The Fame (Pt. 1)

Yesterday I was upset with the fans. The diehard "I-live-vicariously-through-you-in-hopes-that-I-will-one-day-be-you". I found it quite strange that people idolize Beyonce, throw themselves at the feet of Rihanna, dress like Nikki Minaj, model their lives according to the phases Jay-Z enters/leaves in his life, etc. It perturbed me to a point of annoyance and disdain. I felt slightly ashamed because the death of Michael Jackson and several artists of late brought immense pain to their fans. These artists touched them ("us" perhaps) because of the tremendous impact they made on our lives through their talents. Artists -a term which is the most all-encompassing category for the broad scope of entertainers- bring about varied emotions from their fans. The range is from ultimate hatred to apathy to appreciation to adoration to idolizing. The idolizing is what I'm having a hard time understanding.

People place entertainers on this pedestal once they're deemed worthy of it by the upper echelon puppet masters. What I'm finding difficult to discern is the difference between those who look at specific identifiably consistent characteristics of an entertainer as something they admire versus the fans who live and die by every character trait, quote, song, dance move of an artist. If most artists didn't have someone to look up to many of them may not have been where they are today. This is an attribute to the fame game. But at the same time it seems that fans follow these "society-proclaimed" role models with such devotion that they lose themselves as a singular entity by getting enraptured in the image. It bothers me to see males and females alike squabbling over whether or not one picture dictates what is going on in the life of an entertainer. It's quite frankly stupid (haven't used this word in a minute). But the simplicity of it all leads me to such a simplistic word. The men and women of my family have a habit -a good one- of not becoming followers. It was never in my blood to follow the lives of others or live vicariously through others. I can appreciate talent from afar, but let's not get it twisted, there are ARTISTS everywhere whose talent supercedes many of those who had the opportunity of joining the fame game. My life is what I make it, not what they say it should be. What the fame may tell me, may not be the truth afterall.

Haddy N'jie

Haddy N'jie envelopes her listener in a voice filled with warmth, depth, and timelessness. Her voice is incomparable to many of today's singer, but contains the timbre synonymous with the likes of Meshell Ndegeocello, Lauryn Hill, and Etta James. Unlike many of today's "empty voices" (a new term attributed to a friend of mine), N'jie's voice is rich and fill a void left in today's soul music: truth. Her lyrics are simplistic, but express complex emotion. And her videos seem to follow suit. I am enamored with the cinematography of this video as it paints a part of a story that is abstract, yet I understand. Her homebase of Norway is very evident in the video; hence the snow being a focal point of the background. I appreciate the diversity of Haddy as an artist. Not only is she a songstress, but she is also a freelancer, columnist, children's book writer, and playwright. A woman after my own heart. And the icing on the cake...



She's au naturale*

I'd Do It All Again*

Heart breaks.
..Tears stain.
Yet, as I wipe my tears away...
I'd do it all again.
~me



This video came right on time.
Welcome Back Corinne*

Yéle - Cry Freedom

The January 12, 2010 Earthquake that ravaged the Haiti Region, will go down in history as one of the most devastating natural disasters in centuries. At a magnitude of 7.0 on the Richter scale, the destruction and death toll caused by the earthquake was unforeseeable and heart-breaking. Upon hearing of this disaster, the true degree of this occurrence did not register with me as it did once I saw pictures of what used to be, what once was, and what is no more. I watched footage of children wandering the streets motherless, brothers carrying grandmothers, and the battered faces of young sisters. The remains of structures that were all some once called their own were left shattered in a heap of what used to be.


In the wake of this natural disaster, I could not help but vividly recall images of the damage Katrina left behind. And secretly I wondered, can my people not win? We try so hard to be… just be. We want to live, we want to coexist, on OUR accord and this happens. I wholeheartedly believe in karma, but I second guess the faith I have in karma when natural events like this occur. As the first free black republic, it is a strong blow to the struggle of the men and women of the African Diaspora who strive to have something untainted to call our own. But somehow I look at the faces of our Haitian family and see a strength that will overcome this tragedy. I look at the weary, tear-stained faces whose hair is covered in ashes and whose nostrils are lined with soot, and see eyes who cannot believe the unfathomable has happened. These eyes, however, are eyes that look to the sky and know there is something greater than us. There is a source of perseverance that got them freedom and encouraged them to rebel against a people who spat on their existence. And now those very people are forced to look at them and acknowledge their existence. They.. no, We shall overcome.

Africa, your people are made strong. Give our fellow Haitians the strength to make it through during and after the storm.*

Dare To Be.

Dare to be. Dare to be more than the confines of thine mind. Thinking beyond the minimal scope of what has already been written is a feat few take on. The likes of Salvador Dali, Audrey Lorde, Donyale Luna and Andre J. resound with me because they weathered the cost of being different. Eccentric, weird, odd, crazy --- words used to describe those who fearlessly dare to be. But fortunately for me I can appreciate these characters who are truly playing the character of themselves, as opposed to the role of normal, same, mundane, homogenous. Their fearlessness stops me in my tracks each moment I feel as though I am too far to the left while everyone peers at me with perplexity from the far "right".

"22 Albums Your Kids Should Hear"

I don't buy magazine's unless something about the cover compels me to. Though months late, I perused through a past issue of Ebony while on line at CVS because not only did it commemorate Black Music Month but the cover inset read "22 Albums Your Kids Should Hear". I purchased this issue after reviewing the following list compiled by Bryan Monroe that is quite well-rounded, especially for music novices.

What's Going On...Marvin Gaye
Songs In the Key of Life...Stevie Wonder
Legend...Bob Marley & the Wailers
All n All...Earth, Wind, and Fire
20 All Time Greates Hits...James Brown
My Favorite Things...John Coltrane
Kind of Blue...Miles Davis
Mack the Knife...Ella Fitzgerald
Thriller...Michael Jackson
Purple Rain...Prince
Greatest Hits...Bill Withers
Fear of a Black Planet...Public Enemy
Lou Rawls Live...Lou Rawls
Time Out...Dave Brubeck Quartet
Baduizm...Erykah Badu
Kirk Franklin and the Family...Kirk Franklin
The Night I Fell in Love...Luther Vandross
James Taylor Live...James Taylor
Unplugged...Eric Clapton
Back on the Block...Quincy Jones
Amazing Grace: The Complete Recordings...Aretha Franklin
Gipsy Kings...Gipsy Kings

Undeniably, there are some records others may describe as classic. Albums such as Electric Ladyland, the Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, and...