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!