311 is a popular 90's band that is always asked what 311 actually means. Growing up I've always heard that 311 stood for KKK, the 11 standing for K as the eleventh letter in the alphabet and 3 meaning 3 K's. It's no surprise that I’ve heard this considering that Americans have been consistently fighting the racial battle still to this day in 2009. 311 is constantly interviewed and asked if their name really stands for the Ku Klux Klan. Many times the band has answered with, " a number dictated to me by a higher intelligence", or that "3 minutes and 11 seconds is the perfect length for a song". The media has never believed 311, and always seems to go back to the original KKK rumor. It's no surprise to me that media carries on about this rumor because Americans have become accustom to believing the worst in things rather than the good. I think that media publishers would publish the racial rumor to draw more attention and to have high rates rather than the real explanation. Just like 311, other famous bands and people have to deal with these controversies everyday. It's sad to me that in order to sell a magazine or band, the media has to come up with a negative story about them to get societies attention.
Any publicity is better than none, that seems to be the only thing that matters. Now people that have never heard of this band will go to youtube or somewhere else just to hear and see exactly who this group is. You are right it is sad that that is the only way to get any type of attention. But I don't understand where they got the KKK from??
ReplyDeleteI have heard of this rumor as well and i too thought thats what it stood for. I mean whenever you put numbers together like that its like human nature for you to try and figure it out. I for one like 311 and would in no way would i assume they were racist, but you never know. I don't think that they are a group of white sumpremists but they may have been honest when they sais that 311 is the perfect lenth for a song. Which in turn is some what of a stupid name for your band. I think that media and people do tend to target the worst, we are a conutry of passimists. Lets just hope that for there sake if it does mean kkk nobody really finds out.
ReplyDeleteI highly doubt that 311 is a racist band. If they decided to make their band name racist then why not make their music racist? I for one have never heard a 311 song send out any racist message. Also, if they were to make the name racist then why not make it 113?
ReplyDeletei have never heard this rumor. i somewhat liked this band a few years back and would be a bit shocked to think this was true....as the person above said, their lyrics have not been associated with racial slurs or hatred...i am going to go with the "perfect length of a song"...that makes sense to me and only the band members can truly assign meaning to their name....the rest of of just speculate.....
ReplyDeleteI have never heard this rumor and its very interesting. I think that some people try to make something out of nothing. The members of the band might like the fact that they are being publicized so they do not give the public the real reasoning behind their name. It may have some personal meaning and that is on them to release that information or not. The media will do anything to make something out of nothing. It is horrible to think that they would stoop to something so low, but then one has to think, people do not just come up with rumors about celebrities out of no where because then the rumor would be shot down instantly and not get as much publicity as it should.
ReplyDelete311 is a band that has been around for a while and has some very good songs. I never heard the rumor about them being related with the KKK. Its very disturbing to think this could be true, but I don't believe it. People always think of things that have nothing to do with it what so ever, but it gets turned into a big deal. I can see this band just coming up with the name and having no recollection at all with the KKK.
ReplyDeleteI've heard this rumor over and over again. I don't believe that it's true, because thats a pretty dumb reason to make a name for your band that will stick with you for the rest of your life. However, I do believe that the media is responsible for the on-going controversy. They would rather have you believe that a band in the spotlight are supporters of the Ku Klux Klan than just pulling numbers out of a hat. Viewers will buy medias misrepresentation, which is why the media continues to do it.
ReplyDeleteI have heard this rumor numerous amount of time and I strongly believe it is false. I have been a fan of 311 since the 90’s and I never would have guessed that they were racists. In fact if you listen to their music, the majority of their songs include lyrics about peace, love and just having fun. I think people need to get over what rumors are being spread on 311, and question more on the artist that are damaging our society.
ReplyDelete311's music is, if anything, anti-racist. Their orginal band name was "Unity", and they have a Mexican member in the band by the name of Douglas "SA" Martinez. Doesnt sound like a KKK band to me...
ReplyDeleteI mean look at the picture provided in the article. Have you ever seen a white supremacist with dreadlocks?? That is an african influenced hairstyle
ReplyDelete311 is the police code for indecent exposure in Omaha, Nebraska where the band originated from and the original guitarist of the band got arrested for streaking. Hence the name
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