13 February 2022
Last week saw the Brits music award happen again. Not something I take much notice of usually. It has Mastercard written over it.
Out of the blue
and into the black
They give you this,
but you pay for that
And once you're gone,
you can never come back
When you're out of the blue
and into the black.
The king is gone
but he's not forgotten
This is the story
of a Johnny Rotten
It's better to burn out
than it is to rust
The king is gone
but he's not forgotten.
...sang Neil Young, who pretty much epitomises white male privilege, and yet he’s leading the charge against the alt right on Spotify. I'm not a fan, quoting the lyrics here because rock and roll is a business, and there's an Amy quote nestled in there.
Back to Black.
A version of this post has been jostling around my head for a couple of weeks, asking myself the question "What if Amy Winehouse had been black or mixed race?".
Because of Joy Crookes. If you ask 'Who?" then I feel vindicated sticking my neck (tongue?) out and postulating from my position of armchair privilege.
Rewind. I got sent a Joy Crookes track by my friend Isabella a while back. Meh, I thought. Sounds Amy-ish. But since I’d listened to her once, the Youtube or Spotify robot hive mind kept recommending me more.
I used to think the Pet Shop Boys were naff and awful, indie credentials y'all, until arriving in Hong Kong for the first time, staying with Tom, the heady days of 1991. Arriving fresh off the plane, standing in his flat with its floor to ceiling glass windows overlooking Happy Valley, I'm given a drink and he slips on "Left to my own devices" loud and I realise that I've been horribly, horribly wrong and prejudiced and they are in fact fucking brilliant and belong to the right here and now. All it takes is hearing something in the right place at the right time.
Accustomed to my diet of Reggaeton as I cook, Joy Crookes comes on, and I realise how fucking good she is. Songs about the experience of my home town, sang universally. And not just her: Hope Tala, Greentea Peng.
Joy Crookes has been doing her thing since 2017, and is nominated in the 2022 Brits as Best New Artist. That's five years. Amy went from unknown to superstar in three. To clear a few things up, there is no dissing Amy here, she is without a doubt an iconoclast. My flat is in Camden. Two streets away from her final home with its wreaths outside and pilgrimages from Italian tourists. Everyone here has an Amy story, my friend Zak has a great naive watercolour of her by a local artist, my daughter's friend getting invited "back to mine" after being in The Lord Stanley while Amy was drinking there. Mind you this shit happens at The Lord Stanley all the time, the last time I ever saw my friend Richard Ross was there, and Anne got bought a drink by Pete Doherty for saying she enjoyed the riot (aka his less than well received Albert Hall gig). The same friend who sent me Joy Crookes asked "Is Amy Winehouse that big then?" (forgive her, she's Australian). Amy is a light of London, forever bright.
What I'm wondering is: what if Amy had been black or mixed race? Would Back to Black have blown up the way it did? There are other factors involved I realise, Amy was "dangerous" in the Jack Daniels and smack sort of way (see Pete Doherty) which allows the middle classes to feel edgy without leaving the dinner party. Doing it for us. Joy Crookes (Amy is a saint so we can refer to her by first name only) sings of the struggle of being black, female, in a world that shuns you, she exposes our privilege rather than riding off on a Harley. Wikipedia says "Amy... is known for her eclectic mix of musical genres, including soul, rhythm and blues and jazz". All part of black culture.
Here's the thing, it's 2022, #metoo and #blacklivesmatter have shaped the last three years, and Mastercard, sorry, ‘The Brits’, awarded Adele artist of the year. Not Dave. He got best new Hip Hop artist. Dave (featuring Alex) is up there with a cheeky Nando's and Ant and Dec as being what Britain is about (the good side), after his there-are-no-words-to-describe-it Glastonbury take over. I hate grime but I can not watch him without tears of joy.
The question is…why is Joy Crookes still a new comer (nominee not winner) five years later? Adele is/was headlining Vegas (rather like Elvis, another artist based originally on Black culture).
Like the time I worked for The Primitives with their first single on a major label, the just released "Crash", we spent two weeks petrified there would be a motorway pile-up, bringing about the end of their career with zero airplay; part of me was embarrassingly a little glad Joy Crookes didn't win or I'd have had to rewrite my post. Sorry Joy.
I just listened to Amy's first track and Joy's. Amy starts with vocal scatting over retro "classic jazz", Joy starts with a Lana-esque guitar riff, itself harking back to Angelo Badalamenti's Twin Peaks soundtrack, itself a pastiche of 1950's white heartthrob rock n roll.
Poor Amy didn't mean anything by 'Back to Black' other than a fashion statement. Fitting perhaps?
Joy Crookes and Hope Tala deserve as much attention and fame as Amy Winehouse for their music. In all fairness Little Simz was awarded best new artist, and I'm not picking on Ed Sheeran in the context of this post, even when nominated for best R&B act?, since he is the whitest person alive and couldn't lean on black culture if it trod on his foot. But haven't you ever wondered "What if Adele had been born mixed race...?"
On a side note David Baddiel recently shone a light on the white on white racism Jews suffer, and Denzel Washington speaks so eloquently on "culture, not colour".
Amy, Joy and Hope are all coming from a love of the same culture, do them right by listening to all three. To conclude, big love to Amy, Joy and Hope.
References
“Trouble” and “19th floor” by Joy Crookes
“All my girls like to fight” and “Tiptoeing” by Hope tala
“Nah it aint the same” and “Hu Man” by Greentea Peng
(Doesn’t matter if you hate grime/drill, watch this for the sheer joy)
Further Reading
For the crispest diction, and being so London
For the video, riffing on so much
Reaching pretty far of topic, this is five years old, but you can’t beat a street dance scene