Jackson Free Press

Is it just me or have we decided involuntarily to accept any and all things thrown at us by artists and radio? I am just stunned to see that so many artist these days lack actual talent. This is really not just music, it's affecting the entertainment industry all together. People are no longer required to have acting skills to become celebrities. They can just sign on to a reality show, where no acting experience is required, and then suddenly they are stars. We are suddenly concerned about their entire life? Reality shows take up at least 75 % of what we see on television these days.

Not to mention, there are really no harmonic groups like there were back in the day. Today we have been bombarded with groups who have one lead singer and three of four back up singers who don't even bother to learn notes or to hear harmony. They all sing in unison and the leader takes the higher note to offer a sound of harmony. What happened to the groups like Boys II Men, Earth, Wind and Fire? Today, if an aspiring group offers a pleasurable eye experience and can dance around the floor, who cares if they can actually sing?

Then we have these artists who don't even care enough about pleasing us to put in work on their ablums. It's becoming the norm for big time artists (Beyonce, Chris Brown, etc...) to put out the same exact albums two times in a row and adding one or two new songs. People, that means that we are making them multi-selling artists twice by purchasing two new songs!!! There is no work put into that. That's a mixed cd, not an album and it should be given away at concerts or events, instead of expecting us to automatically purchase the same album twice.

What is this entertainment thing coming to? When are we going to hold these people accountable for the job they are suppose to be doing? When are they going to work for us, instead of us working for them????

Previous Comments

ID

133033

Comment

Amen, Queen! I can't stand reality shows. Most of them have absolutely no "reality" to them. They're scripted, just like other shows, but a bit looser. The "stars" have little to nothing to offer, other than (maybe) looks and (sometimes) a modicum of talent. The entertainment industry, like politics, gears to the lowest common denominator. That seems to mean "stupid and gullible" to many producers. The movie "Quiz Show" comes to mind, when the producer under indictment says something like, "We don't have to cheat, we just have to make the questions easier." By now, game shows don't take any intelligence, "reality" shows don't take any talent and musicians don't have to know music. There are exceptions to all of this, of course, but they're few and far between all the other cr*p. The only way we can hold these jerks responsible is by voting with our wallets. When we stop buying (watching, listening, dancing to, etc.) the garbage, they'll start to pay attention. Until then, well, we've got what we paid for. Another prong on this fork is education. When the buying public is educated as to what makes for quality entertainment, they'll demand it. But in 2008, our government is much keener on funding wars than public arts and cultural education (but that's a whole other conversation).

Author

Ronni_Mott

Date

2008-08-13T12:10:21-06:00

ID

133037

Comment

As long as we let them make money this way, they'll keep it up.

Author

Ironghost

Date

2008-08-13T12:40:40-06:00

ID

133046

Comment

Agreed. So who's charge is it to educate the public on true talent and entertainment. I can not stress enough just how critical it becomes for me trying to listen to what everyone else listens to and find excitement, when I'm hearing tone def artists with technology offering a sound for them, trickery to make movements sound like runs, hooks that repeat the same two or three words. T-Pain, if you guys are familiar with him, has even invented a new way for folks who have no natural ability to sing to be able to sound descent and even given a slick little sound to it. Even real singers like Jamie Foxx and R. Kelly are finding themselves boxed into a corner where they have to do this too, because this is what sells. This is what the public has been brainwashed to believe is talent. I will say that I am into reality shows, only because it's hard not to be IF you watch television. There is never a single hour where you can't locate a reality series on some network. Some, I believe may have a level of reality that others clearly don't share in. For example New York goes to Hollywood. Give me a break! Now they are going to make us watch this non-actress on her road to becoming an actress. And at the end of the day, guess what happens, she gets roles in big movies and becomes an actress - minus the acting ability. Only a brand name. It's ridiculous. I'm concerned that our society is so easily influenced that it can become an epidemic one day. I mean, Lil Wayne told people he was the best rapper alive, since the best rapper retired. For those of you who don't listen to hip hop, Lil Wayne was referring to Jay Z who at that time was retiring (or retired from making albums). Lil Wayne repeated this notion every single time he was in front of the public. I dare you to ask anyone now who the best rapper alive is....the answer will be Lil Wayne. Not because he is so lyrically sound...which he is...in my opinion. But because he told us he was, we heard it and believed it and now he is. If that's all it takes for our public to be convinced of things pertaining to artistry, just think what type of mess we face politically.

Author

Queen601

Date

2008-08-13T15:46:40-06:00

ID

133064

Comment

I don't hardly buy music anymore. I can't take these marginal or can't sang or play artists anymore. I'm even tired of looking at different so-called beautiful women in the same attire strutting their stuff. Hell, I need to see and hear some talent. Unless your legs, top and bottom are truly unusually beautiful, and you can sang to boot, please keep your clothes on and your mouth closed. Jennifer Hudson is refreshing because the girl can sang. She can act and sang better than Beyonce who has gotten on my last nerve by now with her same old strutting. If I watch a reality show I do it for the comedic value only. That usually all I see whether it's meant or not. These ugly-ass hard legs (fellows) who can't sang or play anything need to set their boring behinds down somewhere too. If one of those tatooed and despicable looking joker showed up at my house to see my granddaughter I'd shoot at him. Where are the unmarked up male artists without a wifebeater t-shirt, too long pants, weed in the mouth and in their clothes and their pants hanging off their funky behinds? I'm gonna kill my grandboys (all 3) if I see them trying to pull this crap on society. "Father help your children. Don't let them fall by the side of the road."

Author

Walt

Date

2008-08-14T12:13:07-06:00

ID

133073

Comment

If it don't make dollars it don't make sense! Banquan, who decided that profit and responsibility are mutually exclusive? There are plenty of companies--especially lately-- who put social responsibility as high, or even higher on the ladder of priorities than the almighty dollar. And yes, a business not making a profit is little more than a hobby, but you have to ask yourself: how much is enough? How many houses, cars, furs and diamonds can one person use? Yeah, I remember my parents (actually, only my mother because dad was tone deaf) going ballistic over rock 'n' roll. "That's not music!" I was blessed to be exposed to all kinds of music when I was growing up--classical, opera, Broadway and folk, to jazz, blues and rock--and I'm thankful for that. I might not be able to make it, but I sure can listen enthusiastically. Even my mother came around to some of it. It's really tragic that budget cuts keep music and art education from our kids in public schools. Might help, couldn't hurt...

Author

Ronni_Mott

Date

2008-08-14T15:36:28-06:00

ID

133113

Comment

Baquan, sorry 'bout misspelling your name. As someone with an unusual name and spelling, I should have been more careful. But... it's wo(man) if you please. H.L. Mencken said: "Nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public." I don't get upset about people "living the capitalist dream," I just think it's more of a nightmare than a dream come true. We've been sold a bill of goods my friend--new, more, bigger, better--that has many of us living way beyond our means to achieve... what? Happiness? I don't think so. It makes me sad to see so many people clamoring after the "dream." I've done it too, believe me; it's easy to get sucked in. As to the hype about education, I'm not talking about extra-curricular or elective subjects. I'm talking about giving every kid a basic well-rounded cultural education, exposing them to music, art, theater and dance. It's as important as science and math, as far as lots of educators are concerned, and our kids aren't getting that as far as I know. Neither did their parents, I expect, and parents can only teach their kids what they know. There's a lyric somewhere that says "every generation throws a hero up the pop charts," and it's true. My mother--with a background in opera and musicals--bemoaned that rock 'n' rollers couldn't sing. She was right: in her context they couldn't. Today, when I compare rappers to Crosby, Stills & Nash, Otis Redding, The Beatles, Cat Stevens, Isaac Hayes and a myriad of others, they pale, lyrically and musically. That's my context. But then we also had our share of musical ca-ca, too: Alice Cooper and bubble-gum music come to mind. Ultimately, history will judge. People are still playing Mozart today, 200 years later, and probably will be in 2200. I wonder if they'll be playing Elvis or Lil Wayne in 2200.

Author

Ronni_Mott

Date

2008-08-15T11:55:06-06:00

ID

133120

Comment

Baquan2000, I thought I was the most pessimistic person in town or the state of Mississippi about race or cutural relations here. You're giving me a run for my money. I thought Mexicans were Choctaw Indians when first exposed to Mexicans at 23 years of age. I thought Jesus was Jesus instead of the Hesus pronounciation. I hope we will soon make it to the century in which we live, and before my expiration will become an enlightened example for surrounding states to follw. Nall, I haven't been dranking or hitting the pipe. I don't do either but I understand how anyone would wonder considering my recently stated outlook here. Living here is so blinding. I wish I could send every citizen across the world for a year then return them. About half of them would spend the year trying to get back, running from the larger truth, and trying to rehash, replenish or restore their obviously false and corruptible histories. I'm mindful of writings and commentaries by Richard Wright, Ralph Ellison and other black writers who lived in France at some point. They say as white Americans more frequently visited and inhabited France they brought their racist ways with them and before long were trying to get citizens of France to treat Black Americans the same ole racist American way. Even the U.S government fostered and pushed the said behavior. How sad it is to never be able to run far enough from racist pathology or backward ways!

Author

Walt

Date

2008-08-15T12:58:50-06:00

ID

133123

Comment

Indeed there are many good things about Mississippi and the south. I don't make it a habit saying this for fear that many of our backward citizens would continue to believe we don't need improvement. The whole 12 years I was gone from here I wished frequently that I was back. "There are good and bad things about the south. Everybody talks about the bad, but what about the good?" These are lyrics by Glady Knight, Wilton Fielder and another southern well-known musician who moved to other reasons of the country but missed Georgia and other southern places. They called this song, "Way Back Home." This song has always touched my heart, mind and body in a strange way that I can't even totally put to words.

Author

Walt

Date

2008-08-15T13:37:34-06:00