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| Once upon a time not long ago... this was my dollar and a dream |
It's interesting, before I even thought of writing this I had to take a long look in the mirror...
The reality is, I have over 15+ years in this business either as a blogger, events host, music director, radio station owner, podcaster and artist manager and none of that means shit to the current climate. Relatively speaking, we have embraced the drama, seduction, pettiness, and backstabbing nature that would make Shonda Rhimes blush and keep Mona Scott Young in business for eternity.
But this isn't a narrative for me to downplay the way these talented Black women have become media giants, it's to feed the nature that the business is dying to live and living to die. And what stands in the way of it living: the old guard.
Yep, the gatekeepers who withhold the untapped talent of the independent and unsigned music field across this often deem dead globe we call Earth. Or should I say the ones they tap into and suck them dry once they got all of their talent out of them.
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| How I Perceive The Record Industry Looks At Talent... |
Here's a interesting take I saw today. UK based media company The Telegraph highlighted something eerie but true: The music industry is exploitative. You heard it. But while they reference Simon Cowell and his exploits they pointed out some of the key faults that some artists tend to fall into....
Yes, that's in reference to the very controversial era of singing on television for a contract.
But while even I got caught up in the Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood hype, I clamored for more for the R&B/Hip-Hop/Rap community and yet... nothing. While I am not purposely shoving aside The Rap Game or Rhythm & Flow, its certainly not enough for what is necessary to change the culture. But here we are in a world where it's those genres that are most harvested for content because of either its viral nature on social media or immense talent individuals within it.
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Cher Lloyd, who finished fourth in The X Factor in 2010, this week used TikTok to accuse the show of “selling me the dream just to exploit me"
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It's annoying because of all these years I sit back and think of the over 500+ artists I've featured, 100+ DJs I've promoted, 2000+ posts I've done here on Voiceless Music, only 4 have either gotten a record deal, gotten close to one, or has been featured on the Billboard charts.
And before you crucify me, if you are an artist, that is not your fault, it's the fucking industry. These bloodsuckers rather take your songs, your instrumentals, or even your flow and feed their own nature like it's some mindfuck to convince you their watching what you do because of the same style of song or video (from YOUR idea) is now on BET, MTV and whatever legitimacy is left at World Star.
But when it's up then it's stuck right?
Its sickening, it's mind-blowing, and there is a need for a change....
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| ...because I'm tired of the fuckboys too busy looking for this from our women of talent |
They sit in them high ass chairs in those big corporate offices in New York, Chicago, Miami and Los Angeles looking for new talent but don't look in the mirror to mentor someone new, someone fresh to replace them. They've made the A&R position so obsolete to where even the classic blogs like Sermons Domain or AllHipHop.com can even feature new talent to be discovered without us as people finding out they've gotten scammed in some shape or form.
Y'all love speaking on scammers on Facebook; then congrats, you're in the music industry.
Then on the flip side, you have so many of these same artists who suffer in private because they are scared of being exposed because of their shortcomings, or their bad decisions, or even mental health deficiencies, it makes it the land of a slave trade versus being an actual industry driven by some of the most talented women and men in the world.
But then when you have these talented humans finally achieve their height, we paint them as trouble rich individuals with issues rather than focusing on the health assistance they need all while avoiding a TMZ story... give me a break.
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| "Sky's documentary Framing Britney Speaks... it was a painful account of how badly her mental health suffered at the height of her fame" - @TheTelegraph (Twitter) |
I didn't mean for this to be a rant, or a shot towards the same industry that help me become something in my life but facts are facts: in the words of Owen Hart, enough is enough and it's time for a change. Seek the real talent, help them not just in their rise but in their fall (or help them avoid the fall) and fix a industry that a little Bronx kid in the 90s who listened to Purple Rain wanted to be in so bad.
The same industry I've lost multiple friends in.
The same industry that I almost lost my life for.
The same industry I almost took my life for.
The same industry that's blessed me.
And if that change begins with me, so fucking be it...
And to the artists, in the words of the immortal Eminem:
That's why we sing for these kids that don't have a thing
Except for a dream and a fuckin' rap magazine
Who post pinup pictures on their walls all day long
Idolize they favorite rappers and know all they songs
Or for anyone who's ever been through shit in they lives
'Til they sit and they cry at night, wishing they die
'Til they throw on a rap record, and they sit and they vibe
We're nothing to you, but we're the fuckin' shit in their eyes
That's why we seize the moment, and try to freeze it and own it
Squeeze it and hold it, 'cause we consider these minutes golden
And maybe they'll admit it when we're gone
Just let our spirits live on, through our lyrics that you hear in our songs
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