Uploaded by ramsdenrik on Dec 15, 2008
As Seen On: Maybe it's just me...
Rare - Patti Labelle sings You'll never Walk Alone at motown returns to the apollo, Digitally Enhanced for High Quality
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Edited by Azizi Powell
This is Part II of a three part series on using African American English on purpose in YouTube videos viewer comment threads.
This post showcases a video of Patti Labelle and choir performing a gospelized version of "You'll Never Walk Alone". This post also features selected viewer comments from that video's viewer comment thread that I believe are examples of "puttin on the Black".((African American vernacular).
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/03/puttin-on-black-online-black-talk-code.html for Part 1 of this series. That post presents my definition of "puttin on the Black" (purposely using African American vernacular words, phrases, and sayings).
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/03/puttin-on-black-side-eye-videos.html for Part III of this series. That post focuses on the use of examples of "puttin on the Black" (African American vernacular) in the comment threads of two videos about the Black originated body gesture "side eye" ("cut eyes"). .
The content of this post is presented for historical, religious, cultural, and aesthetic purposes.
Thanks to Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II,the composers of "You'll Never Walk Alone" for their 1945 musical Carousel. Thanks to Patti Labelle for her rendition of this song and for her musical legacy. Thanks to Billy Preston, pianist, and thanks to the other musicians and singers who are featured in this video. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publisher of this video on YouTube.
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Disclaimer: I'm not a linguist. I'm an African American who is interested in the use of African American Vernacular English. Comments about this topic from linguists and others are very welcome.
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WHAT IS "PUTTIN ON THE BLACK"?
"Puttin on the Black" is a term that I coined for the conscious use of African American vernacular in certain settings. My definition of "puttin on the Black" is "to purposely use African American vernacular to signal to others (including other Black people who may be present) that you are Black, and/or to show off your Blackness". I'm particularly interested in the use of Black vernacular by bloggers & person who add comments to YouTube video comment threads. I believe that using Black vernacular is one way that people online can signal that they are Black without directly identifying themselves using a racial referent.
"Puttin on the Black" is the conscious, often prideful, and usually fun use of Black vernacular. That usage is in stark contrast with the act of purposely hiding one's identification as an African American culture by consciously refraining from using any Black slang, Black sayings, or Black grammatical constructs, unless that African American originated vernacular has been widely accepted by the mainstream American culture.
It should also be noted that many African Americans, some other Black people, and some non-Black people use African American vernacular as part of their natural, everyday verbal and non-verbal communication and not for the purposes that I suggested above.
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SELECTED VIEWER COMMENTS
Warning: Some comments on this YouTube viewer comment thread contain profanity and therefore may be inappropriate for children. If any of these comments are included in this compilation, they are given with amended spelling.
From http://www.youtube.com/all_comments?v=Wh4A0OATN9g
2010
"cant nobody do it like Ms Patti you betta sang mama!"
-broncofangj
Editor: Notice the run-on sentence and relative lack of capitalization. This is representative of a lot of text messaging and internet blogging where speed is much more highly valued than punctuation or other grammatical rules.
"Sang" here means "sing very well". It is not the past tense of "sing".
I noticed a number of bloggers on that particular viewer comment thread and other Patti Labelle videos used a title with Patti Labelle's first name (such as Miss Patti, Ms Patti, and Mama Patti). This custom isn't necessarily an example of "puttin on the Black". Instead, I think it's an example of everyday African American English where a title is used to address an elder and/or show respect for the person who is so referred.
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2011
"LOL cut up girl!"
-misscinderella
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"WANTED,The POLICE,FBI CIA. and INTERPOOL, are all looking for patty,she is a bad.baddd girl,OMG WOOO"
-guiana1000
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"Does anyone else realize that Patti's voice is more powerful than the choir and Mavis Staples, Al Green and Little Richard combined!!!!!! Woooooow!!
Take us to church Miss Patti."
-cosmicurious522
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Ms. Patti singing...Billy Preston on the piano....YAAASSSS!
-scampbell04
{Note that "YAAASSSS!" isn't a typo. It's a purposely variant spelling for "Yes". The additional letters mean that the word when pronounced is elongated, and the word's meaning is intensified).
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"SANG IT
LET THE LORD USE YA!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
-kwilcox1126
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"This is whats called Sangin !"
-163jnard
2012
..."Gone are the true singers that use to rivals anything but a God Given Talent, and today we are left with Striptease and Pole dancers. Back then i knew couldn't make it in show business because as much as I knew i could sing. I knew i couldn't "SANGGGGG". Anybody can be a star today...just bring your Auto-tune and you're good to go!!!!"
-EyeLook2U
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"@EyeLook2U u know u tellin' the truth; i don't think we'll ever see a performance of this magnitude from any performer in this life time. loooooooves me some patti."
-stillwill2215
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"JEEEEEEEEZAS!!!!
PRAYZZZZZ DA LAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWRD!"
-jespitos
["Jesus, Praise the Lord!"]
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"I am 40 years old and I saw this the day that it aired.....this is one of my favorite performances by Patti Labelle....and it still has the same affect that it had on me so many years ago....I love u Patti...u r one of the last real singers left....this is when choirs really sang like this....I give a big shout out to Tucker Baptist Church back in the day....you know that u did your thing!
-TheCameronmama
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Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Viewer comments are welcome.
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