Deirdra Harris Glover
MC Contributor/Staff Writer
“And these children that you spit on
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultations
They’re quite aware of what they’re going through”
—David Bowie, “Changes”
British musician and icon David Bowie released “Changes” in 1972, but the lyrics could easily have been written yesterday. Bowie succumbed to liver cancer Jan. 10, two days after his latest record “Blackstar” was released.
Bowie synthesized his childhood artistic education into a multifaceted career spanning half a century. He was a shape shifter, adopting costumes and personas along with a mesmerizing stage presence.
“Fame makes a man take things over
Fame lets him loose, hard to swallow
Fame puts you there where things are hollow”
—David Bowie, “Fame”
Like many British artists, Bowie fell in love with American music typically associated with black culture, finding common ground in funk and soul. Bowie immersed in Philly soul, and entered a musical period of his life he termed “plastic soul.”
“He was pretty well accepted in the black community, from working with Nile Rodgers to appearing on Soul Train and performing ‘Fame,’” said Violator All-Star DJ Phillip “YoungVenom” Rollins. Rollins owns Offbeat, a music, comics and collectibles gallery/shop in the Midtown district in Jackson, Miss.
In a 1993 interview with NBC’s Bryant Gumbel, Bowie strongly asserted that black artists were the true innovators of the age. The quality and significance of the social message has moved very much to the black and Hispanic market. And that’s where the new force of music is coming from said Bowie in the interview.
“With black music, there’s a very strong social point to make. There’s a means of discovery and a purpose,” said Bowie in the interview.
The admiration appears to have been mutual: Public Enemy, Diddy, Jay-Z, Ice Cube and Dr. Dre have sampled Bowie’s work. Learning of his death, Kanye West tweeted that Bowie was one of his “most important inspirations, so fearless, so creative. he (sic) gave us magic for a lifetime.”
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