Black Pussy, who released a new album Magic Mustache (Made In China Records) in February, has faced opposition and defaming due to the bands name involving protests over whether or not their name is offensive. The protests included a Change.org petition, show cancellations, and even personal threats against the band online. The band has released a statement addressing this:
WE GOT 99 PROBLEMS BUT A BAND NAME AIN’T ONE
– a statement from Black Pussy –Some people think our music is “awesome” but won’t wear our T-shirt in public.
Some people think our music “sucks” but that our amps are “cool.”
Some people “love our band” and come see every single show we play in their city.
The common denominator with all three statements is that everyone has a different opinion about our band. And what’s so great about that is no one is forced into having “this” opinion or “that.”
Miriam-Webster defines “double entendre” as ambiguity of meaning arising from language that lends itself to more than one interpretation. That is the meaning of our band name. That there isn’t a specific meaning. That’s why we love this band name. We love Black Pussy and we are never going to change our name.
People have expressed outrage at the supposed origins and intentions of the name. Our band name was chosen BEFORE our knowledge that the Rolling Stones song Brown Sugar had a working title of Black Pussy. But the ultimate decision to roll with the name was encouraged by what we found out.
Miriam-Webster defines “satire” as the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people’s stupidity or vices. At the time when Mick Jagger wrote Brown Sugar he was in an intense year long secret love affair with Marsha Hunt, a black actress and model. Both have cited her inspiration for the song. But that begs the question; why would a woman whom he is madly in love with inspire such scandalous lyrics about taboo subjects like slavery, interracial sex, cunnilingus, and less directly, sadomasochism, virginity, rape and heroin? Satire often professes to approve of (or at least accept as natural) the very things the writer wishes to attack. When looking at the lyrics through a satirical lens they begin to take on anti-rape and anti-slavery connotations. It’s doubtful that this was done consciously, but a spontaneous and uncensored approach to art is absolutely crucial for the dissemination of creativity, no matter who is offended.
(http://www.vulture.com/2015/04/brown-sugar-still-tastes-good.html)The lamest thing about all the click-bait articles and comment threads is…well, the stupidity. People espouse their opinions about the way these two words make them feel. At best they get information wrong. At worst they’re character assassinations. Communication is a vital tool of our continued free existence, and in no way should anyone censor discussion, least of all us, when people write ignorantly crass posts online. But it cannot be understated that elements of our digital culture are incredibly knee-jerk and weak minded. There are no medals to give the person with the most hurt feelings.
If you’re upset by the band name we think there are far better outlets for your time and energy . Both of those are extremely valuable commodities, time and energy, and we wish to maximize the way in which we spend them. We encourage you to do the same. Complaining about our name and calling for a boycott of us and the venues that book us are all well and fine, but it’s not going to hurt us. Rather, and ironically, all of this attention emboldens the band’s momentum and exposes more people to our music. Mike Patton once said, “Bad press is the best press.”
Throughout all of this our message has been pretty consistent; FUN. Have fun. Make love. Feel good about life. Fight things that take away your personal freedoms. Be positive. Fuck the people who try to put you down.
We love our fans. Let us say that again. We love our fans. Without them we would be singing into the void. We work our asses off year round to bring our music across the country and it is both a challenging and joyful experience. We accept all responsibility for the repercussions that our name brings. Ultimately, the music is what should be scrutinized rather than the clothes we wear or the name we chose. But whatever. Trolls are gonna troll, complainers are going to complain and people who get it are going to keep on getting it. And to those who get it we say…Viva la Pussy!
Love,
Black Pussy
Dustin Hill – Ryan McIntire – Dean Carroll – Aaron Poplin – Keith O’Dell
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