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PHILL BOOGIE’S TAKE:
Remember Michael Jackson carrying Emmanuel Lewis down the red carpet to the Grammy's? Those were the days. I’m not quite sure how he got away with doing that, or how Emmanuel let him considering that according to my research little “Webster” was TWELVE years old.
That was the best Grammy show ever! (Full disclosure: I was a Michael Jackson fanatic!)
In general, award shows seemed cooler and more exciting then. I’d started to think that maybe I’d stopped enjoying them because I’m, um, in my mid-twenties; well, not to far past my mid-twenties. Then it hit me all of a sudden; after watching John Legend selling his Target CD, while sipping Baileys, as Mary J. Blige drove by in a Chevy Malibu with Beyonce in the passenger seat applying L’Oreal. Stars are way too pedestrian now.
Sure. Michael Jackson sold Pepsi. Madonna did too. Whitney sold Diet Coke. That was different. Those commercials were events. Don’t tell me that you didn’t wait around hoping to see Alfonso Ribiero moonwalking into Michael Jackson. Who didn’t shed a tear and light a candle after Michael was carried away in the ambulance after his activator caught on fire? Nowadays, it's all about the commercials and the ringtones etc.
Nowadays, what do we get? We get Mary J. (who I love), dancing in front of a Chevy Malibu. Can we talk? I work in marketing. The process of going from an idea, to application can be and usually is a long and tedious ordeal. People got paid big bucks to match Mary J. with the Chevy Malibu. Okay, let’s take a moment and go to the link below, review the Chevy Malibu and then come back to the blog. I’ll wait.
http://www.chevrolet.com/2008malibu/?seo=goo_chevy_malibu
So, are you thinking what I’m thinking? What in the hell does Mary have to do with the Malibu? Not only do I not see her driving one, she’s not even in the age demo for a car like that. At least I could see Whitney actually DRINKING a Diet Coke. That’s not to say it’s not a beautiful car, it is, but c’mon.
There used to be a time when award shows, "Right On" Magazine and red carpets were almost the only places you saw your favorite star. Between the 19,000 entertainment news shows, celebrity reality shows, clothing lines and perfumes, they all seem a little less like artists and more like employees.
I get it. They're all rich. I'm poor. They're geniuses. For a moment, I just want to concentrate on the artist. I know the word after "show" is "business". I just think it's gone a little too far. There's no more soul (or at least, very little), because we have fewer artists.
Now, we have brands. Walking, talking and singing brands.
(Hypocrisy check: Yes, I have worked in brand marketing for a while, but I really, really do still have soul.)
You know that John Legend is never gonna just grab himself and yell, “Who wants some!?!" Not that I would approve of such behavior, but I like my rock/rap/r&b/easy listening stars to feel like they have the freedom to do so. That's how it used to be to some degree. I mean, I understand that there has always been some give and take when it comes to the business, but there was a time when you could look like the bottom of someone's rusty foot and still be a successful artist. You used to be able to actually use your voice (and real musicians).
It’ll never be that way again, until major artists figure out how to do away with labels and distribute their own music online.
Until then enjoy the six songs on continuous loop on Radio One.
Remember Michael Jackson carrying Emmanuel Lewis down the red carpet to the Grammy's? Those were the days. I’m not quite sure how he got away with doing that, or how Emmanuel let him considering that according to my research little “Webster” was TWELVE years old.
That was the best Grammy show ever! (Full disclosure: I was a Michael Jackson fanatic!)
In general, award shows seemed cooler and more exciting then. I’d started to think that maybe I’d stopped enjoying them because I’m, um, in my mid-twenties; well, not to far past my mid-twenties. Then it hit me all of a sudden; after watching John Legend selling his Target CD, while sipping Baileys, as Mary J. Blige drove by in a Chevy Malibu with Beyonce in the passenger seat applying L’Oreal. Stars are way too pedestrian now.
Sure. Michael Jackson sold Pepsi. Madonna did too. Whitney sold Diet Coke. That was different. Those commercials were events. Don’t tell me that you didn’t wait around hoping to see Alfonso Ribiero moonwalking into Michael Jackson. Who didn’t shed a tear and light a candle after Michael was carried away in the ambulance after his activator caught on fire? Nowadays, it's all about the commercials and the ringtones etc.
Nowadays, what do we get? We get Mary J. (who I love), dancing in front of a Chevy Malibu. Can we talk? I work in marketing. The process of going from an idea, to application can be and usually is a long and tedious ordeal. People got paid big bucks to match Mary J. with the Chevy Malibu. Okay, let’s take a moment and go to the link below, review the Chevy Malibu and then come back to the blog. I’ll wait.
http://www.chevrolet.com/2008malibu/?seo=goo_chevy_malibu
So, are you thinking what I’m thinking? What in the hell does Mary have to do with the Malibu? Not only do I not see her driving one, she’s not even in the age demo for a car like that. At least I could see Whitney actually DRINKING a Diet Coke. That’s not to say it’s not a beautiful car, it is, but c’mon.
There used to be a time when award shows, "Right On" Magazine and red carpets were almost the only places you saw your favorite star. Between the 19,000 entertainment news shows, celebrity reality shows, clothing lines and perfumes, they all seem a little less like artists and more like employees.
I get it. They're all rich. I'm poor. They're geniuses. For a moment, I just want to concentrate on the artist. I know the word after "show" is "business". I just think it's gone a little too far. There's no more soul (or at least, very little), because we have fewer artists.
Now, we have brands. Walking, talking and singing brands.
(Hypocrisy check: Yes, I have worked in brand marketing for a while, but I really, really do still have soul.)
You know that John Legend is never gonna just grab himself and yell, “Who wants some!?!" Not that I would approve of such behavior, but I like my rock/rap/r&b/easy listening stars to feel like they have the freedom to do so. That's how it used to be to some degree. I mean, I understand that there has always been some give and take when it comes to the business, but there was a time when you could look like the bottom of someone's rusty foot and still be a successful artist. You used to be able to actually use your voice (and real musicians).
It’ll never be that way again, until major artists figure out how to do away with labels and distribute their own music online.
Until then enjoy the six songs on continuous loop on Radio One.
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RANDY BANDIT’S TAKE:
I can’t remember the exact date that I opted to listen to my iPod over the radio. It was a few years back. Not dissing independent record promoters or record labels operating like their products have no artistic merit, the fact is simply this: unless you turn off the radio, you might not hear any real soul music. Granted Tom Joyner and Michael Baisden cook up a hybrid of soul and new school, I can always count on my iPod when I want to hear Minnie Riperton’s “Inside My Love,” Stevie Wonder’s “All I Do,” or EWF’s “Love’s Holiday.” I listen to the lyrics, the musical arrangements, the unique voices, the vocal arrangements, and the overall quality of the recordings and marvel at how awesome good soul music is. If you don’t believe me, try pumping EWF’s “Fantasy” in your car while cruising down a country road.
My father, on the other hand, might say that true soul music is the rawness of Otis Redding sweating before a crowd of appreciative English fans or Sam and Dave singing the hell out of a song in such a way that stage choreography really doesn’t matter. A trip to Memphis to see the Stax Soul Music Museum will immediately confirm just how far current R&B has fallen from the tree. In fact, the only female singer I can name who is trying to sing her ass off in R&B is Beyonce’, and she’s a far cry from Aretha. As far as the guys go, what can you say when you have a truck load of first tenors who are much better dancers than they are vocalists? Those who are balladeers sound too much like the others before them. Check out Jaheim. That’s just neo-Teddy Pendergrass. Where the hell are the Eddie King, Jr.s when you need them?
Rappers-turned-singers aren’t making the situation any better, with one very notable exception: Phonte Coleman of Little Brother/The Foreign Exchange. He gets both genres well enough to represent with both.
But even Phonte gets no regular play on the radio. Well, at least I have my iPod.
1 comment:
Artists these days definitely are walking billboards. It’s hard to watch TV these days and not see a celeb doing something. Countless coke and pepsi commercials, fast food restaurants, make up commercials, and shoe commercials and many more all use celebs to try to push their product and win the affection (and money) of the viewers. These days, it seems to be all about whose wearing what and who is doing what. It’s all a big endorsement game. It’s all about what celeb will be next to do something. New commercials are almost looked for as much as an artist’s next album. True soul music, I believe is about just that, music. Endorsements are fine and they make a lot of money but what about the music? Shouldn’t that be the focus of musicians? For me, it’s been a while since I’ve heard a singer who consistently sounds like they actually want to be singing. Don’t get me wrong, there are a few artists out there that are like that but a good deal of the rest are just there for the money. Or so it seems to me. The whole industry is focused on money too much. I think it is compromising the industry. Everyone wants to be flashy and show off this and that. I wonder how many artists would be artists if the salary wasn’t that high and if people didn’t know who they were. I know it was like that before they blew up, but what if it stayed like that? how many people truly love music and making music these days? Music from the soul is a rare commodity these days. At least that’s what it seems like to me. Looking back, many artists were well known and well known for one thing, their music. I believe that artists need to take a look at that and make some adjustments. I’m not sure if this can happen, unfortunately. Pop culture has grown into something that will be hard to reverse. I just hope that soon, artists will get back to music as their main focus.
Nickntm
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