Prominent cities where Black Culture has evolved into its distinct, unique culture.

[kool maudit]

Maestro but also Sir Scratch and K-Cut, who were part of Main Source with NYC's Large Professor, and DJ Ron Nelson (shouted out on BDP's Criminal Minded, and a big promoter of early TO acts like Michie Mee and Dream Warriors).

That late 80s NYC connection was a big deal for Toronto. Canada would have had to wait for the Tupac era to get Rap City on Muchmusic were it not for some of these guys working hard back then.

(side note: Maestro at the Rebecca Cohn in Halifax was the first show I ever saw live!)

[RobEss]

For all the poor press and representation, deserved or not, Baltimore is a majority-Black city with a really vibrant history and culture.

It has been a musical and cultural powerhouse for some time, from being the home of Cab Calloway and Billie Holiday to giving birth to the distinct Baltimore Club sound and acts like Rye Rye and JPEGMafia. Authors and scholars such as W.E.B. Du Bois and Ta-Nehisi Coates have also called the city home, and media figures including Oprah Winfrey and Lance Reddick also have roots in town.

Baltimore is home to two HBCU's, Coppin and Morgan State Universities. The NAACP is currently headquartered in the city and has been since 1986.

[kool maudit]

Originally Posted by RobEss

The NAACP is currently headquartered in the city and has been since 1986.

That's interesting I didn't know that.

[Pedestrian]

Kanye is now worth $6.6 BILLION making him the richest black person in U.S. history

So wherever he lives is unique.

[Pedestrian]

Originally Posted by RobEss

For all the poor press and representation, deserved or not, Baltimore is a majority-Black city with a really vibrant history and culture.

Do you know what an "arabber" (aka "street Arab") is?

When I was growing up they were still common (I lived in the DC suburbs but my dad did a lot of business in Baltimore and we went there for dinner and other things all the time, then I went to school there).

[JManc]

Originally Posted by Pedestrian

Kanye is now worth $6.6 BILLION making him the richest black person in U.S. history

So wherever he lives is unique.

He's the Elon Musk of pop culture. Kanye may have some mental issues (like Elon) but he's brilliant in marketing himself.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by JManc

He's the Elon Musk of pop culture. Kanye may have some mental issues (like Elon) but he's brilliant in marketing himself.

Yes, exactly.

[dc_denizen]

PG county Maryland

[badrunner]

There's a Little Ethiopia in LA just south of Miracle Mile. It's just a little strip of restaurants. I haven't tried Ethiopian food yet but it looks really good.

https://goo.gl/maps/CYNX6dbYT2rmCELF6




wiki

[Pedestrian]

Originally Posted by badrunner

I haven't tried Ethiopian food yet but it looks really good.

Vegetarian combo

https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/tadu...B0c5O323XPzfMA

[badrunner]

Originally Posted by pj3000

It seemed so put on to me... like “this is Hollywood trying to make us believe these dudes are so hard... yet it’s 75 and sunny and they’re drinking 40oz on the front porches of their houses that have palm trees in the front yard”.

I always referred to it as “suburb rap”

Or they were just playing up that old Hollywood trope of "trouble in paradise." The movie playing in your mind probably starts with an idyllic sun-soaked scene of palm trees and pink houses, before delving into the hard realities of gritty, urban life in the ghetto. It's all about that visual, textural contrast in narrative, setting up the tension, and tragedy, of a paradise lost. It's a little more accessible than that unrelenting monochromatic grit and decay, and it's what helped mainstream hiphop in the 90s.

[SIGSEGV]

Originally Posted by badrunner

I haven't tried Ethiopian food yet but it looks really good.

You're missing out. I wish I didn't have to trek all the way to Uptown or Edgewater to get some good Ethiopian food. Someone who's not me probably knows why all the Ethiopian restaurants in Chicago are there...

[Pedestrian]

Originally Posted by SIGSEGV

I wish I didn't have to trek all the way to Uptown or Edgewater to get some good Ethiopian food.

I feel for you. I don't have to trek far at all (X marks my spot):


https://www.yelp.com/search?find_des...sco%2C+CA&ns=1

[badrunner]

Originally Posted by SIGSEGV

You're missing out. I wish I didn't have to trek all the way to Uptown or Edgewater to get some good Ethiopian food. Someone who's not me probably knows why all the Ethiopian restaurants in Chicago are there...

I just haven't gotten around to it yet. I'll have to bump it up the list because that picture is making my mouth water. But there are so many great ethnic food options here you could spend many lifetimes and sample only a fraction of it. I'm the type of guy that likes to go through the entire menu if I really like a restaurant so it takes me some time .

[xzmattzx]

I don't know if the Bahamas was mentioned yet, but Bahamian culture is Black culture there. The country is 95% Black, so they are pretty synonymous.

The unique characteristics of Nassau and the Bahamas begin with the music. Bahamian music is rake-and-scrape and junkanoo. These are distinct from Caribbean music like reggae. Rake-and-scrape and junkanoo are high tempo, upbeat music that is typically good for dancing. That dancing leads into the Junkanoo Festival that takes place after Christmas, when slaves had a week off between Christmas and New Years.

Sidenote trivia: Did you know that KC and the Sunshine Band's roots are in Bahamian music? They are from Miami, maybe 100 miles from Nassau, and their original name was KC and the Sunshine Junkanoo Band.

[edale]

Originally Posted by pj3000

Yet, it sucks that no one really knows the very deep and rich black history of Pittsburgh... and much of that is due to the fact that city "leaders" plowed much of the neighborhood down by the 1960s. Tragic.

Very interesting post. Thanks for sharing the info.

So many cities around the country demolished their prominent black neighborhoods. Cincinnati's version of the Hill District was the West End, which was largely destroyed in the 50s by the construction of I-75 and urban renewal projects that resulted in public housing and light industrial/office parks. It was home to a substantial Black community as early as the 1830s, and steadily grew as the heart of Black life in the city. By the 1930s, 70% of black Cincinnatians lived in the West End. It was dense and had a thriving black business district. The demolition of the West End dispersed the black community throughout the city.








and now...

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Ci...!4d-84.5120196

[SIGSEGV]

Originally Posted by edale

Very interesting post. Thanks for sharing the info.

So many cities around the country demolished their prominent black neighborhoods. Cincinnati's version of the Hill District was the West End, which was largely destroyed in the 50s by the construction of I-75 and urban renewal projects that resulted in public housing and light industrial/office parks. It was home to a substantial Black community as early as the 1830s, and steadily grew as the heart of Black life in the city. By the 1930s, 70% of black Cincinnatians lived in the West End. It was dense and had a thriving black business district. The demolition of the West End dispersed the black community throughout the city.








and now...

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Ci...!4d-84.5120196

sigh. "Mission Accomplished," I'm sure.

(we won't talk about what happened to 63rd and Halsted in Chicago).

[Centropolis]

trigger warning: demolished midwestern urbanity

cincinnati is really the jewel of the midwest with regards to its built form

[jtown,man]

Originally Posted by bilbao58

In terms of African diaspora culture, and Nigerian specifically, you might want to keep an eye on Texas, as well. Yeah, I know, the same Texas that everyone thinks is nothing but racist rednecks in pickup trucks. There are more Nigerian immigrants in Texas than in all of Canada. There are twice as many as in New York State. Houston is second only to New York City in number of Nigerian immigrants within the city proper.

And people wonder why I prefer living in Houston to San Antonio.

Imagine if I stated that Houston has more Swedish immigrants than any other American city, "and people wonder why I prefer Houston to San Antonio."

[Segun]

Memphis has deep roots, but doesn't get enough credit in current day Hip Hop for the roots of Trap music, with 3-6 Mafia and they're 120 BPM tempo and choppy flow. You can place their old verses over modern day Trap and it would fit right in. Heck, Atlanta stole crunk from Memphis.

Also, Cleveland is another giant in Soul music, and Bone Thugs N Harmony doesn't get their due for influencing the rapid-fire sing song delivery that many newer MC's are using.

St. Louis is another city I haven't seen mentioned yet, having it's own Blues and being a pioneer of Rock-N-Roll

Note: I'm not leaving out any cities on purpose. This isn't so much a thread concerning history per se, I'm thinking more along the lines of places that attract Black wealth and nationwide prominence, the Black version of measuring the strength of a places cultural brand. It's all subjective. I might re-consider putting Detroit on that list, and swapping it with Miami.