As someone who listens to hip-hop/rap, I agree. It's annoying seeing people put down the genres Sleep Token takes inspiration from. I mean I almost always expect it when a majority of the fandom is white women (no offense to white women) but it's even more annoying when it's clear that Sleep Token clearly love these genres and some fans just drag them in order to put ST on a pedestal.
For me personally (as in a black person speaking for myself and not from the community, we are not a monolith ect. ect.) I think what they do isn't problematic. It's the fans that lack nuance. In regards to the paint, black face isn't simply a white guy wearing black paint. It's about portraying a harmful stereotype to belittle black people. Ie. What Shane Dawson was doing years ago ((carefully if you look that up it is so bad man)) From what I can see, Vessel and band use paint to cover identifying scars or tattoos that give away who they are as well as it meshing with their cult persona. Blackface is about intent. Do I think the band is wearing black paint to make the crowd believe they are black? No. They don't speak so they aren't poking fun at common black vernacular. Vessel does raps, however I think discussing this would delve into the complex discussion of white rapper and their existence in the music space (FD Signafier has an excellent video about that btw. HIGHLY recommend) Vessel doesn't claim to be a part of any genre so his looks doesn't particularly strike me as someone trying to take advantage of the black identity for fame. To me at least. Until I see more evidence to prove otherwise, I see Sleep Token as a bunch of theater kids who love music as a whole. In a way, metal really was the only genre that would have accepted them given it's current were the most experimental stuff is happening in music.
But if other black people have an issue with it, I still think they are valid. I've been on the internet and seen so many white people make a fool of themselves that maybe I've grown numb to certain macroagressions of the years.
However I won't hesitate to remind someone that Sleep Token isn't better than the genres they take inspiration from and that people should educate themselves before making blanketed statements that are (let's be honest) low key racists.
romaincrisis
dededos
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turnnoffyourmind
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