A few months ago, it was announced that a new bar is coming to State Street. The whole city of Madison was jumping for joy because State Street in its current state does not have enough bars. Prior to the opening of this bar, an interview was conducted with new bar owner Chase Williams.
“The VV is something special,” said Williams. “We are doing something none of the other bars are doing right now and I’m excited for the opening. I expect big things.”
This created a lot of hype surrounding the grand opening of The VV. With a lot of hype comes a lot of responsibility to meet and hopefully exceed expectations.
On the night of the grand opening, The VV brought in Madisonians by the boatload, creating a line all the way around the block. Another line naturally formed going the opposite direction, which was made up of crying freshmen after being denied entry. When everyone had settled in and the drinks started flowing, a lot of patrons noticed something very strange. When they went to their touch tunes app on their phone, it seemed certain artists such as Luke Combs, Luke Bryan and Morgan Wallen were not allowed to be played in the bar. A lot of the patrons seemed to be confused, some seemed to like it and some were flat out angry.
“What kinda stunt is this?!?!?! When I come to a bar, I expect two things! A nice ice cold Budweiser, Fox News on the TV and my beloved country music,” said one of the patrons, who was clearly upset about the music restrictions.
When asked about why he named three things when he said he expects two things, his response was, “I’m pretty sure I said two things. Now leave me alone. I have high school wrestling to watch.”
The owner was obviously under fire for the music restrictions, prompting him to put out a statement that reads, “I delivered on my promise. The VV has something that no other bar in Madison has!” When Chase was asked about possibly changing this policy, he said, “All I have to say is that I am not the only bar owner who restricts music. I am not naming any names.”
This controversy has sparked a lot of conversations. Important conversations that might lead to much needed change in our city. Chase claimed his bar is not the only bar to restrict music, and the bars that he is referring to are believed to be a bar called The Double U and Chasers. However, Chase neither confirmed nor denied that he was referring to these bars.
Chase claims that the reason people aren’t up in arms about the other bars is because they restrict rap music.
“Throughout the history of rap, rap artists and those who listen to rap music have been subject to many forms of discrimination and prejudice. When people in the city of Madison hear someone listening to rap, they begin to prejudge them. This problem has surrounded the genre since its inception. People have said things like ‘rap is violent’ or ‘rap has no meaning to it; it is just about drugs, guns and money.’ These things perpetuate a false narrative surrounding the genre,” began Williams.
“Maybe these rap artists are rapping about violence, drugs and guns because from a young age, that's all they experienced. Rap is like journalism, and the artists are trying to shed light on the aspects of their lives that others cannot even fathom. This discrimination against the genre is racism disguised as musical opinion and the restriction of such music is also racism. These restrictions are no different than the restrictions of clothing that clearly target certain kinds of people, which many businesses have acknowledged to be discriminatory,” said the bar owner in response to the lack of outrage over other musical restrictions.
Williams brings up valid and meaningful points that might make a lot of people upset, but the good news is that if you want to avoid the people that are upset, just go to The VV! As of now, the VV is still thriving and seems to be here to stay. It acts as a home for those that have been to the bars previously mentioned and wanted to play “God’s Plan” by Drake, only to find out that even Drake was restricted.
