiana university about his career and his previous drug use.
I feel a bit hesitant about supporting this, but I'll get to that in a sec. The talk was quite interesting. He warned the students about the perils of drug abuse, and while he has a very, very deep, husky voice and is mildly un-PC, he is intelligent, thoughtful and takes his craft seriously.....well now, anyway. I had always - and still do - think he has a great voice, was and is a great frontman.
In order to get to the rest of the clips - there are 7 of them, you were directed to YouTube via the Deciblog site, so I went on over and before getting to video 4, caught the above clip. This was really interesting, as I had heard of this story years ago but hadn't thought about it until recently, when I was talking to Ian Christe in NYC about a month ago about it. After watching the above clip, I declined in watching the rest of the videos, as I was really confused about what to think.
The above video was recorded in 1995 at a show in Montreal. In it, Anselmo discusses his disgust with 'Gansta Rap' (it was big back then) and the white people who were fans. He believed that the music was made by blacks who hated whites, and that white youth should have 'white pride' in themselves. There is an implication of two things: 1) That the black artists in question were racist, therefore attempting to turn these innocent white young men into the animals that they were. 2) That the 'white race' is dying and that these innocent young white men should...I dunno. Stop listening? Become a White Supremacist?
According to someone who was there and this article that was published in the Montreal Gazette, he also referred to some of the security guards (you know, the ones protecting his white ass) as "Niggers." What was interesting was that I had heard about the two black women mentioned in the article that I guess knew someone as they were able to get backstage. They were able to muster somewhat of an apology from Anslemo, but apparently not Vinnie Paul, which doesn't really surprise me ( have you read his column in Revolver? Ugh).
From all reports, this was a 'speech' that he had given at all of the stops during that tour, and in all honesty I found myself - the rabid race-baiter that I am - being surprisingly objective, but not entirely satisfied. Objective because on the surface, I could see where he was coming from and why he would say what he said - to a point. I do not think that Rap artists back then were anti-white.....I think that for good reason, some were anti-police and anti-establishment, but I can understand why some on the outside might be alarmed. But did Anselmo really think that, or was he using Gangsta Rap as a platform for encouraging racial hatred?
Secondly, this "White Pride" crap scares the shit out of me. It shouldn't have to be an either/or situation (you either have white pride or your a gun-loving nigger lover) but that is what it sounds like. Apparently, some people at the concert cheered, but some also were disgusted and walked out. It seems like many of the concertgoers took his speech as racist and because of his 'look' at the time (even though he looks very tasty...in a white supremacist kinda way) they assumed Anselmo was a Nazi....or someone with Nazi sympathies.
After viewing this clip (there is also a Pt. 2 to the above) I tracked down someone who was mentioned in the article. He had said back then that he was going to do a feature in his 'Zine about racism in the metal scene but when I contacted him, he said that he never did and could barely remember the incident. I actually found the two women on Twitter, but they have not responded to my messages. So as of now I haven't been able to really follow up on this, but I will, eventually.
Now don't get me wrong: While I struggle with my Nazi-crush on Mr. Anselmo, I do not think that in general, people should really take what any artist - whether it be a singer, painter or actor - to heart. What he thinks is not really going to change my life, but it does raise a question that I posed on a questionnaire I sent out to black female metal fans: If you found out that a member of a band was racist, what would you do?
How important are the personal politics of your favorite artist to your listening / watching experience?
I bought the first Superjoint Ritual CD a number of years ago and soon after, had a very sick feeling spending money on that album. I also was hesitant, but still love Agnostic Front's latest, Warriors. So I'll answer my own question. In theory, no, I am not going to financially support an artist that I find out for 'sho don't like my people, or any other people of color.
But how many of the metal dudes I have sexual and non-sexual crushes on, are sexist? Beat their women? I don't know if I want to tackle that one. I might have to get rid of my entire album collection.
Comments