The experimental songwriter, producer and creative persona puts his own spin on Gil Scott Heron's iconic and culturally relevant spoken word poem.
(LOS ANGELES, CA) - 7.22.2021 - Beard Bates releases a new music video and interpretive cover of Gil Scott Heron’s 1970 spoken word poem “Whitey On The Moon”. Brought to life in his creative and infectious style of alt hip-hop, the clip is a social commentary that aligns with those on social media expressing disappointment in what millions consider to be a pointless space race. He understands more than ever the frustration of society as they watch the elite compete amongst themselves, while the world faces a pandemic, economic uncertainty and more. Heron’s poem is extremely relevant and Bates hopes to bring more attention to its timely message.
“Whitey On The Moon” premiered this week via Popwrapped and was directed by Beard Bates. The song, along with other singles like "Bovine Divine" marks an evolution from his past sound of experimental rock, indie and folk mixed with electronic undertones, venturing into alt-hip-hop territories with a twist. This version of the song is done with distorted beat, with a raw and rustic hip-hop drawl, and Bates reaffirms that again history repeats itself. The single will also be available on streaming services this Friday (7.23) and he speaks more on the video and single below.
“The year was 1970, and in the wake of the Apollo Moon landings Gil Scott-Heron, African-American soul and jazz poet, released "Whitey on The Moon," the ninth track of his debut album "Small Talk at 125th and Lenox." The song tells of medical debt, high taxes and poverty experienced by the urban public during the Apollo Moon landings. The poem critiques the resources spent on the space program while Black Americans were experiencing marginalization. While white men were dancing on the moon, Scott-Heron felt his own community was being neglected yet taxed in order to support the "Whiteys" on the moon.”
“Fast forward to the modern day and we have a Billionaire space race underway. Elon Musk launches his Tesla into orbit, seeks to colonize Mars, and is filling the atmosphere with Starlink satellites. Not to be outdone, on July 11 2021, Sir Richard Branson blasts himself into space, beating Jeff Bezos, who today, upon the anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, followed suit by phallically rocketing himself beyond the stratosphere. The world is forced to watch the Elite joust, invite their friends, and offer $400,000 tickets to Angelina Jolie and Ashton Kutcher for private flights. There's something decadent and revolting about the whole enterprise and I’m joining the millions out there to poke fun at it.” - Beard Bates
Beard Bates is based in Los Angeles, and in addition to his creative work is also a successful mastering engineer for other artist releases. Bates has had critical praise for his past releases, including features via Groundsounds, Glide Magazine, Mystic Sons, Popwrapped, Buzzbands LA and more. Watch “Whitey On The Moon” via Youtube and learn more at http://www.beardbates.com/
About Beard Bates:
Beard Bates returns after 2018’s album “The World Is Blown,” and 2019’s “The Illuminated Hermeticum of Mr. Bates” which featured many singles and videos and garnered much press and acclaim. Forever an eclectic, abstract, risk-taking and unpredictable artist, Bates now goes further off a new deep end by spawning a rhythmic and surreal landscape that is certainly all his own. “The Illuminated Hermeticum of Mr. Bates” features elements of hip-hop, funk, EDM, ambient and psychedelic rock that all blend into an at times disorienting and otherworldly dreamscape of weirdness. Inhabiting different characters; rebelliously playing rough with genres, delivery, sound and song structure; lyrically delving into what appears to be specifics of Bates’ unique fantastical worldview and apparent imaginative philosophy ...all of this encompasses this wacky, wet and wild direction for Mr Bates.
Media Contact:
Bradley Public Relations & Marketing