“Rap the new Rock and Roll. We culture. Rap is the new Rock and Roll. We the rock stars.” – Kanye West, BBC Radio 1 (Zane Lowe Interview)
The California Gold Rush (1849-1952) is one of the most impactful eras to shape the landscape of America. The discovery of gold nuggets in Sacramento Valley sparked a mass exodus of migrants from San Francisco, Oregon and Hawaii to Mexico, Chile, Peru and even China. News would eventually make its way to the east coast resulting in more U.S. migrants with dreams of striking it rich.
These gold-seekers referred to as “49ers” – if you ever pondered the origins of the NFL team name, San Francisco 49ers, there you have it – would eventually spring up gold mining towns all over the region, complete with shops, saloons, brothels and other businesses seeking to make their own Gold Rush fortune.
Sadly, The downside of the Gold Rush era was the severe population decline of Native Californians (Native Americans and people of Spanish and Mexican descent) from disease, genocide, and starvation. The lasting impact of theera would have residual social, political and economic effects on the state and country moving towards the 20th century.
History tends to repeats itself, and in the case of the past couple years, I would argue there’s been a recent resurgence of a “gold rush” for black artistry. One could even argue that black artistry has unequivocally had the most riveting, influential and memorable impact on both the U.S. and world to date.
We, in a large capacity, are the barometers of cool. We have our fingers on the pulse of the culture. We are provocative. We push agendas that are compelling to those who neither look anything like us nor fully relate to us. We, ultimately, are the “North Star” of creativity.
Now, this may seem a bit hubristic and braggadocios, but when you have empirical data you can make such claims. So without further ado, I’d like to highlight just a few of the many groundbreaking creations and accomplishments the last few years of black artistry have witnessed.
Black Panther
Black Panther became only the fourth film ever to cross $100 million in its second weekend, joining Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Jurassic World, and The Avengers. It is the second highest second weekend for a film behind only Force Awakens. Black Panther alsocrossed the $700 million mark globally in just two weekends of release and $400 million domestically.
It’s become the largest opening for an African-American director by sizable margin.
Moonlight
Moonlight won the 2017 Oscar for best picture after going up against La La Land, which tied the all-time record for Oscar nominations with 14. To put the improbable win into even more perspective, Moonlight only had a $1.5 million budget, the least expensive film to win since Rocky and, with a $22 million domestic gross, the least widely seen winner since The Hurt Locker
Atlanta
Donald Glover’s (Childish Gambino) sitcom made the biggest cable comedy debut in three years. Atlanta bagged the “best audience of any basic cable primetime scripted comedy” in more than three years in the coveted 18 to 49 demographic.
Just to seal my opinion of him as the renaissance man of our generation, Glover became thefirst black director to win an Emmy in the comedy series category due to his perfectly scripted work on the “B.A.N.” episode.
Insecure
Issa Rae’s hit HBO series, Insecure, helped win the following awards in just two seasons:
Not only that, the show offered music and an official soundtrack to educated the culture on even more up and coming black artists.
Get Out
Jordan Peele‘s horror-thriller, Get Out, became the highest grossing debut project for a writer-director with an original screenplay. Get Out had a budge of only $4.5 million, and yet grossed over $250 million worldwide.
The insatiable appetite of Black Excellence still wasn’t subdued with accomplishments. Jordan Peele became the FIRST African American to win an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay
Ava Duvernay
Ava Duvernay made history in 2012 as the first black woman to win the Best Director award at the Sundance Film Festival. Duvernay is on the brink of making history again. It was announced that she would be first African-American woman to lead a $100 million, live-action feature film “A Wrinkle in Time”.
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah became the first black female recipient of the Cecil B. DeMille Award (for outstanding contributions to the world of entertainment).
Misty Copeland
Copeland became the first Black woman to be named a principal dancer in the 75-year history of American Ballet Theater.
Viola Davis
Davis became the first Black woman to win an Emmy Award for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series for her lead role in the hit ABC television series, How To Get Away With Murder.
Cardi B
Almost three months after her single “Bodak Yellow (Money Moves)” became the longest-running female rap No.1 in Billboard Hot 100’s extensive history, Cardi B tied The Beatles and Ashanti as the only musical acts to place their first three Hot 100 hits in the top 10 simultaneously.
The other two tracks that helped seal this accomplishment were the G-Eazy, A$AP Rocky and Cardi-assisted single, “No Limit” and the Migos, Nicki Minaj and Bardi-featured Culture 2 single, “MotorSport.”
Barack and Michelle Obama
Need I say more?
Kobe Bryant
People….Kobe Bryant won an Oscar.
You didn’t hear me….KOBE. BRYANT. WON. AN. OSCAR!!
The Black Mamba won an Oscar for his contributions to the animated short, “Dear Basketball.” It was at this very moment I knew life was fake. It’s so real that it’s unreal. From NBA champion to Oscar winner? What more could we ask for?
Sports
Athletes, especially basketball and football players, are the new rock stars as well. With multi-million dollar contracts and endorsements, increased notoriety via social media, higher degrees of fame and influence and the continual marriage of rap music and sports, athletes morphed the court and field to stage performances of theatrical proportions. From LeBron James, Stephen Curry and James Harden to Odell Beckham Jr. and Antonio Brown, athletes continue to build cultural capital.
There’s, even more, to add to the list, but the point has been made. What’s even more satisfying than such recent rich history is the fact that there is more to come. Opportunities for minorities to showcase their talents are still too few and far in between. But when those chances arise, we as a community must continue to show our support, and just as important, the power of the black dollar.
It’s safe to say the culture is extremely lit, but lit is not enough. It’s time to set the world ablaze.
Abdris, B.S. in Advertising – University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Ph.D. in Trolling is a SQL/BI developer, aspiring voiceover actor and living proof that the chicken indeed comes before the egg.
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