Fresh Air

Best Of: Rhiannon Giddens / Investigating Diddy’s Rise & Fall

The work that I do is very culturally difficult, because what I'm doing is, in a large part, I'm talking about very difficult things in our history to mostly white audiences, you know. So every night, I'm sort of just burying everything, you know, so that people can have an emotional connection to some really, really difficult history. I shouldn't have to do that, you know.

Fresh Air

Rhiannon Giddens traces the banjo from her ancestors to Beyoncé

The work that I do is very culturally difficult because what I'm doing is, in a large part, I'm talking about very difficult things in our history to mostly white audiences, you know? So every night I'm sort of just burying everything, you know, so that people can have an emotional connection to some really, really difficult history. I shouldn't have to do that, you know?

Fresh Air

Rhiannon Giddens traces the banjo from her ancestors to Beyoncé

every night I'm sort of just burying everything, you know, so that people can have an emotional connection to some really, really difficult history. I shouldn't have to do that, you know? And so I'm happy to do it, but it wears on you. It wears on you and the years pass and you continue to perform blackness for people in a way that is palatable, right? In a way that keeps everybody there and not walking out the door.