Is there a Doc in the House?: Afro-Punk

My wife and I went to see The Cure a few years back. Robert and the fellas put on a good show, playing all the expected tunes and some cuts off of the then-new album. It was not a surprise that out of probably 15,000 people we were THE ONLY black couple that we saw...just two out of the 8 total black folks we spied in attendance.

If you happen to be an unusual black kid with tastes that are generally off the beaten track you end up finding normal in packs where you are the only dark face. But, deep inside, there's still always a feeling of "what the hell?!"

Though I still have not seen all of it, what I have seen of "Afro-Punk" hits home with a vengeance.

I've always been partial to music that wails and screeches. I grew up saying that I liked hip hop just to be feel normal and deflect the unspoken questions/assumptions that could see brewing. At that time there weren't many black kids in my sleepy hometown of Sapulpa, OK listening to punk/progressive/industrial/post-punk (and in small letters "alternative") music.

Afro-Punk not only explores the experience of the darker nation with punk music...but it's an excellent study on how people who don't ascribe to monolithic ideas of race cope when operating in a venue in which they are the odd minority. Not just the minority, but the odd minority.

In the years since it's release, the doc has also spawned a website that showcases the contributions of black artists in rock/punk and their derivations. Check out the shoegaze-pop of one of last year's "it" groups The Black Kids or the Mars Volta-ish sounds of Irradio just to name a few. http://www.afropunk.com