Musicians need to be like bloggers and stop whingeing
I've often thought that literature and music share a lot and by that I don't mean the historical links of cheap arty neighbourhoods populated by musicians, artists, poets, actors and writers all scrounging around trying to find themselves.
Just like music, writing has now evolved so much that some old timers would rather terms like literature and chord were not applied to blogging and grime music respectively. And just like it would be churlish to deny that instant noodles are not noodles it's improper to deny those two their place in their respective cultures.
And so it is that like music, writing is an art form however apart from a deluded minority you don't get us bloggers thinking that we MUST live off the pen keyboard.
Musicians need to get over that aspect of their art and realise that there are thousands of them out there and that just because someone has spent some money on their craft, doesn't mean that the world owes them a living. In the music and bloggers analogy writers who can string two sentences together would try to go professional; and soon as they try to live off of writing they would start to complain about every aspect of the industry. Spouting on about anything from the 'dinosaurs' who don't get the change that's happening right down to the new school digital gatekeepers who are screwing them on behalf of the dinosaurs (who want to hold onto inflated profits from times gone by).
"To save money we will be replacing our reporters with bloggers, who will work for free."
You only have to look at the blogging world to realise that we too spend money on our craft hoping that one day we'll make it. However making it for most of us just means getting a link back and getting 100 hits in a day. There are millions of websites out there competing for eyeballs and whilst it would be great for me to be paid to write, I seriously don't lose any sleep over it. I will continue to fork out money to Godaddy (and their girls), theme designers, app makers and anyone else who promises to make my blog look cool or easy to put together. I am prepared to do all this in order to fool a few readers a day into clicking the subscribe button. One day my kids may be mad at me because they missed out on playing time whilst I wrote about my sadness at the death of a dictator but you know what? I don't mind. I blog for the love of it and though my time is worth a lot to me and my family, the fact that I'm doing it for me means that I'm content with not charging you to read it. Link away dear friend, unless I suddenly become popular and am the subject of a mega-bucks Rupert Murdoch takeover, this website will always be freely available. Though lets face it, everyone has their price.
Nevertheless, I am truly content with knowing that the millions of rubbish websites and blogs out there make it much less likely that mine will be found by any significant number of people. Not through a lack of presence of course, but apathy from readers who are tired of being trapped into reading ugly blogs full of unoriginal content churned out by machines. And that's just if you're lucky because on a bad day surfing the web can result in your computer catching a virus or you visiting a site for paid local (same) sex services which would be impossible to explain if your boss or wife looked at your browser history.
In the end it's clear to me that the internet is full of junk. Millions of rubbish websites with trash-type content strung together by biased writers who stopped learning grammar soon as they finished learning their ABCs and all available one of the greatest innovations in history. The weird thing is that some of that junk is actually really popular and a huge number of other well written and presented content will never be exposed to much more than the writer who wrote it and their long lost ex who is trying to track them down. I'm conceited enough to think that my blog is one of the better ones, but I'm not up-myself enough to think that internet surfers owe me a living.
Despite all this I'm not deterred in my quest to write compelling posts and it's probable that my anti-Apple zeal could have been cured if Steve Jobs had ever said that the Macbook was so magical it could make me write like a latter-day Thomas Hardy. The Macbook is one of the few things that separates me from my very musical younger brother. The fact that he has invested much more in his equipment than I in blogging writing equipment. This could quite easily have been the reverse had I been born in the days of the type-writer however in terms of time spent I believe I would have no problem matching him or any other arty type. Nonetheless I won't single him out because he has never expressed a sense of entitlement about his standing in the music business. My ire is directed at his up-and-coming peers in general who complain about the state of an industry which they have chosen in all consciousness to be a part of.
As the proprietor of a music related business, I'm not anti-musician nor do I foresee doom and gloom on either side of the music business artist or establishment. I simply believe that people have choices. To work in the industry or not. To view it as a hobby or not. To use certain services or not. To always complain about the state of things and the problems they encounter or to try and effect change and solutions. But most pertinently musicians also have the choice to live in the real world and look around...... or not. Either way I wish they'd stop whingeing about the business!
I’m tired of explaining Facebook and the internet to people
Technology is here, get used to it
Maybe it shouldn't amaze me because the world is full of dumb people and it should be expected that now and again I'll run into the misguided opinions of some of them. But it's amazing that in this day and age some people still don't get that Facebook is just another communication tool. Same as text, MMS, letter, postcard, fax, phone, email, smoke signals or Morse code.
Facebook and the internet enable communication in general and are not specifically for narcissists and voyeurs. The dumb people who don't get this irritate me by trying to put across to me that they are somehow holier than I because they don't use Facebook to share their 'pregnancy news'. To say that a communication tool is sad and pathetic doesn't make sense to me. A tool is only as sad and pathetic as the information going through it. In other words if you think Facebook is sad and pathetic maybe you need to look at your 'friends' first. A communication tool can only be labelled useful, useless or other such adjectives. This doesn't apply to Twitter which as an open publishing platform that is actively trying to take on the soul of it's content. Go ahead and call Twitter sad if you like.
What people should realise is that you can have 3 connections or even less on Facebook and exclude your cousins or whoever because of that long running feud your Mom hold's against her sister for not letting her borrow her mascara when they were teens. If you were going to send photos of your newborn to your 3 siblings, Facebook is just as good a tool as any to send those pictures with. You don't even have to accept one more friendship request or make yourself discoverable to that crush from Year 6 who thinks you're the one that got away simply because one curious day you decided to give him a quick peck on the lips.
It's true that voyeurs and narcissists do have it slightly easier on Facebook but only in broadcasting to other voyeurs and narcissists. There are plenty of people who very privately share information and pictures with only the people they care about. The internet can be a lot like real life in that sense. Most of the people saying dirty jokes online would likely have been saying them offline.
Anyway, let me stop this rant before I point out about the absolute contradiction of someone actively publicising the fact that they don't publicise something! LMAO!! (as the Facebook generation would say).
The problem with health and living longer
Ok, so maybe you will get your body fitter and live longer?
But that can be very dangerous.
You could end up causing your body to outlive your brain! Think about it, when you are very old, with a brain befuddled and incoherent, nature is telling you it's time to die. But your body is lagging behind several years and keeping you alive much longer than nature intended!
You are risking maybe 20 years in a geriatric ward at the mercy of the NHS. That's my excuse not to start running!
Reading a comment on a Charlie Brooker article on the Guardian website today I was reminded about the old Philip Morris research that people who smoke are a net benefit to society because they pay more taxes and die sooner. No doubt that research was politically incorrect because of the inherent bias of a cigarette maker actually publishing research to support an activity which without doubt will end up severely affecting your health. However the central premise is true. If in fact I want to enjoy my life now and am not bothered by the mere statistic of living longer than the average person, then modern society no longer seems to accommodate my wish.
I was never a smoker but I was totally opposed to the smoking ban when it came in. I feel the same about health. I only advocate a healthy lifestyle in the sense that it should make you feel good enough to do what you want and allow you to contribute to society TODAY, not some ideal about how people should live longer. Let's face it the odds of living to 90 whilst at the same time enjoying a fruitful life are not very good, even if they are improving. I'm amazed by what science continues to achieve and supportive of all efforts to improve peoples lives even by stem-cell treatments, however I am also aware of why nature intended everyone's life to come to an end.
A long and unfulfilling old age in which I have no comprehension or memory of one day from another is one of the worst things I can think of. Unfortunately upon one's death it's their recent being that people also tend to remember.
Davina Green: bringing something to the party Everytime
I was sent a link on Twitter to a new Zimbabwean artist called Davina Green by @Eski_Mo. I'm glad I clicked on the link, because the song is great!
The record is called Everytime and it's a no-frills RnB song, with a great beat and great lyrics and the two are well matched throughout to make an up-tempo love song. Ms Green has what I would call a 'thin' voice even by most women's standards but she's well in control of it and even manages to do some vocal gymnastics with it. I loved the song and would have bought it had she not had it available as a free download. Honestly!
Regular visitors would know that I occasionally blog about music, however on listening to the song got, it got me thinking about a topic that regularly been discussed in Zimbabwean circles. In fact I've ranted about this on Facebook before and I can't resist another rant now that I'm blogging about it!
Basically, a lot of new Zimbabwean artists are singing RnB, Hip-hop and Dancehall tunes in Shona (one of our local languages) and mostly these songs are labelled as a new genre called 'Urban Grooves'. I don't buy into Urban Grooves. I think it's a way of peddling sub-standard music that wouldn't make it as RnB, Hip-hop or Dancehall by just singing it in a different language. From that we constantly hear calls of 'supporting your own' and 'play local artists more'. To be honest the whole debate is ridiculous in my eyes.
Most of the Urban Grooves songs have no real differentiation from their Western counterparts apart from the fact that they are rubbish. A lot of the beats are stuck in the '80s and they seem to take the caricature of whatever genre they are meant to derive from. Think of it this way; in Urban Grooves I've heard beats that share more with Chaka Demus and Pliers or Keith Sweat than with the music of today. That's not to say that those two artists were bad, just that they are now being badly copied by young Zimbabwean artists. Artists bring no real variation within their songs and never mind the albums. I like what the youngsters in South Africa and Ghana did in coming up with Kwaito and Hiplife. Their music is clearly influenced by Hip-hop and dance music but the musical structure is totally different. They can make the rules now and say what's good and what isn't, because it's their music.
Basically I think our Zimbabwean kids have not brought anything to the music to warrant it being called a new genre. I wouldn't stop anyone putting out music if they feel like it, however what I will do is judge them by the standards of the genre they took from. By those standards most of 'Urban Grooves' is rubbish. There are some Zim guys putting out good RnB or Hip-hop songs in Shona and you have to say even by Western standards, the beats are tight, the flow is good and the lyrics are on point. Way back when, A Peace of Ebony and Zimbabwe Legit are two groups that had lyrics in the vernacular, but even at that time their records could stand up against their American peers. I think members of those two groups would probably agree that they were original in their own way, but not original enough to call their music a new genre. It was still Hip-hop.
I believe that musicians must bring something to the party all the time, whether it's originality or talent. As a music fan I don't care whether you've worked your butt off for the last ten years if you're only going to be putting out wack stuff. I'll care even less if the only thing a musician brings is a different language. By all means a musician can sing in Shona or Klingon if it pleases them, but if it the result isn't good I won't hesitate to call BS.
On Everytime, Davina Green has not done something truly original but she has brought something to the party, and that is her talent. Her song will stand comparison with anything out there. I played it on loop whilst writing this post and I'm still not sick of it. Ms Green has the tools to make a name for herself in the industry and I'll do my bit to spread the word. However I certainly won't be feeling linguistically blackmailed Everytime I listen to her song!
What came first, the gender or the stereotype
Have a look at the following images of what the most common words in toy adverts are, when split by gender.
First, the boys’ list, available in full size at Wordle:
Now the girls’ list, also available in full size at Wordle:
The result is not really surprising but it really does hit hard and get you thinking.
Does the toy industry reinforce gender stereotypes in their attempts to sell toys?
Is stereotyping pervasive and do parents even recognise how it is ingrained in society? Do parents perpetuate these stereotypes?
Or as one commenter says; What's... "sad about this, is the fact that it is somehow seen to be better playing with fighting toys than with ‘girly’ toys."
Personally I'm going to put my hands up and say YES I play to my* kids gender, by reinforcing all that I know about perceived gender roles. As the father of a young boy and girl I have twice the work in trying to indoctrinate them! I don't see it as a bad thing, because there is a bigger problem out there than whether or not my daughter is a girly girl and the boy is a little rascal.
That problem lies in the way society picks out people who are different. In society anything out of the ordinary is seized upon by kids and like-wise by adults. Some of the time society will put on a pedestal people who are different, but most of the time anyone who is anything but normal will be sought out and laughed at. Being different is a much too arbitrary quality and the treatment that people who are different gets almost never depends on the individual.
Let's face it if they happen to be different and if my son played with girls' toys he would not change society into accepting blurred gender roles. In addition as found by one study, it turns out that even male monkeys prefer boys toys anyway. It could after all be that the Ad-men do all that stereotyping simply because children LIKE that sort of thing and that is the best way to get through to them.
It is for that reason that I pray for my kids to be normal in their infant years, because anything other than that is a risk in terms of will they be admired or (most probably) laughed at. I always try to teach them that there's nothing wrong in being different, but that's only because at their age it's just too hard to explain all the different kinds of different! There's Different DIFFERENT. Different good. Then there's so different you're not one of us and so on. In time they'll get to know all this but preferably not as a result of being laughed at.
In the mean time I'm happy to let the Ad-men play on whatever stereotypes I'm forcing my kids into. I'll also celebrate how ordinary they are, and am even secretly pleased with each one of their very ordinary achievements and milestones. When they are fully grown the only way I want them to differentiate themselves is by having the ability to do something normal much better than anyone.
* 'Er Indoors doesn't read this blog, but she'd kill me if she did for making out as if the kids don't have a mother. She'd probably want me to call them 'our' kids. Women eh?!!
If your kid looks up to Wayne Rooney, you’re to blame
You've got no respect for things son! You know I had to get the bus into town just to nick that aeroplane!
One week after swearing into a live TV camera during a mid-day match, every man and his dog is having his say on Wayne Rooney. The media has been criticizing Rooney for being angry at all the criticism and abuse he gets. They've since been asking everyone their opinion and criticizing them if they didn't give the 'right' answer. It's now turned into a band-wagon and this blog loves to jump on them; so I think we should ride it.
The biggest thing that everyone has been raving about is as usual, 'think of the children..........he's a role model, and that's no way to behave'. I really don't buy into that stuff because as parents we have much more control over what our children take in and what they'll turn out to be than a celebrity they'll never meet. That is still true even in this crazy world of 24 hour kids TV where every inane idea for a show seems to get picked up. I'm looking at you Sponge Bob!
In no way do I want to excuse what Mr Rooney did, because I think it's in-defensible. Understandable maybe, but still not right. However I really want to discredit the notion that kids will look up to someone regardless of what we as parents want them to.
The main problem I think, comes about because as parents we don't teach kids that in life you have to look to lots of different people for inspiration. Just because a kid loves Wayne Rooney doesn't mean he should be taking lessons in TV etiquette from him. And if your kid doesn't know that, then it's your fault. Neither Rooney nor the government should have to tell your kid that Wayne is all about football. It is of course a slightly different story for Wayne's own kids....., but then I don't know anything about how he's bringing them up.
Personally, I apply the same thing even in friendship. It sounds so obvious but you'd be surprised how many people are disappointed in their friend X who they know has always had a habit of doing a particular thing. I'm only ever disappointed in my friends when they do something I wouldn't expect them too. Yes that's right, I have 'allowances' for all my friends. Just like the banks have different over-draft limits for us all I took that and applied it to my life!
Anyway, there should be plenty of good people in everyone's life and we would all do well to highlight the good things they do to our little ones who are just starting out. A child should have as many role models as he needs. Each one for a specific thing. If one of those role models fails at something he never did well that should never influence the growth of a child.
Whilst we're at it, the media needs to stop feeding the myth of the celebrity role model. It doesn't exist. The only thing we should learn from famous people is how to get famous.
Michael Jackson: The picture that says it all
I stumbled onto this picture of Michael Jackson on Ledisi's blog the other day. For me it conveys a lot of what we outsiders saw in him.
- The boy dressed in his Peter Pan fantasy outfit. Seemingly shutting out reality.
- The boy we knew, who now has a freaky, whitened face. Still recognisably him.
- The sad look on his boyhood face.
- The half-smile, half-sad adult face.
I'm posting this as it captures the essence of what I try to say on this blog. Whatever you do, business, music, politics and most importantly in life, pay attention to the reality of the situation. Too often we think and dream of something and when it's time to do it, reality bites us in the ass.
I believe Michael Jackson was Stunted by Reality. What does the picture say to you?
Major Lazer – the birth of electro dancehall
So I'm reading this Guardian article about pop artists' nominations for worlds best artist, period. And Mike D from the Beastie Boys mentions Major Lazer before eventually nominating a different band. Now I was intrigued enough to find out about this Major Lazer dude and set about following the links trail, as one does.
The story behind Major Lazer is an interesting one about him being a "Jamaican commando who lost his arm in the secret Zombie War of 1984." All very imaginative, but in effect he is the creation of Diplo and Switch, two producers who met whilst working on M.I.A's Paper Planes album and discovered that they both had a love for Jamaican Dancehall. They then went out to Jamaica and tried to convince Dancehall artists to feature on their tracks. Unsuccesfully at first, though in the end they managed to get Vybz Kartel, Mr. Lexx, Baby Cham, Wayne Marshall and even Elephant Man.
The beats they were pushing were a mix of Dancehall, House, Electro and I can say being a fan of all three, I love the results. They've kept the bassy drums of Dancehall and infused some electro riffs and samples that manage to be distinctive and yet not detract from the Dancehall elements.
Of course Dancehall has been here before with Jungle which in the end turned out to be shortlived though I liked that when it was around. What can I say, anyone who knows me knows I love bass. Bass guitar, drum & bass, that Jack White bassy riff. Anything! However I feel that this could be a new genre we're witnessing.
Like any new genre it still needs other artists, especially up and coming ones, to be inspired enough by it to go down the same route.
Major Lazer, I salute you.
Major Lazer (Feat. Prince Zimboo & M.I.A.) - \"Baby (Switch RMX)\" MP3 via Stereogum
KO the Korean rapper – Why rappers shouldn't say the N word
Yesterday I saw a link posted by Ty one of my favourite UK rappers. Actually, one of my favourites, period. It was a link to a YouTube clip and his comment was "is this for real?", without actually saying what he was linking to.
Now I'm as curious as anybody, so I clicked through and watched a clip of a young Asian rapper talking about n1ggaz and hoes in that animated style you'd normally associate with 'gangster' rappers. In fact I'd say he was biting off of DMX's song (What's My Name? I think?). Those swear words were used quite a lot and to bad effect, because the rhyming and lyrics were really off. You know what, just watch it yourself. Here's the video.
That was Here we go by KO; Too bad you don't get rap skills from taking steroids!
Anyway, I'm sure most people would agree that it was interesting! I must admit the video is kind of funny because the song is so bad. Of course it doesn't start off funny because each time he says n1gga it feels like a slap to me. Ideally you'd want to tell him to stop using it, until you realise that a great number of today's rappers use that word; so how are we going to tell him to stop when this is most of what he sees in hip-hop. Furthermore, no rap album or DVD is going to come with a pamphlet explaining the history of the word and why it's offensive.
Now I know quite a few black people who would be offended by this song, but I'm not one of them. I actually think that our more prominent rappers are perpetuating this sort of thing by their common use of the word n*gga in their songs. Therefore I'm mad at them. That's also not a new thing, because I'm sure they've all heard it before and probably from people with way more clout and reason than me.
The only thing I'd like to say is that rappers need to have a look at this video to see how much of a caricature THEY have become and by extension us black people. This is all because of the unnecessary use of a word that we really don't need to appropriate. Yes, I use the word from time to time (rarely in fact), but in all honesty there will never be a day when black people can truly say we have gotten rid of the negative connotations of that word. I remember watching Oprah once and she mentioned that it was like calling your kid a b*stard. You can say it, but you wouldn't want anyone else saying it. I agree with that, especially since we all know that b*stards will never manage to appropriate that word too!
Now it's entirely possible that KO made this video as a joke, whilst still appreciating hip-hop music, but that just shows even more deeply how these 'gangsters' need to check themselves in the mirror. Anyone who's comfortable being emulated like that, joke or no joke would really have to be insane.
That actually brings me to my proposal for getting rid of the N-word. Any rapper/singer/actor (yes you Samuel L Jackson) who wants to use the word n1gga in their video, film or whatever, MUST be made to have a duet with KO!
Not forgetting all those video girls who are comfortable being called hoes and b*tches. They should be made to share the stage with KO's Juicy-wearing hoes. I'm sure no-one will choose that option, or will they......
neither facebook status nor twitter was enough
So I've been using Twitter for the last year or so and have found it OK. For those that don’t know it’s a micro-blogging platform. Basically, on Twitter you say what you want to your “followers” in 140 characters or less. Your message is open for all to see on the net, but your followers get a constant stream of what you and their chosen personalities have to say. In my opinion, it's a bit of a glorified group-text messaging service, but one that can be useful. In my case that usefulness was in trying to evangelise for my business, GigPay.
Personally I always try to say something engaging in my tweets. For example, instead of saying “there was a lot of traffic on the way to London”; I'd prefer to talk about my thoughts with regard to traffic. Bare with me, it's just an example, and yes, people do tweet mundane stuff like that. Instead my tweet would be something along the lines of the government’s traffic policy or my perception of people’s traffic habits. Like I said, something engaging. Short, but enough to get whoever is reading it, thinking or even responding.
Now, there are two issues with this. Firstly Twitter is not really brimming with that sort of user. Second, sometimes their 140 character limit is not enough to put across my sentiments. Therefore, I've lately been feeling the urge to express myself more than I could on Twitter. Yes, I have a partner (in the traditional sense of the word!) but that's just not enough, especially as she doesn't agree with most of my thoughts. So today I thought, well maybe I should start a blog. However, as far back as two months ago I didn’t think I had anything to blog about. I do like reading and writing, but I was convinced that the world doesn’t need to hear my opinion. There are quite a lot of loud-mouths, smart-ass*s and armchair critics already out there, and if I look around it’d be easy enough to find someone who actually says the things I want to say much better than I do!
Needless to say none of those issues stopped me slowly coming round to the idea that I might just be that guy who says things that someone else out there wants to say. Talk about having an ego! To top it all off, despite not being a celebrity, I went and named the blog after my surname. Whew!
So who am I? My name is Joe and I’m a budding entrepreneur living in the UK. I love business and I love culture.
Anyway, here we are and I want to say stuff in a little more than 140 characters. Stuff about the music business (I know, I know), business, politics, life, and whatever other BS I wanna spout. I hope to write short articles, but I’ll certainly try to make them all entertaining. Even the business ones! I’m only assured of one reader, my sister Charmaine, but that won’t stop me. I hope to post at least once a week and I promise not to abandon this blog. Otherwise I might as well have stuck to Twitter!
