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Rolling Stone magazine co-founder Jann Wenner justified the lack of diversity in his upcoming book, The Masters—which exclusively features interviews from white, male musicians—by claiming Black artists “just didn’t articulate at that level.” Wenner told The New York Times in an interview published Friday that it wasn’t a “deliberate” selection of musicians, but instead it was “intuitive over the years.” “The people had to meet a couple criteria, but it was just kind of my personal interest and love of them,” Wenner said. As for why he didn’t interview any women, he said, “Just none of them were as articulate enough on this intellectual level.” He added, “Of Black artists—you know, Stevie Wonder, genius, right? I suppose when you use a word as broad as ‘masters,’ the fault is using that word. Maybe Marvin Gaye, or Curtis Mayfield? I mean, they just didn’t articulate at that level.” He continued to dig himself even deeper, saying “maybe I should have gone and found one Black and one woman artist” for “public relations sake.” But, he said, he’s “old-fashioned and I don’t give a [expletive].”
