Cover Me Bad

(Singing) "Oooo, ooooo!" A famous riff from 90"s band Color Me Badd's hit "I Wanna Sex You Up".  Now if you're under the age of 25, you may still be looking at the screen with a blank stare.   If you don't know who they are you can take a trip down Youtube's memory lane, type in their name and listen.  Today my friend tweeted a link for a video posted by "Karmin Covers".  I'm not sure if it's just the one woman or it's the woman and the man that's in all the videos, but they are cover artists.  For those who may not be familiar with the term "cover artist" or "cover band", that's simply a singer or band who sings or plays songs originally recorded by someone else.  As an artist myself, I have done plenty of covers in shows and enjoy singing some of my favorite tunes.  In my opinion I think the only way to do a good cover is to make sure your version is better or at least as good as the original.  It should not make the original artist upset at the fact you are playing their song and not doing it justice. Most artists take a song and put their own spin on it, either updating it or giving it some flair that reflects their personal artistry.  I mean really, if you've ever done karaoke or performed at an open mic, then you have covered a song before.  Being a performer I've heard some BAD (not "bad" meaning good), covers that almost make you forget how much you loved the original song, ew!  I hear a lot of mixed reviews when it comes to covering a song. Some people feel that if you say you're an "artist" why can't you just create your own stuff?  Others feel like covering another artist's tune is paying homage to that person.  There's truth to both sides.  As an artist, you don't want to only sing other people's music, it doesn't leave any room for you to have your own voice.  It can appear like you're lazy or lacking creativity.  Like you're just a voice, not an artist.  On the flip side, deciding that you want to cover a song and make it your own is completely creative.  Sometimes covers are better than the original, making them feel more relevant.  Some artists styles are so distinctive that even if you know it's not originally their work, they have flipped it so, that you don't notice.  Almost like they are two different songs entirely.  I believe there's an art to the "cover".  Take for instance D'Angelo, wonderful, multi talented artist.  He decided to cover the Prince tune, "She's Always in My Head".  Now we all know Prince is a musical genius, brilliant! His style is so distinctive that most artists would stray away from re-recording one of his songs.  Being a Prince fan, I am very familiar with that song, so when I heard D'Angelo's version, I was more than pleased.  Although I am a D'Angelo fan as well, I am partial to the original (not knocking D'Angelo's version AT ALL!).  But what D'Angelo was able to do is take a classic Prince tune and make it his own.  You could hear the Prince influence, but it didn't sound like he was imitating him either.  Then there are bad covers, like (don't get mad at me but...) Alycia Keys covering one of my favorite songs in the world, "Never Felt This Way" by Brian McKnight.  I know Alycia is great on keys and she's good at doing her own tunes, but she should have left this one alone.  There was nothing new or refreshing about her version, as a matter of fact, it made me a little angry.  Partly because I feel like some songs should be left alone and because this is one of my favorites, this is one of those songs!  Again not knocking Alycia, like I said, I like her doing her music.  I digress.  I love my hip hop and most hip hop producers use samples in their beats.  It could be a drum roll or background vocals or anything.  Look at Kanye, when he made "Through the Fire", he sampled Chaka Khan's words and voice for the hook on that song.  He sped it up to make it work for his song, but it's a sample nonetheless.  New artists pull from their roots all the time.  New soul is not all that new!  Everyone has influences, but you can't mask what you call influence with lack of creativity.  Take that good music that you listen to and make it work for who you are.  Create some new ideas so the generation after you will look to your music as their influence and maybe one day your record will be be someones cover.  Whether for good or bad!  See you on the stage!

Ashley Judd takes on Hip Hop?

When I first read this title and heard the snippet from Hollywood actress Ashley Judd's new memoir All That Is Bitter & Sweet concerning Snoop Dogg and P. Diddy and Hip Hop music in general, I was a little caught off guard.  The actress states:

"Along with other performers, YouthAIDS was supported by rap and hip-hop artists like Snoop Dogg and P. Diddy to spread the message ... um, who?" the actress reportedly says. "Those names were a red flag."

"As far as I'm concerned, most rap and hip-hop music – with its rape culture and insanely abusive lyrics and depictions of girls and women as 'ho's' – is the contemporary soundtrack of misogyny," she argues.

"I believe that the social construction of gender - the cultural beliefs and practices that divide the sexes and institutionalize and normalize the unequal treatment of girls and women, privilege the interests of boys and men, and, most nefariously, incessantly sexualize girls and women - is the root cause of poverty and suffering around the world," Judd says.

First instinct is to be angry, I mean what does she know about Hip Hop and who is she to judge some of our biggest stars in the game!  But once the initial, knee jerk emotion wore off, I read a little more in to her point.  Was she criticizing all hip hop music or just Snoop and Diddy due to their involvement in YouthAIDS?  Does she know that hip hop is a culture and not just what she hears on the radio?  Generalizations have proven time and time again to be very detremental to the social fabric, so it's no wonder people were all up in arms regarding the comments.  Even though the words she put on paper seemed to be a little shocking coming from someone who is not known to me as being a fan of the music (maybe she is or at least was), there is some validity to her sentiments.  If you tuned into your favorite station or watched one of the more popular videos out today, you may be inclined to agree with her, at least a little.  I remember when videos had choreography and the folks wore actual clothing.  Not dresses that look like an oversized wife beater or bikini when the guys have on fur coats.  Some of the videos have no connection to the song.  Why are there directors on set? It's just lights, camera, shake your ass, cut!  Women have been in rappers videos since it began, but with today's artists you would think that the song won't sell unless there are half naked women in them.  Who are we to get angry with someone who seems to be making an observation of what is actually out there.  Far too many times have I seen a video and thought, what do these girls dancing (shaking their booties) have to do with this song?  Some of these videos are crazy, remember Uncut, the video show that would come on BET after 12 and show all the videos they couldn't show during the day.  You would think some of it was soft pornography!  But you see when the television audience thought that show was taking it over the line and actually demanded BET remove it from the lineup, it's hasn't been seen since.  Now, back in the day, you had your 2 Live Crew and artists like them that were all about sex, but you knew exactly what you were going to get when you watched them.  Parents were warned that this music was explicit and children should not watch them videos or listen to the songs.  In today's popular hip hop scene, it seems that the bad rappers out number the good ones.  There will always be songs about women, drugs and money, but there are a lot of other underground or independent artists who's voices don't always get heard.  To me, hip hop music has evolved.  Some of these popular artists, that are considered to have "good songs" today may not have passed the lyrical battles ten, twenty, thrity years ago.  But with the evolvement of the artist, there has been a transition of the listener and fan.  I talked to this point in my last post, so know need to rehash it, but if you want something different as a music fan, then you have to demand it.  Actually, you would be suprised at how many of the popular artists that people say have no real content in their music, can really rap.  A lot of times, they have listened to what's selling and have adapted to that.  They want to make a come up, so they change up who they may actually be.  If you don't believe me, check out some mixtapes of your favorite mainstream artist, you may find some lyrical content that didn't make the "official" album.  More often than not, those mixtapesjust keep making good music so opinions like Ashley Judd's have no validity.  See you on the stage!  

English No Longer Required

OK, so I like my hip hop music just like the rest of the music world, but what is really going on?  Before I get started, I'm not talking about everyone so I don't want people sending any evil emails.  I'm referring to the music that when you listen, you can't understand what they're saying.  I'm not talking about understanding the messages in the songs, I'm talking about the actual words.  I thought the purpose of creating music was so people could hear what it is you have to say. Maybe I was wrong.  It seems as if today's average listener doesn't care if their favorite hip hop artist says anything that's relevant or meaningful because they just want to be able to party in the club.  Don't get me wrong, I love a good club song, if I'm in that kind of mood, but I can't guarantee that I would buy the song off iTunes.  The other day I was driving in my car and when this song came on I swear almost every word ran together.  Not one word was completed before the "rapper" was on to the next word. All though I appreciated the track,  I shook my head in disappointment because that seems to be the only form of hip hop some of these kids know.  Even the radio host said he need Rosetta Stone to decipher what the guy was saying.  C'mon son!!  A lot of our teenagers idolize these folks, it's no wonder some of them can't speak correctly!  Do I partake in the usage of our beloved slang,OF COURSE! But a lot of today's youth think that's the only way to speak and unfortunately mainstream media isn't making it any better.  There are so many hip hop artists out who have so much to say and their music gets overlooked because our ears have become accustomed to "dumbed down" music.  If you're not familiar with that terminology, it simply means an artist takes their music and makes it simple and uncomplicated.  To be clear, I'm not saying "simple" is bad, but when an artist feels they have to make their music so simple that you don't have to think about how it was created, that's a problem.  Generally there's no real message and the main purpose is to make the track so loud that it drowns out the fact that it has absolutely no content.  Music is supposed to be CREATIVE!  Art is supposed to be CREATIVE!  Not sound like you got it out of the cookie jar.  (SMH)  Everyone has a right to express themselves however they choose, but when do we, the listeners, start requiring people to say lyrics we can actually understand.  Lyrics that when we repeat it can be like, damn that meant something.  Not just wanting to fight in the club, how much money they have (or wish they had) or how high they are off whatever it is they have ingested, smoked or inhaled.  The movie Brown Sugar is based around this subject.  Throughout the movie, they ask the question, "When did you fall in love with hip hop?"  I fell in love in 1987 when I was eight years old and my sister had a 12 inch record from a group called Boogie Down Productions, the song was entitled The Bridge is Over.  I found myself saying rhymes that I didn't really know the meaning, but it was the energy in the way KRS-1 spit and the track was simple but made the statement.  Although hip hop has evolved, some would say for the worst some would say for the best, but change is inevitable.  I just wished these new artists would go back to their roots and listen, they may find they can actually hear what the pioneers are saying, back when English was required...See you on the stage!

"Am I sellling sex or am I sellling records?"

I think I've already told you about some of my guilty pleasures.  Shows like "Keeping up with the Kardashians" and "Basketball Wives", well a new level of guilt settled in when the premiere of the new show "Love & Hip Hop" came on.  Because I'm a night owl and am so busy thought out the day and most of the night, I'll catch these shows either really late or if there's an off chance I can actually be sitting down, channel surfing.  So anyway, the show came on and one of the ladies being profiled is tyring to break into the music business by being an emcee.  She's from the west coast and has packed all her things and moved to New York to live in a friend's attic and record with Jim Jones so her rap career can take off.  I mean, I don't have anything against Jimmy (as his girlfriend says on the show), I actually find enjoyment in a few of his songs that I found on a mix tape.  Don't know what his latest hit is now, but I'm sure he has connections and could hook her up if he really wanted to, but I digress.  When you look at her, she's a pretty girl, cute shape, but from what they played on the show, her skills were a little suspect.  I'm no rapper, but I know good lyrics when I hear them.  I didn't get that from her.  It looked like what could make her sell is her looks.  But that's not uncommon or exclusive to female rappers.  All women in the music business will be faced with that challenge at some point in their careers.  I think you'll be hard pressed to find one female artist say their sex appeal was never a question.  The old adage, "Sex sells" is definitely in full effect and this girl is not exonerated from it either.  In the first episode she knew what she should wear in order to get his (Jim Jones) attention, to even think about listening to her.  Hell he even agreed to do a song with her because "she's pretty and they could work something out."  He told her, her looks would make it easy for her to get DJ's to play her music.  In the next episode, she's at a photo shoot and the guy asks her to take an a*$ shot?  That's when she got upset and asked, "Am I selling sex or records?" They guy's response, "Why can't we do both?"  But what if her stuff sucked?  I mean there's a lot of garbage music out there that's being force fed to us and we eat it because it's on every radio station.  I know you could just turn it off and not listen, but the majority of people don't do that.  They hate the song when it first comes out, then 150 plays later that day, they find themselves nodding their heads.  Then they go out with their friends and it comes on in the club, then you think, hey, maybe its not so bad.  Next thing you know, you LOVE it, post the YouTube link on your Facebook and Twitter wall and BOOM, the song is number 1!  Bring on the Grammy!  I'm not stupid, I know sex sells, I don't dress like a nun.  I know what to show off and when to do it, but you would at least like to have the skills to back up the looks!  Sometimes we do this to ourselves ladies.  WAIT!  First let me say, I'm not here to judge anyone for whatever road they want to walk down, but we must admit that sometimes we shoot ourselves in the foot.  We'll take pictures in string bikinis with our legs spread apart, with our butt and breasts hanging out, then we get mad when the guys (and women) don't take us serious as an artist.  You may be a dope emcee or singer or writer, but we have to come to terms that some folks may not stop to listen to what comes out of our mouths because they're stuck on the visual.  I'm not saying that ladies shouldn't be allowed to express ourselves the way we want.  If you want to wear that thong, do it!  I get it, I don't want someone telling me I can't be sexy just because some folks can't handle what I may have to offer.  Totally understandable, but there are ways to be a little more subtle and be sexy and still have the same amount of male attention.  But, just be prepared for the repercussions, that's all.  Understand that men are visual creatures and if you're stimulating their eyes, it's hard for them to focus on something else.  I'm not generalizing all men, I'm just saying on average  it's a safe bet to say they haven't heard one word you've said.  You may not get the praise you think you deserve from the lyrical standpoint, but you'll catch someone's attention.  Possibly making them sit down and actually listen to what you have to say. At the end of the day, you have to do what's going to sit well within your conscious.  If you're good, then I'm great!  Keep doing your thang and I'll see you on the stage!

To Sing or Not to Sing...is that really a question?

How many times are you on Facebook, Twitter or any other social networking sites, and you receive an invitation to come out to an event?  As an artist I send out invites for people to come out to my shows (that I know some folks ignore) and I have received many, many, many invites myself, (that I sometimes ignore...aye I'm just being honest).  But really the best way to gain some name recognition in your city is to go out and be in that city's music scene.  Go where people are doing what you're doing.  Here in the Washington DC Metro area (affectionately known as "The DMV"), there are so many spots that singers, instrumentalists or lovers of live music can go to hear what the city has to offer.  You may know some names and some will be unfamiliar, but the more you're out there, the more people will recognize you and possibly more opportunities will start to arise.  Last night I went to my first open mic.  Now I've been singing for 19 years and have NEVER done an open mic before.  Not because I'm scared of the stage or afraid that I don't have the talent, it just never seemed to "fit into my schedule" or whatever the excuse was.  But a friend of mine (a SANGIN sista might I add) invited me out to a open mic and although I was already tired, my bed looked so appealing and I knew work was waiting just 8 short hours away, I went.  When I got there, I sat in the back and just checked out my surroundings.  Folks were eating, drinking, laughing and the guy next to me was warming up.  Clearly, he planned on singing, he had his water and tea sitting right in front of him.  Then, they passed the list around to see who wanted to go up and sing with the house band and singers, who were killin might I add.  People were hesitant, so was I, a little, but I signed up anyway!  It was great!  There were singers from all backgrounds and genres.  Even had some great spoken word and people who performed some original pieces.  Even though they called my name second to last (crying because I was looking at the time and envisioning myself NOT getting up for work), I thoroughly enjoyed myself. All the talent that was in the room was incredible and I even saw my "big sis" in there.  There was a featured artist, who was phenomenal whom I had never really heard of.  She impressed me so much that I bought her CD!  But had I not gone, I would have missed that whole experience.  Too often we miss out on the opportunity to expose our talent to a room full of people who may have never heard you before.  Whether it's being lazy, fear of rejection or people not enjoying your artistry or you comparing your talents against someone who just tore the house down.  Don't let that fear or laziness rob you of your possible break through.  I'm not saying that the first time you perform someone is going to say, "where has she been all my music life!", But hey, you never know who's out there and could see you and maybe...BOOM!    Your career has taken flight.  Who knows, but one thing I can guarantee is that no one is going to hear all that great talent that you keep locked away and only reserve for the shower and your car.  I'm definitely going to keep attending events like this because they not only provide a platform for local artists and support the local music scene, it's just fun.  So next time, when you're at an event and your name is called, is there a question of if you will let the world hear your gifts...I hope not.  See you on the stage!

The Big Easy

I don't normally watch American Idol, well I used to, but after Fantasia won and I auditioned the next season and was REJECTED, I stopped watching, bitter I know, but I digress.  Anyway, I was watching the results show last night and I wondered how the show's producers go about selecting judges.  Maybe they wanted judges with different strengths, Randy is a producer I presume, J-Lo is a dancer and actress, not a singer (sorry folks) and Steven Tyler (OK, he's a singer).  Maybe because they all, well at least J-Lo and Steven have star appeal, so they picked them based off of that.  I get Steven holds down the Rock genre, but J-Lo holds down what...Pop maybe?  Who knows, all I know is that when I first heard that J-Lo was putting out an album, I thought, hey, maybe she can really sing, I mean I know she can dance and her acting is...OK.  But, when Love Don't Cost a Thing came out, needless to say I was not impressed.  But really, who am I to judge, she's the big star and I'm me.  But I must admit that sometimes I get offended when non-singers are judging real singers.  I get the whole "star quality" aspect, but when do we get past that and try to find some real diamonds in the rough.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying there aren't any good folks on the show, because there are, I'm just talking about the judges.  This led me to think about another show I watched earlier this week, "Kourtney and Kim take New York."  It's a guilty pleasure of mine, but what disturbed me yet again was that Kim was having lunch with Ciara and she mentioned The Dream wanted to record a song with her.  I'm like "huh!"  Why?  Kim even admitted, she's not a singer, but thought it would be fun and I don't blame her for doing it.  My issue is not so much that she recorded a song, but looking at how easy it was for her to be able to record with a super star producer, a person with no real vocal talent.  I mean her singing (if you want to call it that) was really just her talking.  Ew!  Again, I'm not hating on her or her hustle, I'm just thinking deeper into it.  There are so many instances where I see people who may have been successful in another arena and think it's easy to be a musician/singer.  It's almost disrespectful of real talent.  What it says is that we'll take a virtual talent-less singer, doctor up the vocals with all sorts of vocal enhancements, put it to a party beat and VIOLA!  We have a hit!  But what do folks want, a hit or a career?  I personally would want a career full of hits, but that's just my opinion.  It bothers me because the music industry is getting further and further away from it's core product, MUSIC.  They are pushing these songs that have to be masked with major production down our throats to cover for the lack of talent.  Geez!  We have people who can't hold a note without Autotune.  It's cool for effects, but in a lot of today's music we have abused it.  I believe Jay-Z wrote a song about it called "Death to Autotune".  If Roger from Zap were still alive today, he should be getting PAID!  All in all, my biggest problem is that this system of pumping out bull ish, is making the art look easy and cheesy.  It makes it look like we artists don't take the time, care and attention to detail seriously.  We have to really dig in the crates and find our roots.  Find where that producer got that sample from that made the song hot.  Find the singers and musicians that inspired you to want be an artist in the first place.  We need to reclaim our industry and help phase a lot of the ish out.  Where my people at?!  See you on the stage!

Where Did They Go?

On Monday morning I woke up to an old episode of 227 where the Temptations were performing.  As I sat up in my bed to watch the rest of their performance, it made me think of where did all the groups with that showmanship go.  I mean, they were older by then and had changed a few members, but they still had moves and they were actually singing on the show!  Which is practically unheard of today.  Then this morning as I was driving in I heard the group 112's "Cupid" come on the radio.  Every time I hear one of their songs, especially from their first album, it makes me think back to when I was in a singing group and we went to Philadelphia for a music conference.  At the time, they had out the one single, "Only You", which I personally didn't like.  There was a concert during the conference and I remember when the host announced they were coming to the stage, I let out a HUGE sigh because I was thinking, not this group, they can't even sing all that well.  Needless to say, when they came out dressed alike (very reminiscent of Boys II Men), with four mics and a keyboard it made me a little more interested.  Then they began to sing, and after the first line, I was done!  Who knew these boys could sing like that!  Each one sang a solo and they sang collectively, my goodness.  Then after the show was over, they were in the lobby of the hotel, at the piano and sang all night.  I remember sitting there, by that piano and just taking it all in.  This is where the talent lies.  I was also conflicted because what they played on the radio was in no way comparable to what I just heard!  When their first album dropped, I quickly went out and bought the CD.  Hot dang!  That CD was OFF THE CHAIN!  I still play it!  However, to me, the best songs never made it to the radio, hmmm.  Then after while, they had a few hit singles here and there, but then they kind of faded into the scene.  Maybe they're doing something behind the music scene or maybe they're working a desk job, who knows.  But I ask the question, "Where did they go?"  Not just about 112, but I mean where did the showmanship go.  There are a couple of solo artists out there who are trying to bring it back, but for me I wonder can there be any more real groups, that can stay together and still give you that show that fans want to pay for.  I started singing in a group and we were really good, but like so many other groups, we broke up.  I know people can grow in different directions, opinions start to change, musical ideas change and honestly it's hard to share the stage.  How many groups that we grew up listening to are no longer a group.  In my parents generation, a lot of those groups are still performing.  That Motown generation is where the majority of groups get their style from.  Remeber when folks would compare the Temptations to the Four Tops?  Yes, a lot have changed members, but the "group" is still performing as such.  Some of my generation's favorite groups were Boyz II Men, Jodeci, New Edition, Dru Hill (Who were a version of Jodeci to me, I'm just saying), En Vogue, Xscape, and a host of others that will take forever to name.  But out of the few that I noted, maybe one or two of them are still together today.  I know not everyone is meant to be in the group setting,I personally love being a solo artist, but there is something magical about a group of people being able to create music, whatever genre they're in, and sticking together.  Being able to perform with the same people, knowing each other's strengths and having each other's back.  Feeding off one another, that was the best.  However, in today's mainstream music industry is there still room for duos?  Trios?  Quintnets?  I don't know if it's a good or bad thing that artists have so much creativity, they just can't make it work with permanent sidekicks.  Who knows, but I sure miss them, come back groups!!  See you on the stage!