So, last night, I gave in to cable and decided to watch a bit of the BET Awards. It wasn’t going so bad, until I saw what looked like four 12-14 year old girls shaking what they they thought was their “ass” to the tune of Drake and Lil Wayne’s duo “…I just wanna f**k every girl in the world…”.
:pause:
Are you serious?
In my last blog, I spoke about artists and accountability.
Lately, I’ve been checking myself because too often, I deride the artists I personally know, while at the same time giving the Lil Waynes hallway passes because of their ability to put together a nice metaphor.
Who will hold Lil’ Wayne accountable for his actions? Did anyone perceive these young girls being on stage as a problem to begin with? Well I did, and in protest, left the room.
I didn’t come back until I heard Janet’s voice. At this point I became consumed by everybody else’s pain regarding M.J.’s death and started to cry.
After the BET show, Jay-Z’s video came on, “Death of Auto-tune”, and is he not smashing?
The God of R&B/Pop/Everything Else passes on and Jay-Z performs a song in which he scorns rappers whose careers are dependent upon superficial reconstructions of their voices and existences.
Can I guide you to the link between MJ and Jay-Z’s “Death of Auto-Tune”?
MJ set standards. He introduced choreography that the entire world rehearsed after work. He made glitter popular. He wrote songs that my great grandchildren will most likely recite verbatim. He did not make an entire album in auto-tune. He did not talk about how hood he was. Nor did he talk about how much ass he had, or was going to get after the club.
Michael Jackson was universally appealing because of his ability to express his individuality. Jerry-curl, white glove, nose job and all. We still loved him because in the sharing of his life, we gained the inspiration to be confident in our own creative expression.
How many (hip-hop) artist are in the business of traversing M.J.’s path so as to establish a legacy that’s founded upon the pure genius of spirit?
I’m pretty sure you know the answer. And if you need a little bit of consolation, check out Jay-Z’s video “Death of Auto-tune”. You are not alone.
