Blood Beats: vol 2

Ernest Hardy
Redbone Press

In a world of cookie cutter "entertainment reporting," we need more critics like Ernest Hardy. This collection of his work, much of which originally appeared in L.A. Weekly, is smart, well-informed (mostly covering the pop music beat, he's an astounding encyclopedia of music,) written with a driving clarity, and always grounded in the understanding that pop culture matters precisely because of its triviality. Hardy goes beyond bullet points to unpack the messages about race, class, gender and sexuality that are bound up in the latest prepackaged pop princess, and swallowed unthinkingly by American audiences. In "Fear of a Black Titty," for instance, he analyzes the overreaction to Janet Jackson's accidental nipple-flash at the 2004 Super Bowl, challenging racism while remaining compulsively readable with phrases like "Britney's career is a Chlorox remix of Janet's." In his "Downloads" series, Hardy blends ruminations on ethnic fetishization and exploitation with fascinating reporting as he investigates Latino gay porn, interviewing producers and performers who he is unfailingly respectful of, even as he ruthlessly strips away pretense to question the power dynamics of brown porn made for white audiences. But in many ways it's Hardy's interviews with musicians that are the most remarkable part of the book; he gets them to open up, maybe because he speaks their language, and reveal themselves and the music business with remarkable candor.