so, this past june was black music month.
this weekend happens to be the 40th anniversary of woodstock. so with those things mentioned, i would like to talk a bit about music...all while my itunes library is on shuffle.
woodstock helped launch the counterculture movement. if anything, it solidified the fact that throughout all of the tragedies, all of the assassinations, "the man" was not going to reign supreme. there will always be some type of competition/rebellion against whoever this "man" is.
i totally missed out on black music month. the month of june was pretty much a big blur for me. but black music month was initiated by jimmy carter in 1979. to some degree, i don't understand the necessity of it now, but i do understand the importance of remembering the past.
music today is definitely not what it used to be. today we have the popularization of auto-tune, protools, and other computer/electronic programs. our society feels more free to voice their opinion so we can say just about anything we please on a record, with exception of antavio johnson.
that is a whole different matter in itself.
anyway, with black music month (can we find something else to call this, something not so long?) we were supposed to pay homage to the greats from previous generations, particularly duke ellington, miles davis, ella fitzgerald, etc (these cats could really perform). do/did we really do that? not so much on black entertainment television, but when michael jackson died, the network felt compelled to change their june awards show practically overnight as a memorial/dedication.
granted mj was pretty much the biggest star in the world. but the question starts to sneak up on you. how is a network supposed to pay tribute to four plus generations of music, without playing 30 second biographies during commercial breaks?
in many ways you can't. and the one way you actually can is almost impossible because people (young musicians today) don't really know their history. some do, but a lot don't really know anything older than 1974. there was a lot going on before 1974. black entertainment television should really try to educate some of these performers on things earlier than mj and have them put on a show inspired in that vain. not to duplicate it, but inspired.
stuff like this has been done, but it's been with artists who are in the "twilight" of their career, simply because music nowadays is a "young person's game".
personally, i think that black people need to have our own woodstock in different regions (one in ny, chicago, detroit, los angeles, atlanta, new orleans...just to throw some cities out there) because we need no beef (whether's it's for record sales or not) in music festivals. and the proceeds should go to a charity of some sort, new orleans still needs helps after all this time for example.
since i mentioned woodstock...i'll only go a little bit into it and then tie everything together, hopefully. the summer of peace and love. there's been an attempt to duplicate it back in 99 i think, but corporate america and spoiled artists have a way of ruining things like that. one of the first things i think of when i think of woodstock is jimi hendrix. it's odd that black people in general don't necessarily listen to hendrix. but if it wasn't for artists like hendrix, santana, joplin, sly and the family stone and others, the fabric of music wouldn't be as diverse as it is today. racially speaking music is diverse. not all black people rap or sing r&b and not all white people play guitars and sing folk. musically speaking we may not have had the acid trip that was/is parliament/funkadelic for example.
bottom line, woodstock helped broaden the spectrum of music.
black music month and woodstock are two things that we shouldn't neglect the importance of because music will last forever. if we still refer to classic novels as having a certain relevance, then music from our past should still be remembered and celebrated because...
a)it's good music
and because of that
b)good music is eventually sampled
fyi: my shuffle list in reverse order
blackalicious, snoop dogg, j.cole, marvin gaye, sergio mendes, the roots, jadakiss, killer mike, willie nelson, oh no, mariah carey, young jeezy, ben harper, a tribe called quest, common, j dilla, jean grae
Showing posts with label michael jackson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label michael jackson. Show all posts
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
mama's pearl
alrighty, welcome back ladies and gentlemen to the 8th wonder of the world.
no matter what i say in this, the bottom line will remain this one thing only, "let the man rest now"
i've been back in alabama for a week now and i've been re-acclimated with some familiar sights. but the two greatest things i've been reintroduced to has been the radio, and my grandmother's record player which happens to be in the basement of my parents house. beside the record player are a few records, some of them i haven't seen in a very long time; almost all of them happened to be michael jackson albums.
the list
music & me by michael jackson (c)1973
victory by the jacksons (c)1984
thriller by michael jackson (c)1982
bad by michael jackson (c)1987
futureshock by herbie hancock (c)1983
the herbie hancock album is mine. i left it in the record player before i left, so i was a little surprised to see it not on the turntable.
beside the record player is an older chair that may have came from my grandmother. my grandmother doesn't like to keep things for too too long, and my parents seem to be a bit of the pack rat type. but the chair beside the record player is where i am sure my mother held her own private and quiet tribute. we don't talk about it, but i know my mother and she would like to keep it the way it was quiet and private. my mother is 50, so therefore she did grow up listening to michael. when michael was ten, she was ten...so she knows the full spectrum of jackson's music in a much different way than i will ever know.
we don't really know stars like this anymore. i'm 27 and the one artist that i can think of that's about my age and that's been around for a decent amount of time is lil' wayne, and frankly, i don't wish to be tied with him in the same way my mother and people of her generation feel tied to michael jackson.
since his death, there's been a lot of speculation and a lot of people putting on there own types of tributes. BET had their award show planned for months, then this type of thing happens so they redo their entire program in two days. it was a marvel effort to change a big event over like that, but i figure that the network would want to do something better (BET...doing BETter...that should be their new motto, and they should live up to it). we've seen the music videos and heard all the hits all over again, and people are truly sad.
the most famous person in the world is gone. does anyone know what that means? i mean, i've often dreamed of being famous but not the most famous person in the world. my mind could never (and still can't) fathom that. that's a little more than people asking for autographs while you walk to the store.
i refuse to speak about any of the scandal, but if you want, read an interesting passage entitled "My Hero Ain't Molest Them Bitch Ass Kids: Phonte's teary-eyed tribute to The King" by Phonte of Little Brother
bottom line, like i said earlier...let the man rest.
the memorial was today and it was as nice as a memorial can be. many people shared their stories of michael and even though i can't stand al sharpton most of the time he did say one of the more applause gathering sayings from that day "I want his children to know. [There] wasn't nothing strange about your daddy. It was strange what your daddy had to deal with. But he dealt with it anyway."
no matter what you say, that was evident in what the daughter Paris said. Paris put the whole thing in perspective. we all have seen michael as an entertainer...as the "thriller". Paris didn't call him michael, jacko, mj, the gloved one or none of that...simply "daddy" which is what i want my kids (if i had any) to call me.
like all artists, the testament lies in our art. hopefully our art will inspire others to do great things, to believe in something that is worthwhile. michael's testament is in the music and the dance. many people have learned to dance through michael...breakdancers still rock out to the off the wall album, people still try to moonwalk. we all look at ourselves, then we look at the world and wonder how is this mess ever going to get better?
if you haven't been living under a rock for the past twelve days, you should know "man In the mirror" by now.
now let the man rest and let's conquer tomorrow.
no matter what i say in this, the bottom line will remain this one thing only, "let the man rest now"
i've been back in alabama for a week now and i've been re-acclimated with some familiar sights. but the two greatest things i've been reintroduced to has been the radio, and my grandmother's record player which happens to be in the basement of my parents house. beside the record player are a few records, some of them i haven't seen in a very long time; almost all of them happened to be michael jackson albums.
the list
music & me by michael jackson (c)1973
victory by the jacksons (c)1984
thriller by michael jackson (c)1982
bad by michael jackson (c)1987
futureshock by herbie hancock (c)1983
the herbie hancock album is mine. i left it in the record player before i left, so i was a little surprised to see it not on the turntable.
beside the record player is an older chair that may have came from my grandmother. my grandmother doesn't like to keep things for too too long, and my parents seem to be a bit of the pack rat type. but the chair beside the record player is where i am sure my mother held her own private and quiet tribute. we don't talk about it, but i know my mother and she would like to keep it the way it was quiet and private. my mother is 50, so therefore she did grow up listening to michael. when michael was ten, she was ten...so she knows the full spectrum of jackson's music in a much different way than i will ever know.
we don't really know stars like this anymore. i'm 27 and the one artist that i can think of that's about my age and that's been around for a decent amount of time is lil' wayne, and frankly, i don't wish to be tied with him in the same way my mother and people of her generation feel tied to michael jackson.
since his death, there's been a lot of speculation and a lot of people putting on there own types of tributes. BET had their award show planned for months, then this type of thing happens so they redo their entire program in two days. it was a marvel effort to change a big event over like that, but i figure that the network would want to do something better (BET...doing BETter...that should be their new motto, and they should live up to it). we've seen the music videos and heard all the hits all over again, and people are truly sad.
the most famous person in the world is gone. does anyone know what that means? i mean, i've often dreamed of being famous but not the most famous person in the world. my mind could never (and still can't) fathom that. that's a little more than people asking for autographs while you walk to the store.
i refuse to speak about any of the scandal, but if you want, read an interesting passage entitled "My Hero Ain't Molest Them Bitch Ass Kids: Phonte's teary-eyed tribute to The King" by Phonte of Little Brother
bottom line, like i said earlier...let the man rest.
the memorial was today and it was as nice as a memorial can be. many people shared their stories of michael and even though i can't stand al sharpton most of the time he did say one of the more applause gathering sayings from that day "I want his children to know. [There] wasn't nothing strange about your daddy. It was strange what your daddy had to deal with. But he dealt with it anyway."
no matter what you say, that was evident in what the daughter Paris said. Paris put the whole thing in perspective. we all have seen michael as an entertainer...as the "thriller". Paris didn't call him michael, jacko, mj, the gloved one or none of that...simply "daddy" which is what i want my kids (if i had any) to call me.
like all artists, the testament lies in our art. hopefully our art will inspire others to do great things, to believe in something that is worthwhile. michael's testament is in the music and the dance. many people have learned to dance through michael...breakdancers still rock out to the off the wall album, people still try to moonwalk. we all look at ourselves, then we look at the world and wonder how is this mess ever going to get better?
if you haven't been living under a rock for the past twelve days, you should know "man In the mirror" by now.
now let the man rest and let's conquer tomorrow.
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