According to Cynthia Littleton, one of three editors-in-chief at Variety, Elvis Presley "invented" rock 'n' roll. Didn't you get the memo? Nevermind that rock's 1950s origins are hardly so singular and tidy. Nevermind that the incomparable Chuck Berry and lesser Little Richard are, at this point, comically under-acknowledged pioneers of the genre. Never mind that the Variety essay dedicates a paragraph to Chess Records and nonetheless fails to credit signee Chuck Berry for, well, anything.
What matters, we guess, is that Elvis was the first rock megastar.
According to Cynthia Littleton, one of three editors-in-chief at Variety, Elvis Presley "invented" rock 'n' roll. Didn't you get the memo? Nevermind that rock's 1950s origins are hardly so singular and tidy. Nevermind that the incomparable Chuck Berry and lesser Little Richard are, at this point, comically under-acknowledged pioneers of the genre. Never mind that the Variety essay dedicates a paragraph to Chess Records and nonetheless fails to credit signee Chuck Berry for, well, anything.
What matters, we guess, is that Elvis was the first rock megastar.
How Elvis invented rock 'n' roll 60 years ago: http://t.co/RHWHziF8Ai pic.twitter.com/TQKYTBJNum
— Variety (@Variety) July 4, 2014
You may as well claim that Chipotle #invented the burrito. No, no, of course, #BlackTwitter isn't about to let Variety slide. From last night's fireworks, through to this morning, here's the funniest/harshest/best #VarietyHeadlines tweets in response to Variety's whitewash nonsense.
#StayWoke, lest you wake up to read a major U.S. magazine telling you that RiFF RAFF #invented cornrows.
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