Let That Bitch Breathe

...away from the microphone though, LOL.

After reading an interview with Tay Zonday on HNN a few months back, I was frustrated with myself for initially underestimating him and his YouTube hit, Chocolate Rain. I knew the song had deeper meaning beneath it's comical surface (it's actually about institutional racism, and some say "rain" is really "reign") , but the interview showed me that Zonday is actually much smarter than the average bear. Just when you write him off for being over the top and too socially different, he makes a point that radiates universal truth. Some might find him strange, but I appreciate his martian tendencies. And since I mentioned him in a past post but never had time to readdress his greatness until now, I decided to steal his words from that HNN piece and engage with them...

HE HAD A UNIQUE CHILDHOOD:

"Growing up, I learned to hide the fact that I had any passion or enjoyment for music or life. Being "influenced" to laugh or dance was always a sickness or pathology. It made my parents fearful that they were losing their kids. To this day, I'm not sure you could get me to admit that I was influenced by anything. It's just beaten out of the way I think. Perhaps people call my music "unique" because I don't feel beholden to any influences."

Since he grew up forbidden to appreciate some of what others take for granted in this country, he developed a style of his own, uninfluenced by certain societal norms.

HIS DETACHMENT FROM SOCIETY OPENED HIS EYES:

"In music and life, you've got to connect the dots to see how simple things relate to power."

Within the context of this quote, I think he's trying to say that pop culture can often assert control over the masses. Then, once we stop thinking for ourselves, we might not realize how and why we react to every day shit the way that we do.

HE DIFFERS FROM MOST ASPIRING ENTERTAINERS:

"I am not in a rush to find an agent, label, a publicist, etc. All of those things are like looking for an apartment. You never move into the first one you find. It's worth it to take the time to get it right."

I'm not sure if he's signed anywhere by now, but WOW, when this was written, he really wanted to be patient and make a good decision! Meanwhile, goons trying to break into the music industry would not only kill for the exposure he got from YouTube, but would likely sign to the first label that came to them with an offer.

HE HAS A LOT TO SAY ABOUT RACE AND GENDER:

"I get lots of Janet and Michael comparisons. I take them as compliments. But I also think there's a deeper cultural reason behind them. Any young black man in pop culture who isn't hypermasculine is held to a racist double-standard. Because Aaron Carter is not hypermasculine. Clay Aiken is not hypermasculine. None of the boy-bands were hypermasculine. But there's this idea that because I'm a young black male, I've got to look hypermasculine. I've got to look 'urban.'"

Word. Go on...

"People need to ask themselves why young black men don't have the same freedom to present themselves that young white men do... Many young white men choose to be hypermasculine, but as soon as a young black man chooses the ordinary suburban-kid look, all of a sudden he violates the prejudice of pop culture. But you can't blame this prejudice on everyday people because the fantasy that all young black males must be hypermasculine, whereas young white males can be wholesome boy-band members, is promoted by business interests that need categories in which people will be predictable consumers."

HE UNDERSTANDS THE MUSIC INDUSTRY'S DOWNFALL:

"People are sick of these categories. They see themselves in the eyes of pop music marketers and know it's not who they are. This is why corporate sales are down across the entire industry. It's not because everyone is stealing music. It's because they woke up to the fact that musical categories, racial categories, and all these other things that are sold to them as their identity, are contrived."

"...I defy category. I'm the new route to the next economic quarter. My demographic isn't black, white, brown, young, old, straight, gay, or any of the above. It's real people. People who don't need labels as shortcuts to who they are."

AND LASTLY, HE WANTS YOU TO BE OPEN-MINDED:

"People should not worry about what I was trying to do with my music or my videos. They should just experience it in the way that is real to them. It is not my job to understand why people experience my art in the way that they do. I just make the art and people find what they find in it. Leave it at that. We spend too much time in this world trying to be each others' psychiatrists. Does what I was trying to do with the music, or my imagination of how other people experience the music, actually make a difference in what it means to you?"

So! If you didn't know I was a huge nerd before, I'm certain you're aware now!

And to make myself appear even more dorky, I'll leave you with a quote I pulled from another Tay interview that hit me very hard:

"What inspires people to be publicly silent? We all have these moments of brilliant expression between ourselves and the wall. Anyone who says they don't is a liar. The fact that I take a camera and put it on YouTube doesn't make me special. Everyone dreams of not being silent. Everyone has the "drum major instinct." Most people stay silent."