R&B Women

By: Rashod Ollison (Pop Music & Culture Critic; Jet Mag. [Nov. 15, 2010]; Jet Perspective pg. 47)

I recently caught a Mary J. Blige show not far from my home. The amphitheater was packed with sisters, most close to 40, about the same age as the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul. Mary J.'s emotionally journalistic music has surely echoed their heartbreaks and triumphs over the last 20 years.

The show was great. Mary J. is nothing like the performer she was at the start of her career, when she was more street than sweet, donning wraparound shades, a blond weave and combat boots. She often missed notes, sang off-key and cussed out the audience. She seemingly wanted to be anywhere other than the stage.

After surviving a chain of fools, Mary J. declared "no more drama" and shed the ghetto-fabulous image. She took etiquette classes, embraced spirituality, stopped abusing drugs and alcohol and got married. She's now an evolved, confident and engaging performer whose songs extol self-love.

For better or worse, Mary J.'s arrival opened the door for a new breed of Black Female performers: the ungraceful ones. Their music, like Mary J.'s early material, often ripples with pain.

The artists who fit this mold, some of whose fishbowl lives were exploited in hit reality TV shows, give fans a sense of an immediate connection with them. Onstage, they flub lines, sweat out their weaves and "keep it real." The way they carry themselves is understandable, given their backgrounds and the lack of etiquette training once offered in the industry (such as the renowned Motown charm school). But it's time to grow up if they want longevity.

Around-the-way girl singers are nothing new in Black Music. Offstage, Billie Holiday, Sarh Vaughan and especially Dinah Washington were known to be ghetto-fabulous before the term existed. But they approached their art with a certain reverence, jaw-dropping style and unmatched grace. Today, selling an "authentic" image often trumps nurturing a craft, which partly explains the reason careers come and go.

Mary J. Blige's remarkable evolution - the key to her staying power - should serve as an example to those following in her wake.

B. Brown's Opinion:

I believe Rashod is correct in saying these female R&B singers need more polishing these days. I also believe our male R&B singers need it as well! A lot of the male R&B singers dress like, look like & carry themselves as hip-hop/rap artists.

Etiquette is very important when it comes to having "class." May a person have "class" without proper etiquette? I don't know, but I do suggest that all artist's (R&B, Hip-Hop, Pop, Country, Rock, Reggae, Gospel, etc.) get some type of training on how to carry themselves on and off the stage. The training will no doubt help their stage presence and career, along with helping them improve their life in general which is more important in my book!

One Love!

Why are all these rappers going to jail?

By: B. Brown (BREG)

Why are all these rappers going to jail? It's actually quite simple and sad.

These men and women (who are my brothers & sisters) are a certain way before they achieve fame and some type of fortune. Some larger fortunes than others. However, the same thing basically happens to each of them which is the fact that they are able to become more of who they really are and delve deeper into that lifestyle with the trappings of fame & fortune.

T.I. (one of my favorite rappers of all-time) for instance obviously has a problem (either a drug or alcohol or both). From his debut, he has grown tremendously as a person and as an artist, but he has yet to stop his love affair with controlled substances. I Pray that he receives the help he needs now, because I do not believe he can absorb another round of lost endorsement deals, and I Pray that this jail stint doesn't cost him his recording career or his very promising acting career. God Bless T.I., Tiny (she is definitely a part of the situation) & their family!

Gucci Man is absolutely going to suffer from his continuous run-in's with the law! A once in a lifetime opportunity for this young man appears to keep turning into a one-trip around the board & then go directly to jail without passing go scenario (that's Monopoly talk for those who didn't know)! Gucci is going to have to do some soul searching this time around and look in the mirror for the answer. Again, we are looking at drugs & alcohol most likely contributing to terrible decision making. May God Bless you brother.

Now Lil Wayne is getting out tomorrow I believe, and he did a stint for gun possession & marijuana possession I believe. On top of the world and this guy doesn't know how to travel properly with the right gun permits to carry or least the right personnel that have the right to carry, and do I even have to mention the drugs? Wayne probably thought he was untouchable. I feel'em, but none of us are untouchable. Trust me, everyone of us can be touched. Prayfully, Wayne will come out of jail ready to make better decisions.

To all the artists out there and to young people in general, it is not cool to go to jail and it's definitely not cool to be uneducated and make very, very, very terrible decisions. Losing your freedom, possibly your family, your income & possibly your life isn't worth the drugs, illegal weapons, women, men or any other temptations that are out here in the world. Let's start making better decisions up front so that we do not have to keep seeing very talented people go to jail over and over again. It's pathetic and ridiculous and it has to stop now!

If it is not clear that some positive changes have to be made now, then wait and see what happens when these politicians that were just elected last night take office in a few months. "If you cannot control yourself, you are giving the right for someone else to control you." --- B. Brown

Believe that!

One Love!

Music's Digital Age: Who Wins? Who Loses?

By: Miki Turner (Jet Magazine; June 14 - 21, 2010; pg. 43)

Quotes from Artists & Executives .......

WILL.I.AM - "Yes, there are no record stores, but hell, artists never got paid selling records anyway. And the ones that did, there were very few. I was Blessed to be one of the few, but do you know how many records I had to sell to recoup? We got by selling merchandise & writing songs."

Jon B. - "What the industry stopped doing was believing in real artistry. There is so much liability for a label to trust an artist and there have been a lot of artists who have messed it up for other artists because they took their budgets for granted. They would have a multimillion-dollar budget and then produce a mediocre record. I understand both sides of the coin."

Toni Braxton - "The advantages of everything being digital now is that it's instantaneous and you can get it immediately. I really don't like to look at is as bad, I like to look at it as progression."

Ice Cube - "What's been happening is that you look around and some of your favorite artists don't do records no more and fans don't understand why. It's not a lucrative business no more. So, that artist is off doing something else to make a living."

Letoya Luckett - "Back when I first started, there was money, money, money! It was just spending and not even looking at the deficit. It was like you want it, you got it! Now with all the downloading, the money isn't there anymore. The music industry was the thing to be a part of. That's not to say that's not the way it is now, but you've got to have plan A, B, C and D these days."

Johnnie Walker (Former Def Jam Exec. & now Exec. Dir. of the Memphis & Shelby County Music Commission & Founder/Chairman of The National Assoc. of Black Female Executives in Music & Ent.) - "Labels have been focusing so much on songs and the quick delivery of those songs that they neglected to focus on developing acts. So, when the song was over, so was the artist.

The record industry - the one that controlled everything for so long - they're in trouble. The music industry is fine. The fan is really not buying the CD, he's buying the music. The internet and all the social sites have limited the record company's control of the fan's access to the music."

Is there a Conspiracy?

Written By: Coolwater (Artificially Flavored Inc.)

There has been much gossip in the news about Jay Z being part to The Occult and The New World Order agenda. Every where you look Jay Z is throwing up some sort of hand sign or making some sort of masonic gesture to the brotherhood. Many people are starting to think that he and other artists like Rihanna, Kayne West and Beyonce are part of some global elitest plan to control people through music. The Conspiracy lies within most people not knowing what to believe when it comes to the forbidden or hidden knowledge.

In my personal opinion and being an artist myself, I do feel like there is a hidden agenda that all top artists like a 50-Cent, Lil' Wayne, Kayne West, Beyonce, Prince and many others are....

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In Support of Earthquake-Torn Haiti!!!

By: B. Brown

I would like to take my hat off to the people of the United States of America!!!

We have supported Haiti in record-breaking fashion and I am very proud of that fact.

We have Wyclef's "Yele'" Organization, The Red Cross, The Clinton-Bush Fund, etc. That is what has really tripped me out, Former Presidents Clinton & Bush have united for a cause. Unbelievable! President Obama has made it clear that his administration is going to help Haiti through its tragedy and help it rebuild. As one of the strongest countries in the world even during our recession, we are still committed to helping an ailing country that desparately needs help. I am very proud of that committment!

I have personally supported Haiti by donating to Wyclef's organization and you can too by texting YELE to 501501 to donate $5.00. Let's continue to show our compassionate side and do what we would want someone to do for us.

God Bless the people of New Orleans, LA & Mississippi that experienced Hurricane Katrina and God Bless the people of Haiti and all the workers who are there helping!!!

God is good!!!

One Love!