Chuck D: ‘If A Community Cannot Supports Arts, Then Arts Cannot Support The Community’
During this weekend's Record Store Day, Chuck D visited Grimey's in Nashville and spoke about the importance of the arts and local community. (Video below.)
"If the community cannot supports the arts, then the arts cannot support the community. When it comes down to radio stations and stores like what Grimey's has done, it's all about community…"
"Forget about all this nationalism as far as music and corporations and conglomerates are concerned because it's got to start from home. We want an artist to be able to make a living in their own state area." (transcription via Billboard)
Video of Chuck D at Grimey's:
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I agree..Community that doesn’t support art doesn’t deserve to have art..
Chuck D is, of course, correct…BUT if you only focus on local then you’re not going to be able to grow outside of your area. And it’s happened many times that a band finds that they have more potential fans outside of their home region. But you’re never going to find that out if you don’t promote yourself beyond your home turf.
I live in NYC and I’m a big fan of comics, games, and music. In the past five years all three having taken a major hit. There are only a quarter of the shops open now than there once was. The ones that are in operation are struggling and may have survived because they took on the customer base of the ones that closed. So here is one of the largest cities in the world and it’s very large and diverse community can’t seem to keep these businesses alive. Honestly, I will miss these shops, but the reality is the world has changed. Yes, I’ve had good memories visting and hanging out at these places, but in the end they all were there to sell us something because they were or are a business. Their customers needed to go there to get what they wanted and couldn’t get it anywhere else. The socializing and feeling of participation were just bonuses (or tactics by the stores to help foster their business). We now live in a day and age that we can get what we pay for easier and cheaper elsewhere (sometimes for free even), so of course people are going to go that route. Remember, everyone is always trying to get ahead and consider themselves #1 which enforces why we only do something unless we NEED to (unless it’s no skin off our own backs).
Free album download at http://www.facebook.com/chancius
The problem though in many cases is that you can travel everywhere and get support but find less at home and that’s what I believe he’s addressing. One of the reasons artists are making strides to leave their home states for overseas gigs is because the lack of local support. It really depends on what you’re doing and what catches on at the end of the day.