Yet the beauty of the music is intertwined with the pain that accompanied the 400-year struggle Black people have faced to have our humanity recognized and respected. The struggle has never been fully divorced from the art. In fact, the music often served as the soundtrack for the struggle. A major component of the story of Black creativity has been the ongoing struggle to tell and control our story, and that is what guitarist, vocalist and songwriter Lamone expresses in his single “Rhythm and Blues.”
Lamone gives his listeners a funky historical journey that connects this music to the Motherland and how the distinct and painful circumstances of our presence in the Americas led to the creation of an art form that is so powerful and beautiful that its influence has inspired people around the world. Yet, the paradox that Lamone does not ignore is the power structure that continually seeks to appropriate the art form while marginalizing and persecuting the people from whom the art comes. Lamone reminds his listener that the art cannot be fully understood or embraced without fully accepting the creator. Check out Lamone’s “Rhythm and Blues” here.
By Howard Dukes
Lamone – “Rhythm and Blues”
