By now you have probably heard about the album that Beyonce dropped on Friday: WITH NO PROMOS. And this ain't some 10 song album, either. This self-titled album has 14 songs and 17 videos. She even has a song featuring her year old daughter, Blue Ivy.
It has been hard for my brain to process how an artist can put out an album with zero marketing. And mind you, this album is number one on iTunes in 100 countries. Homegirl didn't do any late night talk shows, award show performances, or radio singles. She used the power of Facebook and Twitter. She made US her promo team and we didn't get a dime for it.
Let's just talk about Beyonce's influence for a minute. After Beyonce's hit half-time show at the Super Bowl, she announced her world tour. This tour sold out within days. Beyonce didn't even have a new single out and people were spending rent money on tickets. But this shouldn't be that shocking because Ms. Bey doesn't have just any type of fan base. She has STANS. These are fans that attack people for talking about their favs. These are fans that would buy jars of air because Bey told them to. They don't need to be told through commercials to buy Beyonce albums, like Nike, they just do it.
This top secret album also brings up other questions. When did Bey have time to do these videos? Did she make everyone working on her album and videos sign contracts to not say a word about the album? Did people have to sacrifice their first born if they did say a word about her album? In this age of the world wide web, it's hard to believe that a celebrity can do anything and keep it under wraps. Also, how did this make other pop artists feel? While they are spending millions of dollars in marketing, all Bey did was send a link out on Facebook. Even though a lot of artists have sent their congrats on the new music through Twitter, I can't help but feel they are butthurt.
Regardless if you like Beyonce or not, you have to admit that her influence is strong... Or maybe scary. I'm not sure if an artist has ever had this type of following before. Could Michael Jackson do this? Madonna? The Beatles? Rather this album goes platinum or not, she will go down in history for this epic move.
I could not let this week end without me writing about Momma Joyce and her antics. Unfortunately, I couldn't do it sooner because I was on a mini vacation and not near free wifi.
While at the hotel, I was in the lobby watching television. Out of nowhere I see that Real Housewives of Atlanta is getting coverage on Headline News. For two Sundays in a row, Momma Joyce (Kandi's mom) was a trending topic on Twitter. Not surprising considering how she has been acting lately. It is no secret that Momma Joyce is outspoken. When Kandi made her debut on RHOA she was with her now deceased fiance A.J. Momma Joyce was not too crazy about him, but she was chill about it. She spoke her peace and let it go.
Apparently, Bravo must have threaten to give Momma Joyce the boot because she has up the ante. It all started when she told Kandi that she doesn't like Todd (Kandi's fiance) and that she felt he was an opportunist. Momma Joyce even pulled her grandbaby, Riley, into the drama and told Kandi that Riley didn't like Todd either. But Ms. Joyce isn't the type to talk behind your back. She tells Todd to his face that she thinks he is using Kandi, accused him of messing around with Kandi's friend, Carmen, and roasted the engagement ring he bought for Kandi. Even with all of that, Ms. Joyce still had more to give us.
This past Sunday's episode, Kandi went shopping for a wedding dress. At first it was just Kandi, Carmen, and some random guy. While Kandi is trying on a dress, Momma Joyce and her goons, I mean her sisters, walk in. You can tell by the looks on their faces that came ready to rumble. The random guy was talking about how Kandi looked in the dress and Momma Joyce blurts out that Kandi won't be wearing a wedding dress anyway. This causes Carmen to call her out on her rudeness and that's when crap hits the fan.
Momma Joyce goes off on Carmen, asking her why she is even there and stands up like she was ready to throw hands. Then the random guy starts holding Momma back. This is where I give a huge eye roll. If somebody is having to hold you back you are not really about that life. Even her sisters get up like they have the strength to fight somebody half their age. They get Momma Joyce to calm down but not for long. Ms. Joyce gets going again and this time Carmen calls her a fool. That was the fire Ms. Joyce needed and she does the most ratchet thing you can do in a public place: take off your shoe and threaten to throw it at somebody.
Again, random guy is holding back Ms. Joyce and the other sisters stand up like they about to do something. I don't condone violence but don't take out a weapon unless you are going to use it. If Ms. Joyce wanted to throw that shoe, she could have. However, she ain't that crazy. She knew Carmen would jump across that bridal shop on her if that shoe had even came close.
I'm not sure what has gotten into Ms. Joyce. Maybe she saw how quick Bravo will drop you if you are not colorful (no pun intended) enough. I have a feeling this is not the last of Momma Joyce and her goons.
What did you think of Momma Joyce and her actions?
While driving to get something to eat, an oldie came on the radio, Da Butt from Spike Lee's movie, School Daze. Usually I would be in my truck jamming to this song but because of ice on the road I decided that it would be safer to jam in my head and concentrate on avoiding ice patches. When I got back home, I Youtubed Da Butt and had a jam session.
During my jam session, I couldn't help but notice how the girls were dressed in the video. Even though the song is encouraging women to shake their large rear ends, these "video girls" were wearing over sized t-shirts with biker shorts. Extremely different from what we see today in music videos.
I was so intrigued by this that I have decided to explore the evolution of the Video Girl:
Lets start with Soul Train. I know these women were not considered "video girls" but the show did popularize women dancing on TV.
ogsoultrain.tumblr.com
superseventies.tumblr.com
Dresses, pant suits, and bell bottoms: it was not uncommon to see women wearing these items on TV. Women of Soul Train were hip, trendy, and most importantly, classy. They managed to look beautiful and respectful perfectly. Who knew you could dance with clothes on?
Now lets fast forward to the 80s. With the 80's, we got MTV. Unlike American Bandstand and Soul Train, women were used in a different way. These women were no longer seen as talented dancers but more as a prop. Their purpose was to tell a story or to express sexuality. But even in the early 80s "video girls" were still wearing clothes.
LL Cool J "I Need Love"
A Ha "Take On Me"
These were videos you could watch with your folks. No cringe worthy moments. They made their point and yes, they had clothes on. One might say the above videos were telling a love story and that is why the women are dressed conservatively. Well, let's take a look at videos that were exclusively about jamming.
Salt n Pepa "Push It"
EU "Da Butt"
This brings me back to the "Da Butt" video. All the women look like they were called out of a college class and asked to be in the video. They are not overly made up or in expensive clothing, yet they made a very memorable video. Now let's examine Salt n Pepa's "Push It video. We got two women rapping about partying wearing body suits with large jackets. Even with a lack of skin, they are giving us sexy with a side of funky.
While the above artists proved that you can make an epic video without baring it all, we still saw a shift in the music video.
Van Halen "Hot for Teacher"
2 Live Crew "Me So Horny"
When we examine the above videos we see a stark difference between these and "Da Butt". Instead of just singing about the butt, artists like Van Halen and 2 Live Crew had no problem showing women's back side. Using women as a sexual prop has now become the norm and shows no signs of stopping. Women are no longer seen in pant suits but short skirts and skin tight dresses. In just two decades, there has been a major change in the definition of "video girl".
I don't know what caused this dramatic change but I think I know the "why". When up and coming artists saw more risque artists getting higher sells with raunchy lyrics and even raunchier videos, they realized to stay relevant they had to follow suit. In the late 80s and early 90s, the music business was about making millions. Unlike artists like Stevie Wonder and Issac Hayes who live to make music, the newer artists lived to make money. And to make money meant selling sex. And selling sex meant you had to have sexy videos. And sexy videos meant you had to show scantily dressed women. Getting the point? The "video girl" was now a part of a marketing scheme to sell a product.
While these men were getting more respect, women were being demeaned at a level that had never been seen before. BET even had a program called Uncut that showed videos too adult for prime time. These videos showed nearly (if not completely) naked women dancing provocatively or acting out sexual acts. Even with videos shown on 106 & Park, women can be seen doing overly suggestive dance moves. Women are no longer chosen for their trained dance talents but for the curve of their hips.
Sage the Gemini "Red Nose"
Women are showcased doing the new "twerk"
Artists like Snoop Dogg, Diddy, Rick Ross, Nelly (do not get me started on Nelly), R. Kelly, and T.I. have no shame in showing women half naked. The hottest song this past summer, "Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke, went as far as showing women topless. "Blurred Lines" is nominated for three Grammys and I'm pretty sure Robin has made a couple million of dollars off of it. Forget the fact that women were running around topless in the video and let's not even discuss the fact that the song is about the blurred lines between consensual sex and rape.
Will they change? Why should they? Artists don't have a reason to change how they portray women in their videos. If anything they are rewarded for it.
Video girls have come a long way. Unfortunately, they have not gone in the right direction. They have went from being talented showcase dancers to mere sex objects. It is of great importance that we teach our younger women what it means to be a respected performer. We must take back the image of the the video girl. We must instill in them to not let men use their bodies for their own selfish gain. I'm not saying we have to teach them to wear skirts down to their ankles. I'm not even saying that we demonize the men of the music industry. We can't expect men artists to do better on their own initiative but we have to stand up and say no. The more we say no to being demeaned the sooner they will have to find new concepts for their videos.
Hey everybody!!! You know it just wouldn't be right if I didn't do a recap for the most recent awards show: The American Music Awards. I'm not going to lie it was hard to concentrate because there were other things I wanted to watch, in particular Carol Burnett receiving the Mark Twain Prize (I'm a huge fan of hers). But the pop culture guide in me would not let me miss the show. Here are my highlights:
Pitbull's Opening Monologue I am assuming that everybody else in Hollywood was booked Sunday night and Pitbull was the the only one free. His opening monologue was very stale. He was trying to ride the "twerking" train and at this point, I think everybody is over it. Honestly, not sure why they even had a host. I think he was on stage for an overall 5 minutes the whole 3 hour show.
It was the Justin Timberlake Show Let's all take a minute to give JT another round of applause. Even though his performance was giving me Mumford and Sons, I was totally feeling it. Not only did he make an awesome comeback after like 7 years (20/20 is that sh*t), but apparently, he has taken over the R&B genre. This leads me to another point: why is it that JT can cross the color lines into R&B but Rihanna can't cross those same lines into Pop. There is no way you would consider Suite and Tie Pop, but for some odd reason Found Love in a Hopeless Place is the epitome of R&B. I will never understand this, but yeah, whatever.
Shine Bright like a Diamond Studded Bobby Pin When African American women wrap their hair, it means it's time for bed. But in Rihanna's case, it's time to leave for the American Music Awards. I am not sure if her hair stylist ran out of time or what but she wore that wrap with the most confidence. However, it didn't stop there. When she performed she decided to take it up a notch and added diamond studded bobby pins. You read that correctly. Diamond. Studded. Bobby. Pins. But what makes me really mad is that I know that all the teens and 20 somethings will be wearing wraps and bobby pins in the next few weeks. You remember when Solange wore those box braids and then the next thing you know everybody was wearing them? The beauty supply stores are going to be selling diamond studded bobby pins in all colors by mid-2014. But I ain't made at you Rihanna and congrats on your Icon Award.
TLC Performs with the help of Lil' Mama If you go back a couple of posts you know that I love me some TLC. So I was excited about their performance on the American Music Awards show. But what took this performance to another level was having Lil' Mama stand in for Left Eye. If you saw the movie you will know that Lil' Mama hit it out of the park with her portrayal of Left Eye so it was fitting for her to do the rap on Waterfalls. Some people on my timeline was not feeling it but she gets two thumbs up from me.
Ariana Grande Can SANG If you had any doubts about Ariana's talent, those doubts were squashed Sunday night. Homegirl can SANG as we say in the black community. She really has a Mariah Carey feel to her. I'm looking forward to seeing what's next for her.
The American Music Awards Show was underwhelming and long. But like any other award show, there is always going to be that one thing that stands out.
If you do not know by now, reality TV has taken over. For the last decade, regular people have become stars from doing regular stuff. From housewives, to bakeries, to weight loss competitions, to dancing, to singing, to bad girls: these things plus more have found its way into a reality television program. But the American audiences are not the only ones that love these programs; cable networks do too. As they should. These programs are crazy cheap to make compared to scripted shows and they don't have to worry about dealing with celebrities with huge egos that want a million dollars per episode. Even with the popularity of reality TV, you would think that some subjects would be too sacred to touch. But as my mom use to say, "If you think this world can't get any worse, just wait a few minutes."
[Disclaimer: I am not trying to convert anyone to Christianity. This is just strictly my opinion of the shows mentioned.]
In the last month, the cable channel, Oxygen, has premiered Preachers of L.A. and now Bravo has launched Thicker than Water. Before that, TLC had Preacher Wives. All of these shows showcase pastors, bishops, reverends, first ladies, or whatever they want to be called living lives as lavish as rappers and ball players. You see them in the big fancy homes (or mansions to be more specific) and luxury cars. They can all be seen with flashy jewelry draping their wrists and necks. If I was just flipping through the channels I would think I had stumbled upon a repeat episode of MTV Cribs. Surprisingly (or maybe not), they have no shame in showing others how God has "bless" them.
I don't even know where to start. Like I'm dead serious; the blasphemy in these shows gave me writer's block for a second. All that keeps coming to mind is that working class members of mega church congregations have funded these "men of God" with multiple homes and thousand dollars suits. These so-called shepherds make millions off book deals, movies, and music using God's word. Some of them boldly preach: someone has to have this stuff, why not me?
For centuries, religion has been seen as sacred. Even when you are in a place of worship you conduct yourself a different way because of it's sanctity. Now religion is being shown on TV as casually as pageant girls. It is now considered weekly entertainment. Some might say that those who are not a part of organized religion are getting exposed to Christianity. But can you honestly say that Preachers of L.A. and Thicker than Water are bringing people to the good news? People who are already skeptical of religion are not going to watch these men in Armani suits and run to their local place of worship. These shows do the exact opposite.
What about the excuse that God wants them to have these things? Well, preacher man let me introduce you to a king. King Solomon to be exact. The thing about King Solomon was that he was the richest king of his time. In in his words:
"I accumulated silver and gold for myself, the treasures of kings and of provinces. I gathered male and female singers for myself, as well as what brings great pleasure to the sons of men-- a woman, yes, many women. So I grew great and surpassed anyone prior to me in Jerusalem..... But when I reflected on all the works that my own hands had done and on all the hard work that I had toiled to accomplish, I saw that everything was futile, a chasing after the wind." --Ecclesisastes 2:8,9,11 New World Translation, 2013
Now what moves me the most is the last part of verse 11: a chasing after the wind. King Solomon compared all his riches to chasing after the wind. Some people might see material things as a reward of hard work but Solomon refer to these material things as futile. Yes, futile also known as useless, unimportant, or frivolous. God could have inspired (2 Timothy 3:16) anybody to write this in the Bible but He chose to have the richest king record this verse.
Now rather you believe in God or not this is such a beautiful scripture. You see, Jehovah God knew we would not all be able to acquire riches. He also knew we would be surrounded by people with many things and because of our imperfections we could easily become envious of those who do have many things. Jehovah wanted us all to know that riches were not important and does not define our lives. However, how we live our lives is what define us.
You will not get a weekly recap of the previously mention shows because I can't stand to watch more than five minutes. These shows will not be getting anybody to wake up early on Sunday and visit a place of worship. The men who choose to partake in these shows need to take a look at their instruction manual (the Bible) and see what it has to say about their lifestyles (Matthew 6:24).
What are your thoughts on Preacher of L.A. or Thicker Than Water?
I am a huge fan of HuffPost Live. They have interesting segments from interviews with various celebrities to debates on rather college athletes should get paid. This week HuffPost Live interviewed the Show Me State rapper, Nelly. During Nelly's interview he was asked about the tip drill incident that happened circa 2004. Nelly gave his honest thoughts on the incident.
If you don't know about it, let me bring you up to speed.
BET use to have this program called Uncut. Uncut showed videos that could not be seen on the teen targeted 106 & Park. Nelly had a video on there called "Tip Drill". Now I have to admit that the song is very catchy and most definitely a club banger. As far as the video is concerned, it was almost too X-rated for Uncut, leaning more towards softcore porn. Something else I should point out about this program is that it was mostly underground/unknown rappers. It just seemed out of place to have such an established, mainstreamed artist like Nelly doing an uncut video. Some time after the video had been out, Nelly planned a bone marrow drive event at Spelman College, an all girls institution. Some woman at the event chose to protest the event because of the "Tip Drill" video. Needless to say, Nelly wasn't too happy.
Nelly said in the interview that the bone marrow drive was not the time or place to do the protest or have a discussion about the infamous video. Nelly was trying to find a bone marrow match for his sister and that should have been the priority. Nelly further goes in about how others have given hip hop a bad rep and notes that every rapper he knows has a charitable nonprofit. When asked if he would change anything about the Spelman incident, he boldly says that he would "kick somebody's a**." Yep, that's right Nelly. How dare people give hip hop a bad rep after you make a statement saying that if you could redo the event you would whip somebody at an all girls' college. Very honorable.
First let's get into the Spelman incident (I won't spend too much time on it because it is about 10 years old). Nelly was asking the same women whose image he had tarnished to support him. He wanted these woman to put their differences aside to possibly save his sister (who has now passed). I, too, have lost a close family member because of cancer so I can understand his pain. The problem was Nelly's audacity. He didn't realize the caliber of women he was approaching. These woman did not aspire to be "tip drills" but lawyers and doctors. These women (like most college women) are being challenge to examine the world around them and make some sense of it. For them, it didn't make sense for an artist, who had a popular video with woman being hit on the behind, to have the audacity to approach them to aid him in his efforts. You can't bite the hand you are going to later ask to feed you.
He also says in the interview they [women of Spelman] are no longer protesting his song. We as black women are always protesting for our image. I agree that "Tip Drill" was not the first degrading video nor will it be the last. However, hip hop artists need to understand that we are tired of our black bodies being seen as merely sex objects. We are tired of seeing the played out concept of rappers throwing dollar bills at black strippers. And we are tired of the only attire you see a woman wearing in a rap video is a fur bikini (that's not even practical). I'm sorry that Nelly lost his sister, but it needs to be made clear that you can't ask for our support when you do not support us where it counts. (It has been noted in the comment section of the interview by Spelman alums that were attending the school during that time that the bone marrow drive went on as planned but the women were disappointed that Nelly would not have a conversation with them about the video.)
The other bone I have to pick is the whole "I give back to my community so what's the problem?". The problem is you can't crap on our image on a national level and then expect us to ignore it because you gave toys to poor kids during Christmas. It just doesn't work that way. Doing good deeds does not excuse you from taking social responsibility. If I'm caught stealing on my job, I can't say "Well you know, I always bring doughnuts to the office for breakfast." No! I will be fired. That how it works: you do not-so-good stuff and you suffer whatever consequences follows.
Hey everybody!!! I proudly present to you the first interview for my newest blog, EBONY, The Stylist: Project Runway's designer Korto Momolu. Ms. Momolu made her debut on Project Runway during season 5. She can be currently seen on Project Runway All Stars that comes on Lifetime, Thursdays 9/8c. Tune in to the interview as Korto discusses what inspired her to be a designer, her experience on Project Runway, and the fashion industry.
