You Can't Support Art And Apartheid at The Same Time
After years of unconditional support for Israel, Raleigh-based Congresswoman Deborah Ross introduces a new bill on behalf of musicians, and asks for our help with promo. PLUS: More "Neighbors" Q&As, and links you might've missed.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Bit of an off-topic (but not really) political rant this week. We'll be back to regularly scheduled SE programming—music, clothing, videos, etc.—very soon, I promise.
Early last week, we received a message the likes of which we don't get every day here at Super Empty. It was a staffer from the office of U.S. Representative Deborah Ross (NC-02), sharing information about a bill—the Protect Working Musicians Act—that Rep. Ross would be introducing a few days later. With human-trained, AI-produced music on the rise and artist payouts as low as $0.003 per stream, indie artists need more than ever the collective bargaining that this common-sense legislation would provide. Would Super Empty help spread the word?
As a general rule, I'm skeptical of anything a politician is selling (or in this case, asking me to help sell), no matter how nice the message sounds, and the particular messenger in this case didn't help. Yes, Rep. Ross—who has represented most of Wake County in the U.S. House since 2021—is commendable in many respects. She's been a sharp and impassioned voice in congressional hearings about ICE and Jeffrey Epstein, and in questionings of MAGA degenerate lackeys like Kristi Noem, Pam Bondi, RFK Jr., and more. But like many of her colleagues, she has consistently failed the basic moral litmus test of our time: whether, in the face of a U.S. ally committing unspeakable crimes upon an oppressed, subjugated population of millions, one is willing to take a stand and say, "No More."
Instead, as the bodies of tens of thousands of innocents have piled up and Gaza has been reduced to rubble; as organizations ranging from Amnesty International to the International Criminal Court to the North Carolina Democratic Party have issued condemnations, embargoes, and arrest warrants, Ross's support for Israel has barely wavered. Even her two actions from last year that could read as moderation—a letter to Trump requesting a "surge in humanitarian assistance" to Gaza, and her quiet commitment in the fall to no longer accept AIPAC campaign donations—hardly signal an ebb in loyalty to the U.S.-Israel status quo. Neither was accompanied by any condemnation or demands of Israel, and in the almost 12 months since, I'm not aware of a single press release or social media post demonstrating a shift in position—even in the face of continued illegal settler expansion and dispossession in the West Bank, the recent displacement of more than a million people in Lebanon, and reports just last week of widespread sexual violence towards Palestinians in Israeli prisons.
In this time of crescendoing crises, it seems we are being asked more and more to reckon with our individual notions of idealism and pragmatism, of principle and practicality. Of who we accept as allies and collaborators, and who we denounce and forge ahead without. Of what the "right" way is to build the world we want to see. For many, that answer in an instance like this one is clear: all other disagreements aside, accept (and even applaud) the help of someone seeking to make the lives of independent artists better.
On its face, that makes sense. Yet when someone who has for years repeatedly pledged their support for Israel—one of the most unashamedly propagandist, dishonest regimes in the world—wants to promote art, it also makes sense to ask what their conception of "art" even is. Surely not the vehicle for speaking truths, even crudely or controversially, that many working artists believe it to be. More likely a kind of art confined within friendly, polite guardrails—still a form of expression, but one rendered sterile, individualized, non-threatening to power. When the congresswoman reaches out to the community about promoting artists and art, this is what I think she has in mind.
I think this especially because of H.R. 6090, a congressional bill deceptively called the Antisemitism Awareness Act, which in 2024 proposed to expand the federal definition of antisemitism to include certain criticisms of Israel—making phrases like "Free Palestine" punishable hate speech by law. The bill drew widespread critique, including from Ross's former employer, the ACLU, who called it a "direct attack on the First Amendment," but she voted for it anyway. (Having accepted $227,734 in pro-Israel PAC donations to that point, it's little mystery as to why.) In state houses around the country, including in North Carolina, similar legislation passed with flying colors, despite continued outcry about its potential to infringe upon academic and artistic freedom. After dying in the Senate, H.R. 6090 failed to become federal law—but not for Rep. Ross's lack of trying.
The core of the Protect Working Musicians Act of 2026 lies in antitrust law—basically giving indie musicians similar exemptions that entities like the MLB and NFL already receive, allowing them to collectively take part in what would otherwise be considered price fixing or illegal cartel behavior. To give you my amateur legal opinion about it as a tool against the streaming giants, sure, it seems better than nothing. But like much of modern Democratic legislative activity, the concern is not that a given initiative is objectively bad, it's that piecemeal attempts at justice will ultimately never work from people who aren't committed to justice all the way.
Maybe the PWMA will find a groundswell of support and actually get a floor vote. Maybe it'll become law, and make a positive difference in the lives of musicians. (Though if a similar bill introduced by Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) for the past two years—the Living Wage for Musicians Act—is any indication, the outlook isn't good. According to GovTrack, it has just a 1% chance of enactment.) What I am confident about is that for a number of NC musicians, it would be more appreciated if Rep. Ross used her considerable platform, and her legislative time, to take action against the apartheid state we continue to collaborate with and fund with US taxpayer dollars (including $500+ million she just voted for last December), even as it kills more children, healthcare workers, and journalists than any country in the developed world.
Or at the very least, doesn't attempt to muzzle them when they—as artists tend to do—speak out about it themselves.
LOVE THY (NORTH CAROLINA) NEIGHBORS 🏡
No plans over here to make the entirety of SE Issue 1 available online, but for the purposes of teasing the goodness to be found within its pages, I decided this week to upload all the entries from the magazine's friendliest section—Neighbors—to our blog/site. Even in between issues, I hope to continue the series with faces from around the state that readers and hip-hop/creative community members should know or already do, like our most recent direct-to-online installment with Charlotte director/DP Wyeth Collins. Know someone who fits the bill? The inbox is open for nominations and suggestions.
Ryan Cocca
Ryan Cocca
Ryan Cocca
Ryan Cocca
🌐 ALSO THIS WEEK(ISH)
- The SE Calendar is updated and better than ever... now with blurbs! (For select entries.) Peruse the 20+ upcoming events, add them to your agenda, and let us know about anything that should be up there that isn't. Near-term highlights: Swamp Jam in Durham this weekend, Ari Lennox at Ritz Raleigh next week, YahZarah next Thursday, and the debut of Sheen's Market next Saturday.
- Asheville artist (and Neighbor) Isa ibn Wali's new song/video, "Lil You" (YouTube)
- As magnetic and casually profound as ever, Lute makes his long-awaited return with the song/video "Authentic," from his upcoming project Hard To Reach (YouTube)
- The latest example of what I meant when I wrote that the modern landscape is all micro-scenes: a guy is asked to name "Who's up next from the Carolinas" and names a handful of people who I've never heard of, and who I doubt you've heard of either. (Instagram)
- A visual accounting of which NC politicians are bought by Duke Energy.(Instagram)
- Unsurprisingly, the new R&B/Soul album from CJ Monet, Confessions of a People Pleaser, is awesome. (Apple Music)
- SE contributor Dash Lewis goes long on Vordul Mega and his return to music 20 years after his pioneering work as one half of NYC duo Cannibal Ox. (Hearing Things)
- Speaking of Dash, we're grateful to have him as interviewer/moderator at our next Super Empty event, a listening party at The Fuzzy Needle in Durham for Lord Jah-Monte Ogbon's As Of Now, on Wednesday, June 10 at 7 pm. Help us plan seating accordingly by RSVPing today! And think of a question or two for Jah-Monte while you're at it.
Til next time,
Ryan
PS - Today's email is going out to an all-time high of 489 inboxes. It would be cool if the next one reached more than 500. If you like what we've got going on here, let a friend know about the newsletter and send this link along for them to sign up free. And even if you don't find the time to put someone on, the reading itself is always appreciated too.
