Should musicians go to N Korea and similar places?

[BlodwynPig]

HELLO GABON


I MEAN GUINEA BISSAU

Gabon is completely different part of Africa.

Perhaps HELLO GUINEA, I MEAN GUINEA BISSAU

[momatt]

It's okay, you don't need to worry - CaB is almost certainly blocked in North Korea and mainland China.

Damn.  I'd better post her some more dead animals to compensate.

[Paul Calf]

Say what you like about her, but 'Black Horse And The Cherry Tree', '9 Million Bicycles' and 'I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker' are all tunes.

I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker makes me want to self-harm.

[idunnosomename]

Gabon is completely different part of Africa.

Perhaps HELLO GUINEA, I MEAN GUINEA BISSAU

it's just how the dates worked out ok. not ideal

(actually to be honest I think I was thinking of The Gambia

edit no fuck it was Equatorial Guinea)

ALL THIS PROVES MY POINT WHITE PEOPLE KNOW NOTHING ABOUT AFRICA

[momatt]

ALL THIS PROVES MY POINT WHITE PEOPLE KNOW NOTHING ABOUT AFRICA

Plenty of other races don't either.

In the film Belly, Nas is constantly going on about how he wants to leave America and go live in 'Africa'.  But only ever says 'Africa'.  Never mentions which part, country or town.
Which I find very funny.

Genuine movie quote:
'Just going to go live in Africa lads.'
'Oh cool, which bit Nas?'
'Wait, what?'

[Phil_A]

I remember her doing a very awkward interview on Radio 1 back in the day where she was almost incoherent, just giving long rambling answers to all the questions without making  any sense. I wouldn't be at all surprised if she was a massive cokehead.

[nw83]

I'm amazed anyone in N Korea would have a clue who Joss Stone was. By 'perform' does she mean she did a few numbers at a karaoke night?

You're right, I recognise the place from the photos, it's a restaurant where most tourists have Korean hot pot while a traditional band perform some songs on stage. After the meal and the band have cleared off, drunken tourists usually ask if they can have a go on the instruments and then play an unexpected or semi-daring song, so they have an anecdote to tell their friends back home. (So technically I've performed in North Korea.)

[honeychile]

To answer the question earnestly (you fucking keener), i was actually thinking something similar the other night about BDS and Israel and apartheid South Africa and stuff. My instinct is that in principle art is a bit like diplomacy, it should - or at least can - be an opportunity to open up dialogue across borders and culture and whatnot. But the problem is (and this seems to be where a significant chunk of BDS rationale comes up) that it's easily co-opted as an example of free speech/artistic expression etc. and just bolsters the legitimacy of the host government rather than actually challenging it. That's an easy (and quite persuasive) argument regarding a lot of fairly anodyne and unchallenging touring artists, but i'm not sure it holds as true with more confrontational stuff - would Roger Waters make more difference with palestinian flags hanging above his stage in Tel-Aviv than not going at all? But when i look at the where the calls for boycott came from in both South Africa and Israel - these seem to be boycotts with widespread working-class support among their affected population. So they know what daily life is like better than anyone and probably have a clearer idea of the way out than my distant ramblings can offer.

It's just that you can find a reason to boycott almost any country, and governments like Britain and the US not only support tyranny and violence and human rights abuses across the world, but even in the cases of the south african and israeli societies we were/are supposed to be boycotting! So why not boycott them too?

I think if i were a touring artist/sportsperson etc. i'd think of it as - would i feel happy (unnecessary CO2 emissions aside) holidaying for leisure in the country in question? Turkey, China, Israel, Indonesia, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Tanzania, or indeed North Korea, no not really. And yet i can't say i honestly feel like that about the US, even right now with the cuprinol man in charge, leading humanity headlong towards extinction. Cultural bias/prejudice/familiarity playing its part? The comparatively free levels of speech legally tolerated in the US compared to the others feeding the delusion that the expression of that free speech is making any kind of difference? Just plain old hypocrisy?

[thraxx]

I personally have no problem with Joss Stone going to North Korea.  It's when she comes back that gets on my tits.

[ToneLa]

Wasn't sure whether to put this in Oscillations or here, but the debate isn't really about music. Joss Stone, who wants to perform in every country in the world, has performed at a bar in North Korea. Her Instagram shows some of the places in North Korea she has been to.

Is her performance in North Korea and the documentation of the places she visits unethical or should music be separated from politics?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-47556969

AND WHAT DID YOU VOTE FOR MAMBO YES OR NO YES OR NO??!

[Bazooka]

It's okay, you don't need to worry - CaB is almost certainly blocked in North Korea and mainland China.

Actually CaB is a site  I a can access without a VPN here. But the government are probably tracking me and  will bombard it with trojan bastards and it will be deleted forever, sorry Neil.

[Fambo Number Mive]

AND WHAT DID YOU VOTE FOR MAMBO YES OR NO YES OR NO??!

I would say no, given that what Jess Stone will see of North Korea (and what she will have posted on Instagram) is what the government want her to see. She won't meet any ordinary people.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Pretty patronising to go there thinking "I'm putting some joy back in their sad repressed lives with my great music and performance"

The Arirang games should come over to the UK to show our Royals and their flag waving sycophants a thing or two about pageantry.

[Sebastian Cobb]

UPDATE: Stone claims she's being deported from Iran.
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/jul/04/iran-deports-joss-stone-over-show-suspicions?CMP=twt_gu&utm_medium=&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1562228619

Singer says authorities did not believe she would not be playing a public show

I initially misread it as 'authorities did not believe she would be playing a public show'.