"I Do:" Is it possible for a marrige between artistry and commerce?

Last month I got into a rather lively debate with a music industry insider about the current state of the music industry. I can’t recall exactly how we headed down this road; as we started off having casual conversation, but suddenly talk shifted to whether or not Souljah Boy was relevant as an artist and how it didn’t matter if someone was a good singer or rapper as long as they moved units.

Now being the owner of an artistic mind (I went to an arts highschool..BSA stand up!), I couldn’t help but argue for the preservation of artistry in the music industry. I’m one of those people who believes the radio doesn’t really play good music anymore and wouldn’t have Souljah Boy’s album if I got it for free. Well, this gentleman kindly told me that it doesn’t really matter because Souljah Boy is getting people out their seats and he’s moving units and he’s big money. He cited an example where he had been at a party that was full of professionals where they all went crazy for the “Stanky Legg.” That’s all fine and good, and I can’t sit here and say that I don’t go crazy and start dancing when I hear the stanky legg when out and about at night, but I don’t want to hear it twelve times on my commute home.

I don’t have a problem with people making money in the music business. It is a business; meaning the main goal is to be profitable. We all know that some of the richest performers are just that performers. Meaning that they probably aren’t the best singers but they put on a show, you can’t pull your eyes away from them when they are on the stage (Britney spears circa the Britney album). I respect that and know that there is a place for all of that. The Souljah Boys of the world pump money back into their respective labels and support those with less “ commercial appeal.”

What I take issue with is that there is not a happy marriage between commerce and artistry in the case of the music industry. There are very few industries whose profit rest solely on the backs of creative material. Yes there is the music business, and yes there is the publishing business; but beyond that no other industries come to mind.

It is possible for me to go onto a long rant about how there is a lack of competition in radio (I mean there is satellite radio, and the there is Clear Channel, and then Kathy Hughes with Radio One). In reality there are only two record labels and scores of indies, and the proposed Ticketmaster/LiveNation merger would create one of the craziest monopolies of this century. However, it’s obvious that things need to change...but what are these changes?

1. Competition in radio.
Clear Channel owns a lot of radio stations. It’s somewhere in the thousands according to the documentary Before the Music Dies (which you can watch on hulu.com for free). Then there is Radio One which basically has the urban radio market in a chokehold. Whelp, if there isn’t any competition you’re going to hear the same 12 songs over and over again because no one is daring to play anything different. They want to make sure they have your ears. Hmm..maybe the government should step in and make it so that Clear Channel can’t own thousands of radio stations…Imjustsayin.

2. Balance.
Balance is relative. And it is also a very broad term. So what would balance entail? It means that there would be equal parts music that you can party too and music that serves a different purpose. There is room for more than one type of music on the radio. You can swear up and down that there is more than one type of music being played on your radio station but there isn’t. It’s the same beats over and over again with a different cast of characters in each song. A lot of people don’t know what’s out there because they aren’t exposed to it. Honestly, not everyone scours hip hop blogs or has cool music hipsters in their spear of influence.

There is no way to tell what will and won’t work in the future. It is possible that the industry will continue on its commerce-driven path, or that there will be a renaissance of sorts; a “back to basics” approach. With the rise of artists releasing their material via mixtape (thus cutting out the middle man), artists dropping unreleased tracks via twitter, and songs like Jay-Z’s D.O.A., it is possible that a renaissance is already upon us. Perhaps it is possible for commerce and artistry to have a happy and productive union.

I think I'm in LOVE...with VH1...

Back in my highschool days I used to say that watching VH1 was one of my hobbies.  I was (and still am) obsessed with all things pop culture. Where better to feed this hunger and provide thirst for this obsession than VH1?  

For those of you who may not remember, before VH1 turned into all things "chance" and "shot" at love, it was a channel that told artists stories and offered stunning glimpses into the creative process.  

Well I fell madly deeply and truly in love with VH1 all over again after seeing Lil Wayne's Behind the Music on Thursday night.  Aaannd on top of that they are bringing Divas back.  It looks as though VH1 is making a rather aggressive attempt to return to its former self and I love it!

I can admit that I am not a die-hard Lil Wayne fan.  Yes, I am familiar with his body of work, and know some of his story, but I wasn't like "oh shucks gotta go and cop Carter III" when it came out. I like Wayne just enough to keep the radio station tuned in when one of his songs come on, and even more so since I respect this man as an artist (even if his similes and metaphors sometimes annoy the hell out of me).

So the story of Lil Wayne was told in an hour, and on the other side of that hour I found myself having a new-found respect for Wayne, and that's exactly what Behind the Music is supposed to do. It's supposed to give you a glimpse into the mind, the background, the history of the rapper or singer as an artist and human being.  Hearing why Wayne decided he would only create raps off the top of his head was probably what really made me respect him as an artist.  He just felt held back by what he had written down on paper.  And of course, all the typical elements of a Behind the Music were present.  The internal struggle, the passion and drive to make it; for Wayne he wanted to make it beyond being the little skinny looking hype-man in the cash money clique. 

My favorite parts had to be when Wayne discussed what was in that Styrofoam cup that he carries around with him.  He pretty much alluded to what was in there (sizzurp..I know ya'll remember that). He also ate a macintosh apple during one segment of the interview (I kid you not, please let me know if you caught that..I know I wasn't seeing things).

If you missed Behind the Music: Lil Wayne check out the DCtoBC blog here. All 3 installments are available for your viewing pleasure streaming online.

So VH1 is back to what it does best, telling stories, being about the music, and I couldn't be happier.  Next week's installment of Behind the Music is about Pink, and should be just as interesting as last week's Lil Wayne installment.  It will be airing next Thursday, September 17th at 8pm.  

For more information about the line up for the triumphant return of Behind the Music check out the official press release.  I'm interested to see what the Brent Michael's story will entail.  Will he explain why the heck he decided to do Rock of Love? I'm also anticipating the Bobby Brown story to be an interesting one; especially if it touches on his divorce from Whitney.  

Oh, and following Pink's Behind the Music will be the return of Divas.  Not sure if this return can be labeled triumphant when you have Miley Cyrus as a headliner. Yes you read that correctly, Miss Hanna Montana will be sharing the stage with powerhouses like Adele, Leona Lewis and Kelly Clarkson. I'm sorry but I was with VH1 until I saw that.  However, I'll leave the remainder of my comments about this until I actually see the show on Thursday.  They've posted on their blog more information about the line up...check it out.

Even with this slight glitch in the matrix, VH1 has put a move on my heart, and I'm excited to see what's next (can we say another VH1 Storytellers installment? Please pretty please!)

GRAMMY Camp...09!

I mentioned many, many moons ago that I would post video that I took during Grammy Camp.
Please bear in mind that I took these on my camera, which is nothing fancy. Just a nice little point and shoot digital camera.

View. Comment. Enjoy. :)



Grammy Camp Freestyle...







Videos (from left to right): 1. Lamont Dozier, Dave Koz, Ricky Mino&Ricky Minor Orchestra Perform w/campers 2. Counselor Seth Costner performing original song 3. Improv on a freight cart

Kiss the Sky: Reflections on my Left Coast Journey

"We all got dreams and we all-star reaching..." --Drake, Houstanlantavegas


Well I have officially been back on the east coast for roughly 2 weeks. I wanted to take some time to let everything sink in before I decided to reflect upon my west coast experience. So heerrreee we go ::said in Kid Cudi Superboo voice::

I spent roughly two and a half weeks in California working. Working long days. Working long days that had me getting up early ever morning. Working long days in a place I was unfamiliar with, in a state I had never been to, and in a time zone my body had never experienced.

I couldn't have been happier.

For me, being in California was like re-igniting a passion inside of me that had slowly started to fade away in the spring semester of my Freshman year at UMD (spring 2006). The last four years of college had been long, and hard, and tiring, and at times discouraging. The last four years of college left me questioning if I was even cut out to have a career in music (since I had long ago decided that I wasn't cut out to be a performer).

Grammy Camp changed that.

Maybe it's odd, but I felt inspired by everything around me while I was out in California. It could have been because I was in a new place, with new people, and nothing was familiar. I was facing new challenges from the second I stepped off the plane at LAX and was whisked away to The Recording Academy® offices in Santa Monica.

After sitting on a plane for 5 hours, I got to the office and was put to work pretty much right away. There over 90 information binders about camp to assemble. 83 for the campers, 11 for the counselors (myself included) and 15 or so that were for the camp's faculty and staff. Now this assembly was a team effort, and all 11 counselors were working together side by side and at the same time were getting to know each other. We worked until the job was finished; which meant going through countless reprints and re-assembling binders after we realized that there were pages missing. We worked through lunch; and real talk I was hungry. I hadn't eaten since I had an Auntie Anne's pretzel for breakfast on the plane at 7:30am and went straight to sleep. And even though I was hungry, that was just a minor set back.

After working in the office until dinner time, we ate at the USC cafeteria and then went back to work. This time assembling the rooms for camp. From scratch, I helped to put together 3 different computer labs: one each for Electronic Music Production, Sound Engineering, and music journalism. Now I am not a sound engineer, I'm not a producer. I took one electronic music class in college last year, and one in highschool prior to that. However, with the help of my co-counselors (many of whom were sound engineers), I was able to assist in setting up a fleet of mac computers, m-audio keyboards, and m-boxes. That was an accomplishment for me. It was also something that has sparked my desire to learn and understand how live sound works.

On the night before the campers came, and once we finally had all the rooms set up the counselors got together and had a jam session. Jam sessions...I secretly live for these.
They were my bread and butter going to an arts highschool. I used to hang out in the jazz room and listen to all the crazy talented jazz kids go. Sometimes I would beg them for a flute solo...
I tapped back into that excitement, that love, that energy while out in L.A. I even took to singing (yes, I secretly can do a little more than carry a tune). It was amazing for me to feel the rush of not only performance again, but performing things that I loved..music that I would conceptualize in my head that had been itching to flow through my fingertips into my flute, or from out my diaphragm and vibrating my vocal chords in song.

The kids inspired and challenged me too.

I never intend to be someone that a person comes to for advice, but I always offer whatever it is I have when a person asks that of me. There were a couple of times when my advice was called upon by campers, and what I found to being inspiring about this was how I was offering up advice about taking risks. In my eyes, every camper that I came across was fearless in what they were doing. Writing and performing their own music, trying a new field, deciding at a young age that they wanted to pursue a career that is anything but 'traditional.'

So many of the campers were already on the paths to pursuing their career goals, having already recorded songs, created music MySpace pages, Facebook Fanpages, and were fully aware of the various 'hot-button' topics surrounding the music/recording industry. Many times I found myself in awe of all that they could do.

However, at the end of the day they were still kids; teenagers more specifically. They still sought ways to sneak around the rules, to bend them in their favor, and were constantly asking why certain rules had to be followed and what their purpose was. For me, this was a challenge; because there were times when certain campers were down right disrespectful. Being that highschool-aged children wasn't a particular age group that I had any experience with (the oldest age group that I have volunteered or worked with were in middle school); I had to find the balance between being a friend and being a disciplinarian when the time came. However, despite those challenges it truly was wonderful to have worked with such a talented group of young people.

Setting my compass towards my career goals and passions.

One of the highlights of camp for me was having the opportunity to serve as an escort for Senior Vice President of The Grammy Foundation/Music Cares; Kristen Madsen during Press Day. I was charged with the task of taking Ms.Madsen around to the various classrooms in order to observe the camper’s preparation for the closing showcase in addition to watching a group of campers prepare for a special performance with Ricky Minor and the Ricky Minor Orchestra and Lamont Dozier. Press day was by far one of the longest, as well as busiest days at camp (the day started early and then ended rather late, as it was also field trip day). As a communication major it was exciting to experience first hand the excitement (and work) that comes along with “pitching” an event to the press. Additionally, serving as Kristen’s escort allowed me to learn more about the Grammy Foundation and Music Cares, as well as to get a different perspective on careers in the music industry.

Additionally, panels such as the "Industry Insider" panel that gave further insight into careers in the music industry opened my eyes further to the management career field. After speaking with Amy Blackman of CookmanMGMT following the panel, the wheels in my head started turning and I now am considering a career in management, in addition to my current goals to work in communications/pr.

Left Coast Journey, A dream realized.

I remember telling myself after I had sent off the application materials to be a counselor for Grammy Camp, that if I ever got this opportunity I wouldn't rule out a move. Not only would I consider relocating to do what it is I love (which is music; and more specifically the opportunity to be creative, which communications and marketing give me), I would continue to go 'full steam ahead' towards my career goals. Having since been back in Maryland after being in L.A. for 2 1/2 weeks, I feel empowered and charged with a mission: to continue my pursuit of a career in the music industry. I've also realized that to make it you really do have to be fearless. There is a lot of so-called risk involved in building a career and a life out of creative field.

So, as I wrap up this post, I want to leave you with a quote from Steve Job's Commencement speech at Stanford University (which I recommend you watch on YouTube; it is amazing):

"Find the job you love and you'll never have to work a day in your life"

Greetings From the Left Coast!

Greetings from L.A., the city of angels, and the land of constant traffic jams on the 405.
If you don't know already, I've been out in L.A. since July 8th, where I've been working as a camp counselor for Grammy Camp, which is run by the Grammy Foundation®. As the name suggests, the Grammy Foundation® is the advocacy branch of the Grammy organization that is committed to both furthering and preserving American music culture. Part of perserving the future of American music is investing in its future, which are the 83 highschool students who are participating in this week and a half experience.

So my journey to this point goes a little something like this......


I woke up on Wednesday morning at 4:45am to get ready for a 6:50 am flight to California. Direct flight, no transfers. There was one stop in Arizona (and although I only sat on the tarmat, it was burning up inside that plane...90 degrees at 9:30 am!), and then I arrived in the insanley huge LAX airport. I met up with two other counselors (both from northern Cali), and we get picked up by our boss and are immediatley wisked away to the Grammy Foundation offices in Santa Monica.

We arrive at the office and there is a performance taking place in this beautiful room that had floor to ceiling glass windows surrounding it. There's a stage and a piano (grand piano that is) in the room and the group performing has an amazing energy, and I'm kicking myself for not remembering their name right now. It was a group consisting of instrumentalist, and this older guy singing..he sang some in cajun creole, and did a stirring rendition of Sam Cooke's "A Change
Gon' Come" To be in an office that had a performance space was just more than I could ever imagine being possible. Of course it was right up my alley, just going away from my desk and enjoying a concert during my lunch is like a dream.

Having caught the tail end of the performance, we were put to work right after. Mind you, my bags are still in my bosses' jeep and I hadn't even seen my room yet, but it was ok. I love to keep busy, and the fast pace of everything was like a breath of fresh air to me. It had been a while since I had been busy like that.

In a back office, I joined a group of five or so other counselors in order to assemble schedules and welcome binders for the 80-plus campers. We're sitting on the floor, punching holes into papers and then eventually in a conference room assembling the binders assembly line style.

Some hours later (and a few printing errors and missing pages as well), we're all headed to the University of Southern California (USC). There we scramble into the dinning hall to make it there before it closes, and I'm releaved because I hadn't eaten since my flight. Not to mention on top of that I had managed to go back in time once I got here (because of the time change), so I scarfed down that food like it was the last meal of life.

By this time I was fading fast. I had just eaten, I had been traveling all day, I was thinking "ok, now we get to get settled in." It was actually time to set up the rooms instead....

The camp is being housed in a couple of different buildings associated with the Thorton School of Music. We had to set up over a dozen iMacs to create an electronic music production classroom. I'm not the most computer-savy or musical engineering-savy person though, and I didn't know a lot about the software and everything that we were installing, but I soon learned. Over half of my co's are sound engineers, and so I was constantly running behind them asking 101 questions about everything I had to do. I wanted to understand how everything works. Having a really basic knowledge of pro-tools I undersood that the room wasn't complete until we had the much needed M-audio boxes (which is used with the production program pro tools). Apparently the boxes that the campers are using are top of the line, can't remember what generation but it had the word PRO in it.

I had the most fun setting up the combo rooms because I got to learn about how a drumset actually works. What all the sounds involved were called, and what each drum and cymbal were called. One of the counselors, who is a drummer taught me a very basic pattern involving the kick (that's the thing with the pedal right? the bass drum), high hat and snare. I also learned that apparently there are different kinds of kicks and pedals for said kicks for different styles of music. To some people reading this it may seem like common sense, but I'm a woodwind player. I've spent a good portion of my life blowing a metal tube, producing music by dead men who probably would have never imagined that you could take a bunch of percussive sounds and play them all together and it sound good (and not like noise).

Well anyway, we worked well into the night...until 12am to be exact, which was 3am east coast time. So as one can imagine at this point I'm worn out and exhausted. I finally get my stuff out my bosses' car and head to Trojan Hall to get settled.

It's crazy being back in a dorm room again. It's hot as all get out at times because there isn't any air in these rooms. It's a freshman dorm, so I feel like L.A. is hazing me. Good thing tho that I'm too busy to spend an extended period of time in the rooms.

So that's my first day on the west coast in a nut shell. There are some parts that I left out, that again involve me working, and doing so a lot. And then there is also the part about USC basically being in the hood. Not that I'm scared or anything, but it's crazy how that works though.

I'll be posting again soon about the kids, and the various camp activities. If you aren't already, be sure to follow @GrammyU so that you can get my updates about the various guests that have come to camp and shared their time with the campers. So far Gavin Rossdale (formerly of Bush, and married to Gwen Stefanie) and Jason Castro (third runner up from American idol) have graced Grammy Camp with their presence.

These kids are amazing and this experience has most certainly been a blessing..but more on that in a later post...

Best I NEVER Had?

The internet (and more specifically Twitter) was a-fire today with rapid fire tweets concerning Drake's new video for "Best I Ever Had."

Having seen the video late last night, at first I was in awe of the blatant T&A on display. It was far less than what I would have expected from the hottest new kid on the block, Aubrey 'Drake' Graham, aka Wheel Chair Jimmy (Degrassi reference for all of you who didn't watch the show before Drake dropped mixtapes). I vowed to never watch the video again though because it was much too much for me to see over and over. By the time I had reached work on Thursday morning the Twitterverse was full of Drake references. Glancing to the trusty "trending topics" section on the right, I saw that Drake was #4 in trending topics. By lunch time, Drake had become #2. He was right under MJ himself. Every single entertainment publication/media outlet that I follow (which is a lot, I'm addicted to pop culture), was posting links and commentary about the video. From Russel Simmon's @globalgrind to the Queen of a**holeness himself, Perez Hilton couldn't help but tweet about it. @MTV had even reposted its counterpart's @MTVbuzz brief article and link to the video, which stated that it was kinda safe to view at work.

Speaking of safe at work, I hit up one of my favorite weekday workforce buddies to ask if he had seen the video. After replying no, I sent the link to him via gchat. He promptly hit me back saying that he had to turn it off because it wasn't "work apporopriate" (lol). Wow...so Drake does soft-core porn huh?

My issue with the video is very, very simple. My theory about why the video is what it is, also is very very simple. Both are as follows:

I don't like the video because....

This isn't what I expected from Drake. This isn't what a lot of Drake fans (especially the female ones) expected from Drake. We expected our beloved Aubrey to make a video that was an ode to his #1. Instead it was an ode to large-chested women who weren't athletic at all. I really thought that the video was going to be more of a Chris Brown "Kiss Kiss" type of thing. I may possibly have been fooled, but I really believed that Drake had a lot more substance in his music than what appeared in his video. Maybe it was because he was hidden behind that "good guy" image. The guy who was blunt, but kinda sexy. Blunt in speech (I mean he does say "you the f***in best"), but someone who would know how to act if you brought him around your fam.

I should have been tipped off by him saying that "you the f***in best." But everything else that he says in the song would make one think that it was an ode to the girl who stood by her man's side. References to being a mascot, and saying "baby you're my everything, you're all I ever wanted..." As a female fan I felt like Drake kinda played me; like that smooth talking guy who treats you good, and then later shows face and is really an a-hole.

However....

I think the GOAL of this video was to draw in his male audience. At this point, weeks before his performance on the BET awards, there were dudes following Drake; guys who have their ears to the streets and are always up on the latest and greatest in regards to up and coming hip-hop stars. However, those who may passivley listen to music weren't really to sure about this Drake guy. He seemed too soft, he didn't really have "swag" and any rapper that all the ladies love had to be a big softie. So with that in mind, I really believe that Drake said "let's give them somehting to talk about." In a way he had nothing to loose. He already had the support of his female fans who were googly-eyed by him (yea, I thought he was that dude, and my 18-year-old freshman in college sister was 10x's worse), and what he really needed was a strong male following. Well how would one do that? Get a bunch of fair-skinned maidens with large breast and toned legs to be a bunch of ditzes and play basketball. So dear Drake, I will still support you, for now, but really homie, you kinda went down on my scale of people who I love.
By releasing a video that was TOTALLY unexpected by everyone who had been following Drake like the hottest NBA draft pick, Drake drummed up the necessary PR that will usher in his forthcoming album with Weezy's label. As crazy as I may sound for this, the industry can and should take note of what it was that Drake did to get to this moment. What he has done is PROOF that:

1. A&R is dying, and dying fast
2. And mixtapes are the wave of the future.
   
3. Release a mixtape and get healthy buzz on the streets, infiltrate virally, and then SHOCK your followers and its a recipe for success in my humble opinion.
   

Well, until the release of his first official label release, this Drake fan will be waiting with breath that is bated. Something like a reality show, I want to see if my beloved "wheel chair Jimmy," little Aubrey Graham from Degrassi gets the "last rose."

What Drake has to say about the concept for the video and his BET Awards performance:


What the internets were saying....

• Smoking Secion (blog)
• Rolling Stone
• MTV's Buzzworthy Blog
  

Below you'll find some of my favorite responses about the video from those who I follow on twitter (including such media sources as MTV and Rolling Stone)

• Follow me on twitter
  

@missliss87boobs and basketball???...come on Drake, i expected better!... n ur right about the PR @catelouie... i def watched the vid cuz of twitter

groovetopia@catelouie that was the absolute worse...that dude is trash lol...He don't even believe that him self... (in response to Drake's explanation of the video)

RT @TaskProductionsRT @Nic_Da_Sneak son he isn't..ud think cuz he acts he would b ight in his videos..but this nigga awkward as shit. He needs a wheelchair lol

@TaskProductions 1 last Drake tweet…I'm watching the video…they need to record male reaction videos for YouTube lik they did for 2girls1cup lmao

RT @BaltimoresObama: @KaleaAnnai @JohnnyGraham Explain to me why none of the girls in the video dribbled that ball at least once...

@PresidentPeters Finally saw the drake video... I love tittage so I like it. The split on the bench...god bless her

"I feel confident in Drake restarting the world's population. He can do IT." (c) @malhotrashawn

@DAChesterFrenchWonder if the treatment for Drakes video was just like "bouncing boobs and some other shit?"

I'm Back!

Hello world! I've been away for many, many moons, and a lot has occurred in the world. From the metro tragedy in D.C. to the untimely passing of MJ. Not to mention the saga that is unfolding in Iran as well recent events playing out in Honduras.

Over the next 24 hours look out for posts about: Iraq (we've been pulling out and its not even front page news), the folding of VIBE (and what I think about media/new media), Drakes new video, and maybe (jus MAYBE) the BET awards.

Oh, and I'll give you a preview of my upcoming trip to L.A.


To hold you over though, check out my twitter...and follow me (cuz I tweet early and often...)