BLACK ROCK MUSIC AND THE EVOLVING URBAN MINDSET

Executive Summary

INTRODUCTION
It doesn’t matter whether hip hop is dead or alive. What matters is that it’s no longer the
only way to connect musically with predominantly African-American audiences or those
influenced by African American culture. While hip hop will remain a factor, it’s no longer
the key to the “urban mindset”. The fact is, “urban mindset” has been accepted
shorthand since the mid-90’s. It is used to talk about an audience whose sensibilities
are shaped by black popular culture, most notably hip hop. But in 2010, it’s time to note
the exciting ways in which the definition, particularly in relation to African Americans, no
longer applies.
More to the point: The “urban mindset” is evolving and for many, particularly the
African Americans in this psychographic, their soundtrack ain’t necessarily hip
hop. This has clear implications for marketers who build their brands—or are
considering building their brands—via music as a strategic platform.
Call this soundtrack to the 21st century what you want: Black rock, Afro-punk, or black
alternative music. It’s music that constantly questions what was understood to be the
role of black music and black musicians for the last 25 or so years. It’s the music that
challenges notions about what African Americans listen to out of course, avenues
through which we express ourselves, and even notions of what it means to be
“authentically black.”
Post-modernism has come to black music and African Americans are flocking to it. The
growing ranks of musical artists who make up this community—comprising the diverse
sounds of Living Colour, Gnarls Barkley, Santigold, TV On The Radio, BLK JKS,
Shingai Shoniwa of The Noisettes, Janelle Monae, and the hundreds coming behind
them—along with the black audiences that support them, form the musical complement
to the comedy of Dave Chappelle or Aaron MacGruder; the visual art of Kara Walker;
the writings of authors like Colson Whitehead and Farai Chideya; or films such as Barry
Jenkins’ acclaimed Medicine For Melancholy.
Black rock isn’t just about African Americans playing rock music. If that’s what you
think, then you’re missing the fact that this is yet another sign of a larger cultural shift.
It’s part of the same one that ushered Barack Obama into the White House.
Major media has noted the growth of black rock, Afro-punk and the audiences who are
drawn to it. The New York Times1, MTV2, the New York Daily News3, and even the
venerable black publication Ebony4 have devoted space to the growing movement of
black rock off the fringes of American culture towards the mainstream.
African American identity is being reshaped5. Therefore, it only makes sense to
reevaluate the cultural levers that marketers have employed to engage them. Further, it
requires an exploration of who this evolving audience is, and what its interest in and
support of black rock/Afro-punk means for the way in which the “urban mindset” is
understood.
METHODOLOGY
Research was fielded February 11, 2010 – April 12, 2010.

 Survey type: Online quantitative

 Fielding source(s): Boldaslove.us, email and social media channels such as

Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn

 Completes: 316 respondents

RESPONDENT DEMOGRAPHICS

 GENDER and RACE: Respondents were split evenly between male and female.
The majority (76%) are African-American, with 12% identifying themselves as
White, 2% Hispanic and 9% identifying as multiracial. The remaining 5% declined
to answer.

 AGE and EDUCATION: The majority is between 26-44 years old (67.4%), with a
secondary group (20.6%) between 45-54. Respondents are educated: Nearly
62% have either undergrad or post-grad degrees.

1
“Truly Indie Fans” by Jessica Pressler. New York Times, January 28, 2007.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/28/fashion/28Blipsters.html?_r=2&oref=slogin
2
“Afro-Punk Scene, Inspired By Santogold, TV On The Radio And More, Explodes Into
A Multi-Genre Movement” by Daniela Capistrano. MTV News, December 15, 2008.
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1601283/20081212/santogold.jhtml
3
“Rock Is The New Black” by Jim Farber. New York Daily News, May 25, 2008.
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music/2008/05/25/2008-05-
25_rock_is_the_new_black.html#community
4
, “Breaking the Sound Barriers: 15 Popular Artists Defy Labels About What Black
Music Is” by Adrienne Samuels. June, 2008
5
Ytasha Womack. Post Black: How a New Generation is Reshaping African
American Identity. Lawrence Hill Books, 2010
2
  GEOGRAPHY. 93% of respondents live in the United States. Remaining
percentages come from around the world: the UK, Brazil, The Netherlands,
France, Australia, etc. Of the stateside respondents, the top 5 states were New
York, California, Georgia, Illinois, and Pennsylvania, respectively.

 INCOME and MARITAL STATUS: In terms of income, there’s a range. 55% have
household incomes (HHI) over $46,000 and 40% have incomes over $61,000.
Put in some perspective, the median HHI for African Americans in 2008 was $34,
218 (according to a Wikipedia entry). Nearly 62% of the respondents are single
and nearly 69% have no kids.

 OCCUPATIONS: 38% of the respondents are professional (which includes jobs

in education, art & design, media communications, architecture, health,
community/social services, etc.) Nearly 16% are in the arts (writers, visual arts,
actors, etc.). Musicians make up nearly 12% of respondents. Smaller
percentages hold middle management, administrative, service, sales,
construction and transportation jobs.
PSYCHOGRAPHICS

 GROUP IDENTITY vs. INDIVIDUALITY: 63% indicate that expressing their

individuality takes precedence over allegiance to group identity. Additionally, 32%
indicated that they equally feel a need to express their own individuality, while at
the same maintaining their connection to a larger group to which they belong
(racial, ethnic, gender, etc.)

 RELEVANCE OF TERM “BLACK ROCK”: Over 50% (53.8%) agree or strongly

agree the black rock is still a relevant term. Half say their feelings about black
rock/Afro-punk/black alt music have become more positive over the last two
years.

 FEELINGS ABOUT HIP HOP: As show in the chart below, nearly 74% of
respondents say their feelings about hip hop have become indifferent or more
negative. For African-American respondents, the percentage is closer to 77%.
Approximately 20% say their feelings have stayed the same, and only 6%
indicate that their feelings have become more positive.

3
 SOCIAL/HEALTH/TECH: Respondents consider themselves to be socially
conscious (87%), health conscious (73.7%), and 67% feel that they are tech
savvy.

 IMPORTANCE OF STAYING CURRENT: Per the chart below, 70% indicate that
it is important or very important to stay “in the know” about cutting edge music
and culture. African American respondents index slightly higher at 71.4%

Chart 2: The importance of staying current

 REGULAR MUSIC LISTENING:

o 78% say that the amount of time they spend listening to commercial radio
has decreased over the past two years

 WHAT THEY’RE LISTENING TO:

o Overall responses included in the chart below, since 76% of respondents
are African American and the AA responses are comparable.
 73% indicate that the amount of hip hop they listen to has
decreased over the past two years.
 52% say that the amount of R&B music they listen to has
decreased.
 Nearly 70% say that what they’d term black rock, Afro-punk or
black alternative music has increased as an overall part of their
listening.
 46% indicate that the amount of world music they listen to has
increased

4
 MORE ATTENTION ON INDIE ARTISTS: Nearly 71% indicate that indie artists
(those without the backing of a major label) make up a bigger part of their overall
listening.

 ARTISTS WHO BREAK THE MOLD: Nearly 90% say they at least often seek out
black artists who defy convention. Over half at least consistently do.

5
BUYING/SHOPPING PREFERENCES

 REGULAR MUSIC BUYING:

o 63.7% tend purchase whole albums rather than singles
o Just under 1/3 buy up to one (1) album per month
o 36% spend $11-$30 per month on music
o Purchases by legitimate online music stores
 iTunes
 AmazonMP3.com
 eMusic
 Rhapsody

 SNEAKERS (top 5 preferred brands)

o Converse (19.8%)
o Adidas (18.3%)
o Nike (16%)
o Puma (10.1)
o New Balance (9%)

 MOBILE PHONE CARRIERS

o AT&T (34.8%)
o Verizon Wireless (20.5%)
o Sprint (12.9%)
o T-Mobile (11.9%)

CONCLUSIONS and IMPLICATIONS

Black rock is providing the exciting new musical sounds as accompaniment to a cultural
shift. And with every cultural shift marketing attention should follow, as the shift presents
new opportunities for marketers who can glean insights about changes in consumer
behavior from it. Specifically, the audience for black rock music

 Is within an attractive age range (26-44), with growing segments above and
below.

6
  Has above-average HHI, the majority of which have no kids, which means they
have more disposable income

 Is socially conscious, so cause-marketing efforts will appeal to them

More importantly, marketers must stop using “urban mindset” as a shorthand for
describing an audience whose attitudes and outlook can be solely defined by hip hop.
Key concept 1: It’s time to enable music discovery.
The black rock audience is one that “consistently” seeks black artists who defy
convention. This is an audience who is looking for music that is musically, intellectually,
emotionally more substantive than what typically passes for commercial black music.
Music that talks about the issues of the day and helps them make sense of their world
and all the complexity they face. For example, when describing international cult
heroes--and one of black rock’s great bands--The Family Stand, cultural critic and Black
Rock Coalition co-founder Greg Tate wrote that these are:
[p]erformances where impeccable musicianship, sizzling stagecraft and volcanic
energy left indelible imprints on the memory on their fan's hearts, feet and
imaginations. They did what Great Black Music performances used to do on the
regular--make you think hard about the world and your own inner life while you
had a stomp down, sweaty, good time in the process. 6
This audience is ready for more music that fits this description. In fact, thanks to social
media, this audience is already finding artists that it’s willing to champion. It’s choosing
its own heroes, and they’re not the ones most music marketers tend to think of first.
Going forward, brands that want to win both mind share and wallet share with this
growing audience must enable music discovery and show their support not just of
individual artists, but the entire scene. For example, this can take the form of online and
offline events; providing access to exclusive content; providing tools and channels
through which they can share and distribute content throughout social media.
As the audience expands and evolves, so too does their appetite for music that aligns
with their interests, attitudes and perspectives. They seek music that reflects a
worldview similar to their own, not one-dimensional street fantasies or pop fluff.
Key concept 2: Hip hop style no longer defines the limits of black authenticity
As evidenced by this audience’s indifferent and, notably, negative perception of hip hop,
it should be clear that the tightly implied link between hip hop style and black
authenticity7 doesn’t hold. It is a constraint that many in the black rock audience have

6
Taken from The Family Stand’s bio at http://www.myspace.com/thefamilystand
7
Tricia Rose, The Hip Hop Wars: What We Talk About When We Talk About Hip
Hop. Basic Books, 2008. On page 8, she writes: “Despite the depth of young black
people’s love of the blues, jazz and R&B throughout various periods in the twentieth
century, no generation has ever dubbed itself the “R&B generation” or the “jazz
7
broken free of. It’s no surprise that they want something as personal as their music
choices to reflect artists who have embraced highly individual paths and modes of
musical expression.
What “style” should define black life? Hard to say. But this research give further
credence to the idea that one-size-fits-all approaches to an audience that’s never been
monolithic represents a declining return on investment
If “engagement” remains the watchword in marketing circles, then it is imperative to
align with audiences based on needs, lifestyles and interests. Using an outdated
audience framework does a disservice to a brand and the audience it seeks. Outmoded
frames harm efforts to increase loyalty, create brand advocates and, ultimately, drive
sales.
###

Contact
Rob Fields
Boldaslove.us/BoldasMEDIA
rob@boldaslove.us

ABOUT BOLDASLOVE.US
Boldaslove.us is the only regularly updated blog that focuses on black rock, Afro-punk
and black alternative music and culture. Founded in 2007, the site features news,
reviews, interviews and commentary on the musicians, writers and filmmakers who are
shaping progressive black culture. http://boldaslove.us

generation,” thereby tethering its members to all things (good and bad) that might be
associated with the music. Yet young people have limited their creative possibilities, as
well as their personal identities, to the perimeters established by the genre of hip hop.”
8