Goblin Magazine: You've dedicated yourself to enlightening minds. Do you think people often just get off your rock star presence and ignore the message?
Angelo Moore: I don't care as long as I get a chance to express myself. If it goes over their heads then at least they're hearing it. A lot of times I feel as if I'm yelling into a vast void but I just can't keep my mouth shut. The more I talk the more people will finely listen. I'm not a highly political person. If you asked me about politics I'd probably just skim the surface ... I just want people to be aware of the reality of their surroundings. I tell people what I've seen in South Central LA. and on tour and the racism I've experienced. Some can relate what I wrote to their lives but others are too far away from it. Different people have different realities.
Angelo then went into a poem called "My Favorite Nigger" about racist southerners he encountered in Honolulu. They were physically intimidating but the ringleader was a Fishbone fan. Angelo had to use his status as an "entertainment nigger" to fast talk his way out of a race beating. He finely succeeded with the southerner concluding, "I really love your band and your music is fine, and remember Nigger, you're my favorite one." Moore let out a fart in the wind blowing their way, with the hope that "Cave-man klan-asses" will finely see the light. "I know there are a lot of people who can relate to that," he says.
GM: Do have much fascination with pornographic culture or consider yourself a sexual radical?
AM: No, I'm a musical radical. But I do have a chapter in my book called "ho's and bitches." Dr. Madd Vibe recommends you arm yourself with a phrophylactic coat of consciousness. It's my pornographic chapter. It's a part of my reality and I have to address it. I like to go to the titty bar, get myself some drinks and watch how rich they be gettin' while they're swinging their titties. I went to this tiity bar in Hawaii with two friends. These girls were so fine but you could tell they were professional women. I thought damn, I wish I could make all that money just like that. The dudes were throwing their money at them. "Take it all, just take it, take it." The power of women. I was amazed so I thought I'd write a poem about how my friends gave away all their money at the titty bar. I've gotten a lot of crap from women about my R rated stuff. But the bottom line is I love women. No one would be here if it wasn't for motherhood.
GM: How do you feel about the GOP taking control in congress and threatening to destroy what good is left in this country?
AM: I don't follow politics much, it doesn't make me happy. There isn't anyone for me to vote for. From Republicans I get a deep fear feeling. One way to get real democracy is peace and love. If you love your brother and sister you can start restoring democracy. It would be 'more even' if people didn't discount others opinions because of their colors or credentials. When it comes to republicans and democracy it's bullshit! I rarely use the word democracy. I never knew what democracy meant until my ex-guitar player explained it means when people on an equal plane decide things by voting. As far as I'm concerned all of the US government is a lot of red tape and prejudice. But I hardly write about it.
GM: With all the unenlightened people in the world, do you think democracy would work if we had a 100% voter turnout?
AM: People aren't enlightened about what democracy really is, and that's being fair and equal, because of what the media puts out to the listening public. I might be getting off the question but when I watch MTV and listen to the radio it's all segregated. America's supposedly the melting pot where everything's put together, right? When I see majority white acts playing rock and the majority of black acts doing Hip Hop and R&B. So a kid will have his ideas of who should be playing what segregated in his mind.. If music was more unified I guess you could say it was more democratic. It puts people in a black and white state of mind.
GM: Violence between blacks and whites in Oakland has gotten so bad they've abandoned bussing altogether. Is it possible that hatred between blacks and whites is so deep rooted that de-segregation is doomed to fail?
AM: I lived in Woodland Hills, an all white school where they would bus kids in from LA. I never know the difference because I always went to a white school. First I hung out with the white kids, then when I hung out with the black kids they called me an oreo. They didn't expect me to be talking like a white boy. I was safe in the valley and never got to experience my Black culture until I graduated high school. Then I got hip to it in a hurry.
GM:Will you ever get more involved in politics?
AM: My politics is right here, right now. Enlightening minds to underground music like ska and reggae. Though when money gets involved underground music has it's downfalls. There's always going to be upper-class kids looking for the "forbidden music" and they'll pay a lot of money for some of that poison. In the House Of Blues in Hollywood they've imported a lot of stuff from New Orleans. In New Orleans they've got a lot of scuzz bucket clubs with cobwebs in the corner, that was all built on Robert Johnson's Cotton Gin in Shiloh. They shipped it all in from Mississippi, even the dirt, and put it all on Sunset, one of the richest neighborhoods in LA. And they had good intentions. I appreciate the cultural history, but when I look at the rich clientele and how much they paid to get in there ... I don't think they understand this history and they probably think it's something new like Disneyland. I just appreciate it because I know the roots, and my family's from the south originally so I've got a lot of blues and jazz in my blood.
GM: Do you think it's possible that Black politicians could harness the energy and frustration that caused the LA. riots and use it to make a positive social change in the Black community?
AM: Yes, because if they stop ignoring the communities in LA. that are poverty stricken and neglected they won't have a riot.
Instead they'll have people reaching out asking for help. They have to stop taking Beverly Hills garbage and dumping it in Watts or Compton. Whites are scared to go over there because it's dirty, people are shooting each other and selling crack. Of coarse they're selling crack because nobody's over there helping them getting jobs or support. The riots show that the power is definitely there. For awhile the police were less prone to mess with people on the streets because of the riots. I wasn't even there and I felt it when it happened. Check this out, this a Fishbone song Walt wrote, called riot:
(He takes out his mouth harp and blows into it between verses): When you ain't got shit/ makes you want to loot shit/ and you're fed up/ damn sure gonna shoot some shit/ listen to the government, they don't know what to tell you/ listen to the white man, the governments failing us/ Riot Riot/ yeah we burned your store up/ and at this point we don't give a fuck/ what the hell you expect anyway?/ treat your customer crazy, they gonna act crazy/ look at your shit smolder/ Riot/ Can't we just get along?
Or read a Goblin Magazine exclusive poem, Get Out Of The City