Why is diversity such a big part of our brand?
We believe that diversity and inclusion increase cultural competency. In conjunction with Black History Month, we will be looking at the people of color who have contributed immensely to the music industry and how they managed to revolutionize the world.
Giant Steps, a jazz composition written by African American jazz musician John Coltrane, is considered as one of the most feared songs in Jazz. The reason why it is so iconic is the unique note changes that you can hear in the beginning, which are now known as the Coltrane Changes. The Coltrane Changes aren’t just in one key, they are in 3 different keys. Most pop music is based around one of the key centers, but John Coltrane managed to represent it in every possible key center. To explain the complexity of this, imagine speaking trying to switch from Spanish to Arabic to Japanese very quickly, say every 2 beats in a song that’s 290 beats per minute. And it is not saying one word per language, its like having to construct a full coherent sentence for each language and successfully be fluent at it. Jazz musicians of this century considered improvising to Giant Steps as a rite of passage.
Prince, an American singer-songwriter who first captured the attention of the world in the 1980’s with his incredibly unique artistry. He encapsulated elements of different genres like Rock, Blues and Jazz into his music. Prince is also celebrated as a brilliant guitarist. His technical prowess and his musical IQ on the six strings are staggering and right up there with the best of the best. He is one of the rare guitarists that can be identified by a single note, which puts him in the company of B.B. King and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Not only did he write all of his songs on his own, but he also played most of the instruments, produced and engineered his music. By taking this approach, Prince was also able to shape the specific, innovative sounds that ultimately influenced countless musicians to come.
Nigerian-born Helen Adu, known to the world just as Sade, is responsible for the popularizing of sultry jazz and Afro-Caribbean rhythms, gold hoop earrings and timeless class and beauty. If Sade didn’t exist, no one could have invented her. No one has successfully copied her, but everyone in music adores her. Her best songs hold out the possibility of a better world without concealing the grief that defines the present one. ‘Pearls’, Sade’s harrowing legend of a Somali mother searching for pearls to pay to feed her daughter. ‘Immigrant’ is a low tone, mournful bassline tune about the burdens endured by a black man in a foreign land. Based on a real conversation between Sade and a former soldier, ‘Like A Tattoo’ makes trauma and longing in the wake of slaughter feel at once poetic and relatable. There is no ne
ed for much explanation on how this sultry sphinx-y lady made an impact in the music industry.
How do these people come into play when we talk about diversity and inclusion? By normalizing diversity and inclusion of people of color, we learn to put people first and ethnicity second. We learn that greatness is not just reserved for a certain group of people, but it can be found in everyone. By allowing people of color to express creativity and lend their ideas to the world, we are able to impact more than just one crowd. Most people identify influencers who are similar to them in terms of their skin color, physical appearance and culture; most people are not just one color. By accepting and routing for multicultural artistry, we are able to learn of different perspectives and at the same time, diminish the presence of hate and discrimination.
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