So you heard that Republic Records has cancelled the word Urban. It will “remove ‘urban’ from the label’s verbiage in describing departments, employee titles and music genres. Oddly, Latin categories including the term were excluded from reconsideration.

Gail Mitchell, executive director of R&B and hip-hop at Billboard says she’s on the fence about losing “urban” as an umbrella term, because it may erase the historical legacy of Black music.

Also, top black executives at parent company Universal Music said the move was taken without their endorsement. Senior Universal executives Jeff Harleston and Ethiopia Habtemariam who lead an internal task force on diversity, took issue with the decision.
Will Warner Music cancel Urban? According to sources they are talking with employees who hold a wide range of views and no decision has been made.

Removing the urban departments from labels carry a cost. Urban departments are funded and stacked with employees that find and develop their own artists. What happens to these departments?
Mr Harleston chief executive of Def Jam says, “If you’re a group of people at an urban department, and you sign and develop an artist that goes on to be one of the biggest . . . you’re proud. That’s something the urban department did. There is ownership that goes with it.”

Ms Habtemariam, president of Motown records, said: “People kind of jumped the gun in throwing it out there, more as a headline in my opinion, and not really understanding the real implications.”
In 2018, Mark Pitts President of RCA Urban Music Department and who managed the The Notorious B.I.G. defended the use and said, “I put on urban as a badge of honor”.

Lady Antebellum changed its name after learning the history of Antebellum. I have no idea what Antebellum means to be honest. The dictionary definition of antebellum literally means “before the war,” coming from the Latin phrase, ante bellum. But to further break it down Antebellum is also an aesthetic – architecture and fashion. The issue is that it was created by slave labor.
The band says, “We are regretful and embarrassed to say that we did not take into account the associations that weigh down this word referring to the period of history before the Civil War, which includes slavery,” Lady A wrote, of the band’s blind spots at the time.
We also hear the discussion is moving in many directions. Some are calling that the rock band Guns N’s Roses drops Guns as before the Civil War ended, state “Slave Codes” prohibited slaves from owning guns. The crowd is urging DSP’s to pull tracks that subjugate women from both male and female artists because slavery brought women under control and dominance. How far will this go? What I do know is that blackout is moving beyond Tuesday.

Coachella has cancelled for the second time. The festival was going to happen in October but organizers pulled the plug. Really, they had no choice after meeting with health officials. It’s not going to happen this year.
Rage Against the Machine, Travis Scott and Frank Ocean were scheduled to headline Coachella, along with performances by Calvin Harris, Big Sean, Lewis Capaldi, Charlie XCX, Flume, 21 Savage, Lana Del Rey and Lil Nas X.

I know it’s tough, but I turned off the news for a week. I was more creative. I thought by watching the news 24 hours a day that I was keeping myself informed, rather I was being propagandized. Here is a song lyric – turn off the news and your life will improve. The media will leave you feeling pessimistic, and overwhelmed. Why watch the news when its sole purpose is to ruin your day? The news will zap your creativity and feeling empty.

Lauren Daigle weighs on the current state of affairs in a near hour instagram post. She goes on to say the issue is the heart of man not caring about one another. Looking beyond color and seeing the soul. “There are ways to use anger for good, and ways to use anger for evil. Seeing what happened to George Floyd should illicit anger.”
She is fully for protesting but condemns the burning down of buildings. “It doesn’t serve a purpose. It goes against loving your neighbor as yourself. She warns of falling into the same trap of using force as a monster or rights as a monster.”