We all know that Robert Sylvester Kelly is a pervert of immense proportions. Which is interesting, because lost in that perversion is his possibly permanent impact on Black music.
I was listening to his latest album “Untitled” this past weekend and like usual, it’s full of good music and totally retarded Captain Obvious-style songs. Either R. Kelly doesn’t think much of people anymore or he’s just screwing with everybody. And truthfully, I think it’s a bit of both. My guess is that every time he releases a project, his entire goal is to see just how ridiculous he can get and still sell albums.
How else do you get songs titled, “Pregnant”, “Bangin’ The Headboard”, “Be My #2″, and “Text Me”. It’s like he’s not even trying anymore. Frankly, it’s kind of offensive but then again, some silly trollop out there thinks its genius so who am I to judge? He’s making millions while I’m writing this post at 1056pm on a Sunday night.
I suppose I lose.
But one thing that stood out to me while I was listening was just how many songs sounded identical to songs that The-Dream has either created, is currently creating, or has written. Hell, this whole album sounds like a Dream album, ironic considering how The-Dream songs all sound like R. Kelly songs. It’s like the most confusing simplicity ever. Except The-Dream only gets writing credits on one song which leads me to believe that R. Kelly has done it all himself.
Which means that perhaps R. Kelly decided to big league The-Dream and remind him where the style came from. Which is sad and slightly impressive at the same time. As you can see, R brings out lots of conflicting emotions. And also beckons to a larger point…
…R. Kelly is pretty much responsible for all the “R&B” music we here today. Think about the straight forward nature of all the music. There’s no nuance anymore, there’s no innuendo. For instance, Trey Songz, “I Invented Sex”. The song is some straight up take you home and bone music. There’s no romance in it. There’s no appreciation for the woman, it’s just f*cking. That’s the whole point.
Credit: R. Kelly
When 12 Play hit, it was monumental. It was so different from the deferential, begging man songs of the Keith Sweats and Babyfaces. In fact, the only other group to really come at the genre from an edgy angle was Jodeci, but even they still attempted to woo the women with romance. But R let us know that there wasn’t anything wrong with a little Bump ‘N Grind. In fact, aside from “Sadie”, 12 Play was pretty much f*cking music, thru and thru. Then he took that strange left turn where he started having conversations in his music, not really singing lyrics. Then Mr. Big and him were acting out plays in song and next thing you know he starts feeling on booties and asking for a beep beep.
Then the yodeling.
Now, amidst some of his stranger antics were still prized gems, but they were fewer and further between. Now he’s just like to hell with it all together. It’s all pop culture references and songs that won’t be relevant 20 years from now, unlike 12 Play.
He sounds like a follower in the genre’s he created. Every song nowadays sounds like a sung conversation with no real attempts at romance. It’s all straight to the hotel, because really, you’re not gonna be my main lady anyway. Which is sad, because if you think about it that’s how a lot of men think nowadays anyway. There’s no romance, just room service for a lot of women who seem to have accepted it. All the songs these R&B thugs have been singing (a friend of mine called them rappers that sing) allude to treating women like something you do then toss and since most of us men hear these songs we realize that if women like it like that, why go all out and try to treat her like a lady.
R. Kelly created the R&B of today, and perhaps unintentionally, killed romance in Black America.
So I guess the main bullet point is this, the next time you go out and some man just wants to hit..
…blame R. Kelly.
Am I giving R. Kelly too much credit? Is Black romance dead, like Nas said of hip-hop?? If so, what killed it?
J.R.???? <——Old head reference and joke.
What happened to Black love and the R&B song?
-VSB P aka THE ARSONIST aka TANGLE JIG P aka GIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRL, HE A 3
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{ 292 comments… read them below or add one }
Kristin. And she didn’t kill him, just shot him a little.
@Penelope, somebody’s been watching their Dallas reruns.
One thing that bloggers/music journalists alike never give R. Kelly credit for is his sense of humor. If you listen to or read his interviews, it’s very apparent that he KNOWS how ridiculous some of his songs are, and he doesn’t intend his music to be taken the way a lot of you guys end up interpreting it.
It’s easy to sit back and say “oh god he has a song called Pregnant, the world is lost R&B is dead, this is trash”.. but if you listen to R. Kelly himself talk about how the song came about then it suddenly makes a little more sense. Alot of this stuff comes from a lighthearted place.
Theres two more points I gotta make ( i know im getting longwinded, my bad).
1. I’m not gonna sit here and lie and say R. Kelly’s new music is anywhere as good as his old music (anything before 2001). But hasn’t he earned the right to do what he wants as an artist at this point? I’m not a fan of auto-tune… he did fine using his natural voice for over a decade without autotune… but at the very least he’s earned the right to use it if he wants.
2. You use say R. Kelly ruined R&B because everyone is trying to imitate the overtly sexual style he does, but I see that as more of an indictment against the followers than Kelly himself.
We all talk about how we wish artists were more original and creative, .. but I don’t think there are too many artists out there who are as unpredictable as R. Kelly and Lil Wayne on the mic, think about it. At the end of the day, all I want from an artist is something REAL, and something THEY want me to hear…. not bullshit created for the label, not bullshit created for the radio, not bullshit collaborations they’re doing to politic and network.
So from that standpoint, I think more than anyone, we know R. Kelly does whatever he wants to do (for better or for worse). I may not always like it but I can respect it.
@Dell, you make some interesting points. but sense of humor or not, i wonder if R. Kelly really realizes how damn dumb some of those songs are. hell, this is a guy who AFTER child molestation rumors began calling himself the pied-piper and wearing a zorro mask. either he’s got the sickest sense of humor on the planet or he’s the biggest d-bag in the history of d-bagizm. its pretty much either/or.
i actually think Pregnant (though it sounds like a spoof song) is one of the better songs on what is actually not a bad album. at this point, it seems like R is just making music for kids though (radio…and you mentioned this and i’ll get back to it).
r. kelly has clearly earned the right to do whatever he wants. i’m not arguing that at all. i just wonder what his motivation is. you used to be able to count on r. kelly to give you songs that were good enough that radio couldn’t avoid them, now it seems like he’s trying to make sure he can get on the radio. and about auto-tune…he’s chasing a trend. be clear on that. everybody who uses it now isn’t on some, “wow, i just discovered this new plug in”, call it what you want, but when singers who can actually sing start using it, its because its whats hot in the streets (and jay couldn’t kill it).
i do think r’s followers kind of killed a lot of romance but r ain’t been no saint either. he’s making the same music they’re making now, sort of keeping up with the joneses, so hes as much part of the problem as anybody else.
not bullshit created for the label, not bullshit created for the radio, not bullshit collaborations they’re doing to politic and network.
so let me get this right, you DON’T think he’s making songs strictly for radio play? his whole album sounds like singles, intentionally, as it were created for radio.
@Panama Jackson,
Right.
I think Trey Songz’ and nem got him shook. Kinda like how Janet made The Evolution of Ciara with Discipline because Ciara got her shook. I think there’s an element of feeling that he has to reassert his dominance.
I wonder though if this is sort of what happens when you age out of your lane. Like, did my mom think that Aretha was chasin trends when she did a song with Lauryn? Yep. She did.
I think R. is being self-indulgent. I remember he said in an interview a few years ago that he wants to make purely conceptual albums that he knows people will probably hate. I think that’s why we got Happy People/U Saved Me and Trapped in the Closet. I don’t think it’s any different from Prince’s 90s output, except Prince isn’t a pervert (that we know of).
That said, I agree that his recent output just isn’t very good comparatively. I think he could do what he wants to do and still make the shit listenable. For me, I wanna hear another “Etcetera,” or “Looking for Love” or “Imagine That” or “You Made Me Love You.” But I don’t think we’re likely to see that kind of work anymore.
_____________________ (that’s the flat line on romance)
*sigh* Nobody wants to try anymore…at anything. It seems as if we want assurances and guarantees where none is warranted. And it is true for both sexes, this strange & sorry math.
Men: If I buy flowers + dinner = hot sex
Women: If hot sex then jewelry/car note/pick something with monetary value
There is no effort being put forth, in anything and this concerns me because I have daughters and a teenage son. I don’t think “I Invented Sex” is the song I want them dancing to at Prom.
@EbonyI,
Any school that played that song at prom…is not a school anyone should want their child to attend. LOL
That song irks me a bit, but since I’m grown and sexxay (or getting there) I can appreciate it.
@EbonyI, yeah, it does seem like nobody’s doing stuff just for the love of it anymore. then again, i’m sure this same problem existed years ago, but at least the music seemed like folks were earnest in their love.
and i think that’s probably more the issue than anything, today, all the problems are being displayed buckeynekkid in the music. there’s no attempt to even fake it anymore.
@Panama Jackson,
Lie to me! Give me flowery words! Love me till 8x8x8 is 4! Is that too much to ask?!
Poor children of today…no romance, no imagination…just Facebook & hooking up
So Kellz is a perve who makes legendary baby-making music, but no romancing-your-woman music, and thus helped destroy romance in the Black community?
Sounds about right.
G’nite.
@Lili, i like it when i sound about right.
Ima say black romance is probably in intensive care….and Ima go head and blame slavery. Slavery always seems like a good place to start…..Im sure one of the VSBers will break it down.
Negroes are Legal
@Blacklaw,
naw man, can’t co sign on this one. we2there had to be romance during slavery. all them 12, 16 and 23 children having couples?! all 18 of them weren’t conceived with just a “howdy do?” “well howdy do to you too. now drop them bloomers gal!” i see a little wooing someplace in there: “i picked these flowers that i saw in the field on my way back from my whippin’. they’s as pretty as you and i thought you should have ‘em.” yeah, i think there was some of that during slavery times, so you can’t blame slavery.
@cam1ll3,
“all them 12, 16 and 23 children having couples?!”
Its called breeded stock. Slaves forced to breed/mate specifically for size or skill. Technically its a term for horse breeders but was also applied to slaves in the 18th & 19th century. I suppose I could sit here and try to parallel it into the death of Black romance, Black male slaves developed the thought process that they were nothing more than s*x machines, but I don’t think I want to go there. We have plenty of evidence that Black romance was alive and well up til the early 90′s/the emergence of the R. (The Huxtables, The Evanses, music by the Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, Marvin Gaye, Al Green, Barry White, the OJay’s, the Isleys, etc.) Most often breeded stock slaves are used as explanation of why Blacks are so good at sports. Blah. I feel icky after typing that.
@Madame Zenobia, We have plenty of evidence that Black romance was alive and well up til the early 90’s/the emergence of the R. (The Huxtables, The Evanses, music by the Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, Marvin Gaye, Al Green, Barry White, the OJay’s, the Isleys, etc.)
interesting if you look at this list, its full of fictitious characters largely written by white people and full of known womanizers who clearly sang for p*ssy.
@Panama Jackson,
But isn’t that all most romance is? A subtle pursuit of wet parts?
@ Me fail english?,
Let’s not forget Sam Cooke was actually killed while in pursuit of said wet parts.
@Panama Jackson,
Ashford & Simpson, Ossie Davis & Ruby Dee, Malcolm & Betty…..Better list? As to the womanizer issue – I never said their motives were pure, just that I’d feel better giving it up to someone singing those lyrics vs. the R’s.
@MeFail, my point is more that even the “romancers” were basically all womanizers.
basically, is all of that romance just an illusion anyway?
@Panama Jackson,
Why ask if Kells sounded the death knell for black romance if you’re suggesting that it was dead before he got here?
In any event, I say “no” on two counts:
-Romance is not fidelity.
-You can’t draw conclusions about black romance in general based on the sex lives of famous men with groupies.
@Me Fail English, cuz i’m only thinking about this after the fact. and plus, i never let logic and sound reasoning stand in the way of a good argument.
romance is not fidelity that’s true. perhaps romance really isnt that necessary anyway. its all an illusion to give off the impression of desire and interest.
y’all know we want to f*ck. why even require it. LOL.
@Panama Jackson,
lmao @ i never let logic and sound reasoning stand in the way of a good argument.
@Madame Zenobia,
Ossie Davis & Ruby Dee, .
They also had an open marriage. While it didn’t last (the open part), they did have one. LOL
@V Renee,
ewwww…. I always felt like they were my grandparents. Now I’m picturing…
…ewwww…
@cam1ll3, i think its so funny how you can blame slavery for anything and most folks will probably nod and say, “you’re probably right”
well except madame zenobia who clearly didn’t get that memo.
@Panama Jackson,
Hey! Me & cam1ll3!
@Madame Zenobia,
that’s right. i can only blame slavery for the current state of the average black family (or lack thereof) and the fact that a great number of our men are in jail or dead. i can’t blame slavery for the lack of romance.
*being soooooooo very facetious right now*
oh goodness. as i read im chuckling to myself at the signature PeeJ randomness and massive length of this bad boy… for there to only be ONE bullet point?!? (re: the next time you go out and some man just wants to hit.. …blame R. Kelly.) lmao wowsers. i love it.
i think black romance in R&B is def on life support in the ICU (as blacklaw mentioned above). most R&B from MEN/male groups seems to be just effing music, or at the very least preemptive in the effing process. and i single out the fellas becuz more often than not, its a man who takes the lead on romance (in rel’ships) and tries to woo the woman via said romance, and not typically the other way around. but even then, there isnt much in the way of romance in general in todays music.
never thought much about the Ar-rah’s role in romances vegetative state. but im completely ok with blaming it on him. even tho it doesnt seem to have any negative influence on him anyway. grown @$$, seemingly normal functioning, “smart” ppl still support his silly @$$. why not crown him the King of Killing Romantic R&B?? its obviously what the ppl want.
@The One & True GEM… of the Ocean, oh goodness. as i read im chuckling to myself at the signature PeeJ randomness and massive length of this bad boy… for there to only be ONE bullet point?!? (re: the next time you go out and some man just wants to hit.. …blame R. Kelly.) lmao wowsers. i love it.
did you expect anything different???
R.Kelly is more like an Emperor than a king of it. i mean, he’s the blueprint for modern R&B. had he tried just a little harder (and not been a molester type cat), he’d have been the modern day Marvin Gaye though.
yeah, i said it.
@Panama Jackson,
And you’re right. He would have been.
@Panama Jackson,
did you expect anything different???
well… you tend to get brand new and write “normal” posts on occassion…
Brings up an interesting point….Kellz has been in the game since around ’92, ’93 (when Born into the 90′s first dropped). Going from 12Play forward, his songs have been pretty straightforward and to-the-point (i.e., Sex Me I and II, Your Body’s Callin’, etc.). Perhaps as he’s become more successful, his writing has mirrored the mindset and direct nature he has as it pertains to women; namely, he’s rich, famous, and successful, so why shouldn’t he be able to just forego all the formalities and just ask for the booty. Strangely enough, the formula worked for him, both professionally (his music) as well as personally (with girls…I mean, women). Many of the male R&B artists who grew up watching his success have simply replicated the same formula, as overtly sexual and offensive as it may be.
Strangely enough, this lack of romantic effort is reflected in the community, as a lot of regular dudes probably think and act like this as well…it ain’t just singers.
@DG, yeah, and i think that’s part of my question…this straight forward, lack of intention on really wooing women anymore, how the hell did that happen?
are men just lazy now???
@Panama Jackson,
Yes because women let them be.
@A-0, this begs the infamous science question:
do you do stuff b/c you should, or b/c you can?
@Panama Jackson,
(sighs)… because you can…….
@Panama Jackson,
Yeah, we’re a lil’ lazy and it’s been like that for a while now. Romance = delayed gratification, which our society has kinda gotten away from…everything has to be instant and right now. We’re no longer accustomed to having to wait on anything anymore…(case in point, when’s the last time anyone used an encyclopedia, instead of internet, to look something up? How many of us have gotten upset because our order at the drive-thru took longer than 5 mins?).
When phrases such as “hey Ma..” and “sup shawty” started working on women, that was the beginning of the end right there…so we’re all to blame.
@DG,
Romance = delayed gratification
id agree, to some degree.
@DG,
Hol’ up now! Fast food is supposed to be fast. And Encyclopedia? I wouldn’t know where to get one if I looked. And that’s more of a convenience thing than inability to delay gratification.
lol. I get your point tho.
@DG,
I agree with your assessment
“Every song nowadays sounds like a sung conversation with no real attempts at romance. It’s all straight to the hotel, because really, you’re not gonna be my main lady anyway. Which is sad, because if you think about it that’s how a lot of men think nowadays anyway. There’s no romance, just room service for a lot of women who seem to have accepted it.”
This statement is so true and sad…Can I be grown for just a minute? Madame Z has a new tender and a few weeks ago we had our first “sleepover” and about 15 mins into our “sleeping” I realized something that shocked me – he was paying attention to me and actually trying to enjoy me and make sure I was enjoying him. And I was dumbfounded – I honestly can’t remember the last time that happened. Somewhere along the way I accepted just straight #*$&^@$*! as acceptable and normal. Honestly, I don’t know which is worse – that I’d accepted it as a norm or that I didn’t notice that I’d accepted that as a norm.
Between the Sheets and Sexual Healing are two of my favorite songs of all time. (ALL TIME!) and they are definitely about “the do” but there’s a completely different way those men are singing to women versus the male singers today. Turn off the Lights, Let Me Make Love to You, Sexual Healing, Let’s Get it On? Those titles are straight to the point too, but I WANT to give it to Marvin. I love his song “I Want You” – I hate to be my parents right now, but these young cats have nothing on the old school R&B.
Anyways: “R. Kelly created the R&B of today, and perhaps unintentionally, killed romance in Black America”
I agree and whatnot. Honestly, I really don’t listen to the Trey Songs, Marios, Dreams, etc. for just that reason. They all say the same thing and its not how I want to be approached. “I Invented S*x”? Negro, please. The title alone was mad Romo to me. Thanks Panama, for giving me someone to blame.
@Madame Zenobia,
he was paying attention to me and actually trying to enjoy me and make sure I was enjoying him.
isn’t that the absolute greatest ever?
@cam1ll3,
It is….It really is….
he was paying attention to me and actually trying to enjoy me and make sure I was enjoying him.
I totally feel on that Madame Zenobia. Got a new tender at the moment too and genuinely seems to want to enjoy my presence and seems to genuinely want to make sure I’m enjoying his and it’s refreshing and surprisingly new to me….It’s sad to say that in my 33 years most of my interactions with men have been of the “he’s obviously just trying to hit and isn’t even gonna try to make me think that’s not his motive” variety.
@Madame Zenobia, you’re right. a lot of the dudes from back in teh day did have some straightforward song titles, but the music and the words were intended to set a mood to let you know what was going to happen. it wasn’t just some
“i’m gonna put your legs up to the sky/slam you on your back/get up inside/when i get done, leave your ass with a smile”
i think i just wrote a love song.
@Panama Jackson,
you betta get a copyright, lol
@Madame Zenobia,
I actually think Mario and Trey sound pretty different than Arruh. Why is “Let’s Get it On” or “Sexual Healing” so much more sophisticated than “Invented Sex”? R’s stuff is straight ignorant on some “Girl you must be slippin’/You know I got the tip in” BS. huh? Trey and Mario’s music isn’t as timeless or good as the old school but they have a healthy balance of Kelly and non-Kelly material.
@Me fail english?,
I agree about Mario and Trey Songz. I dont see them on the same level as R Kelly. I never cared for R Kelly even when his career began and thought for sure he’d be on his way out after his molestaion charges. I dont think he makes great music like everyone always says.
@Me fail english?,
While Trey and Mario might have a good mix in their catalogues…(i honestly have no idea because I haven’t listened to their catalogues…but I have listened to “I invented sex” and “Let’s get it on”)…I have to say that Let’s Get it On…while straight to the point is still a tad more “romantic” than I invented sex.
a sampling:
Let’s get it on
There’s nothin’ wrong with me lovin’ you, baby no no
And givin’ yourself to me can never be wrong
If the love is true, oh baby ooh
I invented sex
Girl let me get u to the crib (get u to the crib)
Upstairs to the bed (upstairs to the bed)
Girl you gonna think (x4)
Girl when I pull back them sheets
And you climb on top of me
Girl you gonna think (x4)
You gonna think I invented sex (x3
In “I Invented Sex” he just met the girl in the club that night….in “Let’s Get it On” he had presumably known the girl for some time and actually had feelings for her…and had probably spent some time courting her and engaging in romance…In “I invented sex” the only romance that’s even implied is a baby what’s up and a hug vs a handshake…..
so yes things have fallen off a tad IMHO
@klysha,
LOL!! Exactly. Check the lyrics to “Say Ahh”–Trey clearly isn’t talking about getting a girl some drinks at the club.
*snickering*
@miss t-lee,
But then again, there’s plenty of addiction, oral sex and masturbation in Gaye’s lyrics. Trey lacks talent and range that Gaye had but he’s actually not much more raunchy. In fact, he may be less *gasp*
@ me fail english?,
Hmmm…I might have to go back through my M. Gaye catalog, I know the addiction/chexin’ songs, but I’ve clearly missed the tongue action and pastor chasin’ songs…
@klysha,
This is actually interested because you’re projecting a lot of the story line (for both songs) onto the artist. For all we know Trey had a cool rel’ship and was “really tryyyyyyyin’ baby/ Tryna hold back this feeling for so long” (marvin). He just didn’t get into all that. There’s dudes I know well that should expect a handshake from me in the club.
And “Let your come down” sounds much worse than anything I recall Trey saying in “Invented”
So maybe it’s not that Trey’s nastier, we just expect less of him.
@Me fail english?, Good points…but I wasn’t comparing their “nastiness” I was comparing their romantic content…Marvin Gayes lyrics at least implied some actual romance and courting…. but Gaye probably is nastier than Trey.
Trey was clearly talking about meeting a girl at the club and taking her back to the crib that night cuz she was looking at him right. Not even the slightest bit of implied romance.
As a specialist in ICU, i guess R &B didn’t have an advance directive…cause it looks like R is the dr. that signed the Do Not resusciate order…it is ova…that fool came to memphis, TN twice! sold out first show in 2 hrs…no one knew he was coming back hell he didn’t even kno he was coming back…we folks down in the south always supporting some BS…I guess he didn’t sell out like that anywhere else …1st time in November then his molesting azz came back last week and sold out again….1 lonely man was outside the show protesting both times…about black folks supporting ignorance …i agreed but wasn’t in town either time and i get better thangs to do then try to save some black folks (strike line thru black, i’on know how y’all do that) from more ignorance and tomfoolery…and yeah he sucks…his ignorance is quite ingenious tho…that yodelling (sp) had my loling and thinking gosh he really made this song and I wanna slit my wrists for kinda liking it..no whenever i hear it..i immediately change the station and Religion puhlease! i switched the channel so fast and thought he def gone burn in hell…yep fire and brimstone…what?…do something..
@caramel eclair, that song Religion is all kinds of retarded. but mostly b/c it doesn’t even sound like he tried to make a decent song…
he was like, man, i need to throw the words religion and church in a song to show folks that i can still make a non-sex song.
fail.
i don’t think it’s all kellz fault. he is certainly one of the logs in the bonfire, but let’s face it…teddy p. wasn’t exactly talking about saving energy when he barked “turn ‘em off!!” in “turn off the lights”. freddy jackson wasn’t trying to go thru photo albums in “rock me tonight “. romance in music and in general has been dying a slow death for quite sometime now. it’s out there (kinda like “the truth”), but its hard to find. bamas don’t want to slow dance anymore or let their lady fall asleep in their lap (unless she just performed neurosurgery…and when did we become so free with sharing brain anyway?). it’s all about tryna see how many times dude can make her call his name because he’s layin’ it down. r kelly and his “letsgoinmycar/jeep/limoandf*cktilthecowscomehome” progeny may want to take a listen to “spend the night in your mind” by cee-lo green and re-tool their writing process.
@cam1ll3,
I definitely agree that it’s not just R.Kelly. Singers have BEEN going down this road. From Mr. Big..I mean Ron Isley and his brothers talkin’ about “I love the way you receive me..I’m cummin’, cummin’ on strong” to Marvin’s demand of “Let’s Get It On”, this blunt campaign for coochie has been going on. R.Kelly was/is just the 90′s/2000′s embodiment of that.
@Monk, fair enough. though, tell me the song writing wasn’t different back then. sure those lines are more direct and quite non-romance oriented, but the songs as a whole were geared towards the mystery of lovin’. now there’s no mystery, surprise or anything.
dudes will tell you EXACTLY what they’re gonna do, and it usually just sounds violent.
@Panama Jackson,
i do miss the days of the sexual innuendo as opposed to the sexual letsputitalloutthere. and my question is with the lyrics all being so pointed and blatant, where do you go from here? there’s no mystery anymore. are the lyrics just going to go on to explain the whole scientific process of orgasm and reproduction as a result of the “saying ahhhhh” to the alcohol and/or “going half on a baby” ?
R&B is definately in need of some rescue breaths and chest compressions. However, I am loathe to give R. Kelly credit for anything other than being unimaginative and lazy. His songs are raunchy and leave nothing to the imagination because the man has no game. I mean, really, how hard is it to write a song about feeling on a woman’s behind, when all you sing, literally is “I’m feeling on your boo-hoo-ty, your boo-hoo-hoo-hoo-ty?” C’mon. Unfortunately, none of the up and coming singers are interested in any, let’s call it, “lyrical foreplay.” Even the old school heads that perfected, if not originated, lyrical foreplay, like the Isley Brothers, don’t seem to have it anymore. They put out the same type of drivel. I don’t know what the solution is, but I can tell you for sure it is not songs like “Burfday Sex.” And, as a public announcement to all the knuckleheads who think this song just gave you a great gift idea for your boo’s next birthday–EPIC FAIL. That type of foolishness will get you fired. Not bringing anything for the birthday but some dyck, umm, hello, we can get that anytime. Duh.
Maybe the solution is to skip the R&B and head straight for the angst ridden ne0-soul crooners–the Raheem DeVaughns, Maxwells and Anthony Hamiltons of the world. There’s no real mysetery to their songs either, but at least they wanna love you–not just feel on your boo-hoo-ty.
@BiggFoxy,
I mean, really, how hard is it to write a song about feeling on a woman’s behind, when all you sing, literally is “I’m feeling on your boo-hoo-ty, your boo-hoo-hoo-hoo-ty?”
^^It’s not hard at all. It’s terribly easy. Kellz knows this. Kellz knows that WE know this, yet people still buy it.
I was rather young when that song dropped and was appalled; after seeing the video about 10x I realized that Kelly and Lil’ Kim were laughing at the end of the video…laughing because it was a joke. A BIG joke that, hopefully, we listeners/consumers got.
Like someone said above, R Kelly stopped taking this mess seriously a loooooong time ago.
And I stopped taking him seriously after that “tape” was released.
@BiggFoxy, And, as a public announcement to all the knuckleheads who think this song just gave you a great gift idea for your boo’s next birthday–EPIC FAIL.
this literally made me LOL for some reason.
in his defense though, i think part of R. Kelly’s gift is his ability to come up with the most simple sh*t that turns out to be a catchy as ever. like all his songs were hits for a reason. he knows how to identify with what people want to hear so i’m often confounded…i mean, he gives folks what they want…lol.
we do want to feel on women’s booty. and if some chick is okay with it b/c she heard it in a song…is it really all bad???
you can’t shoot nobody if both your hands are on a chicks booty. in that sense, he is a humanitarian.
@Panama Jackson, humanitarian? Ha. I think not. People who pee on little girls are not humanitarians. Although, I have to agree with Riley on this one. If she didn’t want to be peed on, she shoulda moved outta his way. Btw, how prophetic was Aaron McGruder on that one? Kellz danced and cooned his way into a get out of jail free card…happy people indeed.
@BiggFoxy, LMAO @ If she didn’t want to be peed on, she shoulda moved outta his way.
Aaron McGruder truly might be a prophet
Everyone’s gotten lazy. The music just isn’t that good anymore. I remember how good it was to bump 12 Play straight through it was classic. But now it’s just hash out song after song that sound the same. I’m just glad I was around in the early 90s.
@Da Iceman,
“Everyone’s gotten lazy. The music just isn’t that good anymore.”
Yeah I’m listening to some lazy azz Lil Wayne ish right now. Rock album my arse…lmao
This must be for some folks who have never actually listened to a rock album.
@Da Iceman, you know…i think at some point, i’m going to go on a one man campaign to convince everybody that Jodeci’s “Diary of mad band” is one of the greatest r&b albums ever.
the first 6 songs are good enough to top nearly everything that’s ever come out since 1989.
@Panama Jackson,
I don’t know…Forever My Lady had a good 4-5 strong R&B cuts as well.
@Blaze, it did. but i actually think the “come and talk to me” remix was better than the opening songs from “forever my lady”
ain’t NOTHING touching “diary of a mad band’s” opening sequences…
@Panama Jackson, Diary of a Mad Band was indeed the truth…
@Panama Jackson, I have to say I wholeheartedly agree on this one. Diary of a Mad Band was hot.
@Panama Jackson, Co-sign I prefer it to Forever My Lady which was also very good. Ah the Uptown era…
Personally, I blame contraception and Eddie Murphy. But I can see how one would blame R. Kelly too. But surely music reflects the society not the other way round…
@kmplx,
What Eddie do?
@ComicBookGuy, that’s what i want to know
@kmplx, yeah, but r kelly makes a great scapegoat, no?
@kmplx,
I take it you’re still upset about “Party All The Time” or maybe his duet with MJ “What’s up With You?” Huh?
*giggling*
@miss t-lee,
don’t forget “Put Your Mouth on Me” uh-huuu-huuuuuuu *Eddie Murphy laugh* (lol)
@Smiley Face,
Oh snap!!!!! I totally forgot about that one…lol
WTH greenlighted that?
@miss t-lee, rick james.
@Panama Jackson ,
That’s right…and that’s sad.
@miss t-lee,
lol. I have “How Could It Be?” on VHS tape!!
@Me fail english?,
Word?!
*sniggling*
Look…i think R Kelly is the R in R&B, but i can’t help but agree on the point you raised in your script, i’m not at all excited about his new album, hell i don’t even want a torrent of it.
As for the R&B is dead…i think it’s in exile…and the genre has been labeled Neo-Soul. I mean if you want to listen to crooners confessing their undying love for their women, Neo-Soul is the place to go. Though the question of what’s R&B and what’s Neo_soul is a conundrum for some artists…but you can’t go wrong with Eric Robersson, Maxwell, Raphael Saadiq, Musiq (earlier albums), De Angelo, Bilal, Dwele, Laura Isabor.
@sisanda, this is a whole other thread but I HATE the neo-soul label for some reason.
mostly cuz a lot of it gets more credit for not being r&b thuggery than it does for being good. sure some of them cats make good music, but it ain’t all good.
then again, i’ve been labeled a hater before. lucky for me i’m so awesome.
@Panama Jackson,
Good point my man’s. A lot of “R&B” artists have a Soulful feel to them, and a lot of “Neo-Soul” artists have “R&B” type cuts as well. I think the reason you’d have hate for the Neo-Soul label is ’cause a lot of pretentious mothef**rs use it to affirm their higher level of enlightenment…it’s right up there with vegans and people who drive prius’.
But that’s another thread completely, just wanted to say, i feel you on that one.
Peace!!
I think black romance is only as dead as we allow it to be. Although I agree that some of the music being made today is all s*x and no romance, you can’t really make it responsible for how an individual chooses to live out their romantic lives. We need to learn and know what we’re worth (both women AND men), let it become known, and except nothing less. If each one would teach one, we’d all be okay.
But what do I know? I spent a majority of my teenage/adult life loving early 90′s R&B and late 90′s/early 2000′s pop. It may be corny to some, but those boy bands sang about love.
Give me an *NSYNC song about loving me over an R. Kelly song about s*xing me anyday.
@Kijuana,
I meant ‘accept, not except’. It’s 7am, forgive my grammar.
@Kijuana, lol…pop songs about love don’t really touch me in the morning.
however, i feel you…nsync’s “gone” was a great song…but who wrote it?
full force.
brothas. we got soul.
i just wanted to shout out full force b/c i’m sure its the first times its happened in a LONG time, anywhere.
@Panama Jackson,
Good shout out. Without them, there would not have been the Backstreet Boys and N Sync. Full Force wrote some great songs.
I agree with sisanda. And personally like I always do…I blame the “man” which could easily stand for the heads of bet,mtv and all major record labels. Trey’s ready album had a few good songs, “jupiter love” was sweet…kinda. But its not a songle, the labels decide the singles and set the tone for the r n b that we know today.
@collegebunni, Trey’s album actually is pretty good. i was surprised by who much i liked it. though its basically an R kelly album.
btw, i like all this crappy r&b.
@Panama Jackson,
i actually thought “I invented Sex” was R Kelly when I first heard it…haven’t heard the rest of this album…but I will say Trey Songs does sometimes come out with some nice stuff…..the nice stuff just doesn’t get radio play apparently….
I wouldn’t put all the blame on the R, however I think music is more reflective of society than the other way around. Romance in general has been going down.
Yesterday, I was watching Booty Call on one 0f the many HBO channels that come with the subscription (it came on after a movie that I was already watching). Anyway, one of the things that struck me was that Tamala Jones’ character was seen as if there was something wrong with her because she didn’t have sex with Tommy Davidson within 7 weeks. They made it sound like it had been a year. Anyway, I guess that point is that there hasn’t been romance and it’s been all about sex for a while now in Black America. When did that movie come out, early nineties?
(Although, I will say that I don’t know how much I should expect from a movie called Booty Call.)
@Deeds, speaking of Booty Call, does it amaze anybody but me just how far Jamie Foxx’s career has come???
@Panama Jackson,
It is amazing, and on his show on satellite radio, his friends clown the hell out of him for Booty Call and all of his bad movies.
@ComicBookGuy, he’s had quite a few bad movies. though i do enjoy them…
held up, bait, booty call…
oy vey
On the plus for 2009, Maxwell has returned, so we have a few more tracks to let seed develop to ankle biters.
@jana.love, that’s true as hell.
@jana.love,
Someone stop the worrrrrrld!
@Cheekie,
Nah chick…
save me my fistful of tears!!!
@miss t-lee,
*fans self*
Stop yourself! lol
@Cheekie,
I know, I know.
@Cheekie,
Stop the World is my ish!
@legitimate_soul,
*dap*
Sitting down and TRULY listening to the lyrics is what makes it really art. Frankly, I can go through his whole CD (yeah, a whopping 9 tracks) though and be satisfied. It’s good cleaning-up-the-house music too. lol
You wrote a whole dissertation and only came up with one point…? LOL M’kay PJ.
My parental units weren’t allowing R’rah anywhere near my eardrums after they heard “You Remind Me”..they were like “da hell?!! You remind of my Jeep? What da hell kind of lyrics are those?!”
LOL, Mama and Papa Smiley weren’t having it. I grew up around romance so I learned what it looks like.
I don’t think he is solely responsible, people did/do choose to buy his music and mimic themselves after him in some way after all *shrugs* but maybe that’s because I don’t really credit him for being the “greatest” of anything since I don’t purchase his music.
@Smiley Face, You wrote a whole dissertation and only came up with one point…? LOL M’kay PJ.
why wont you let me be great?
@Panama Jackson,
cuz you a 3…*tee hee hee*
@Smiley Face, 3 deez.
@Panama Jackson,
*sniggling*
I’m sure we can’t blame it all on Kellz. What happened to blaming stuff on Jim Jones? *snickering*
Music wise, I do think he’s just throwing stuff on a wall and seeing what sticks, like I said the other day he’s been doing that from TP3.com on up until now.
@miss t-lee, I do think he’s just throwing stuff on a wall and seeing what sticks,
you so nasty.
@Panama Jackson,
*jadakiss laugh*
@miss t-lee,
Heeeeeeey, miss t-lee. You must be a good mood this morning. You’ve been clownin’ on some of your comments. Oh, and I don’t know what Wayne was on (then again, it was probably the usual suspects: purp and lean) when he thought about making a rock album. Just because 2520s like you doesn’t mean you can make rock music.
@ComicBookGuy,
“Just because 2520s like you doesn’t mean you can make rock music.”
What it do?!?!?
I whole-heartedly agree. He musta been on the usual suspects throughout the song I heard earlier, he was slurring words at one point…’da heyll?
@miss t-lee,
I’d say EXACTLY
I never liked his music or him very much for that matter, dude is a vicious bama among other things. I don’t mean no harm but most of his fans fit a profile LLS…..
One remix he did for Janet once was nice and I hated that I liked that…..what really infuriates me, is when psuedo intellectuals like Eric Dyson actually try to compare this mofo to Marvin Gaye RIP, what an insult to Marvin, his artistry and basically everything he stood for. never will that mofo be on that level EVER for the reasons ran down above amd then some!!!!
@OrangeStar616, “what really infuriates me, is when psuedo intellectuals like Eric Dyson actually try to compare this mofo to Marvin Gaye RIP, what an insult to Marvin,”
you betta tell it!!!
@OrangeStar616,
That’s just blasphemy, although Marvin had some freaky songs, he was 50x smoother that anything R. Kelly has put out.
@ComicBookGuy, not even just smoother, see Marvin was SENSUAL, he understood the fine lines between spirituality and sexuality and caressed them, (Prince is another artist who understands this), he was also transparent on record esp when he hit that magnificant stride in the 70′s…. Marvin also revolutionzed recording in the way he layered and looped his own vocals on a track…..I could go on and on, Marvin was refined, FLY & cool as a mofo and @ one time debonaire……. things that other person knows nothing about…
@OrangeStar616, Prince is alot of things, and I love him for each and everyone of them, but really, Prince rarely “caressed” that line you are speaking of. He either respected it and wrote a love song about it or lyrically banged its back out. Listen to the lyrics to the classics that everyone is familiar with. Adore, though sweet and seductive on first impression, gets right down to business almost as fast as Darling Nikki and Insatiable. Prince knows how to dispatch with the formalities and get right down to business with the best of him–dang he even managed to make it look sexy wearing a frilly blouse, full goatee, tight pants, and high heels. He’s just infinitely more talented and clever than R.Kelly.
@BiggFoxy, early on yes Prince could be very explicit so much so he doesn’t even perform those songs anymore LLS. but lets take a line like “she drove me to the place where her horses run free, cause I felt a ill when I saw all pictures of the jockies that were here before me”..that mofo is an ARTIST.
now sometimes he did get real loose wit it, but even then the music was phenom, sorry Prince gets a pass, being that he’s very ambidextrious, he knew how to caress as well, he always had the option thats the diff, not limited in that way, he just too bad, love him, quintessentially gemini!!!!
@OrangeStar616,
“Animals strike curious poses, they feel the heat, the heat between me and you”. Who get beat a line like that? Prince is ill.
@OrangeStar616,
I agree with everything you said. A lot of people don’t give it a lot of props, but to me, I Want You was his best album. As much as I love What’s Going On and Let’s Get It On, I Want You is the one album that has everything you just described. Prince is a whole other animal. I could talk about that guy all day, too.
@ComicBookGuy,
and smooth is the key, man. i always say there are 5 ways to say things and 2 of them are better than 3 of them. you can say “i wanna bone the hell out of you until your hair is jacked up and you can’t walk” but there’s a really smooth way to say it, i promise. something like “i don’t want to leave your side until you’re asking how i like my eggs fried” or “the night won’t be long enough for what we need to do…” (ohh look at me! i’m a damn lyricist!!). all jokes aside…lemme hear that as opposed to “put your legs in the air and scream my name”. if you’re really talented, you ain’t gotta ask. it’ll just kinda happen.
@cam1ll3,
Definite cosign. Your lyrics are hilarious.
@OrangeStar616, i think had r kelly not gone the path that he did musically and personally, he could have been…
i really do believe that. r kelly was primed to become one of the greatest songwriters…
@Panama Jackson, well P alot of folk could have been alot of things but what you are and will be is all that counts
@OrangeStar616, i had to read that statement 4 times for it to register in my head.
@Panama Jackson, LOL!
“He sounds like a follower in the genre’s he created”
Exactly. I haven’t REALLY liked R Kelly’s music since The Chocolate Factory, yet I own all of the CDs thru Double Up. Terrible I know, but I won’t be buying anymore. He’s clowning with this new stuff.
@Reecie, he has an album called Double Up??
@Panama Jackson,
Yep. That’s the album with “I’m A Flirt”.
@ComicBookGuy, thats the one. and that ridiculous song “Real Talk”. I should dig that out for a good laugh today.
How can people that folks don’t know dictate wheter or not romance survives or dies in their personal lives. Really?
We have killed “romance” and therefore love/marriage/etc is on the way out too. Nobody want to be “friends”. Everybody wants to get married and have kids just becasue of what society says. Don’t blame this on R Kelly (i still won’t buy his music). We need to blame this on unrealistic and unfair desires for the $500K house, trips to cheesy resorts, the range rover, the cute twin kids…all just to show off…so we can say we have lived. Fuck being friends and falling in love and having nasty azz orgasms on the regular…we gotta work 18 hours a day in order to support our wants and tell our significant others that we will make up for being tired another day…that never comes. Been there and done that…on both sides.
Sorry if somebody already touched on this. If we quit trying to be like the Jonses and concentrate on those we want to love…romance will be alive and well.
@atltx,
While this is true…the desire to have all these things comes from somewhere, from some outside influence, from the WANT to have these things…true blame shouldn’t be placed on something you can control but you have to consider it is an influence.
@atltx, is this the poor and happy versus rich and unhappy debate???
@Panama Jackson,
I won’t say poor…and nothing is wrong with having some wants. But when the desire for wants and the work needed to secure those wants negatively impacts important areas of a person’s life…priorities should be re-evaluated.
Music is not the culprit here…we are.
Wooing women is weak.
The music is just reflecting what society has already dictated. Kellz is just giving the masses what they want.
His songs have always been guilty pleasures. ALWAYS. He makes up some of the most ridiculous songs about emulating Clarence Carter (possibly his mentor) and we are entertained. We say things like “but it’s just so catchy” or “I know it’s stupid but it’s my song.” You can’t blame him, because sometimes we like a little ignorance in our lives.
For some reason we’re all harping on the fact that we expected him to evolve musically and he didn’t. Kellz will eternally be the old dude in the club rocking that velour tracksuit trying to get at the young-and-tenders. And he’s good at it… Dude calls himself the PIED PIPER of R&B. That is not a joke. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. He writes ignorant songs and we go along with it. Even when he’s marrying minors and pissing on pre-teens…
@Deviant,
“He makes up some of the most ridiculous songs about emulating Clarence Carter (possibly his mentor)”
I think he mighta been listening to some Marvin Sease as well…lmao
@Deviant, i just have to say this…clarence carter is the greatest.
but yes you’re right. we expect to much of a man who’s shown us he doesnt do well with expectations.
@Deviant,
I won’t say that wooing is weak…but…you gotta be kinda crazy too. It can’t be all lovey dovey all the time. I’m guessing this has something to do with the whole need for protection and laughter thing after women know they are loved.
And then…”i be stroking” gotta be in their lives too. And of course “you gotta stand up in it”. I’ve been at some places and saw 60 year old women get up and start winding that azz to these songs. All I could do was die on the spot. Needed Jack Daniels to bring me back to life.
@atltx,
It’s the hard truth but men are rarely allowed to emote in our society with out being called weak, soft or gay. I know many dudes who don’t like Maxwell and the like because they think it’s weak for them to express any type of affection for a women in public.
But someone like R. who is letting it be known that he’s out for that azz, is something they can get behind. Cause getting azz is okay. “Catching feelings”* for the woman that azz belongs to, not so much.
*It’s even referred to as if it’s a disease.
@Deviant, It’s the hard truth but men are rarely allowed to emote in our society with out being called weak, soft or gay.
I understand what your saying, but for the life of me I can’t understand how it’s GAY to show affection for a WOMAN?!?! That’s the opposite of gay…
@pgh muse,
You and I know this but stupid is as stupid does.
@pgh muse,
lol. Some comedy show had a skit like this.
“You goin home to make love to your woman? Instead of playing ball all sweaty with your boys?? That’s gay.”
lol. I wish I could remember where it was from.
@Deviant, good point about “catching feelings” being referred to as though it’s a disease
First, black romance isn’t dead. I’m a romantic muafugga (said in the most romantic way) so I can attest to this.
Secondly, the real reason why black romance has declined lies within women (or girls). Think about it. If women placed more value on themselves and required men to step up their game guess what..men will be forced to do so. But as long as there’s a chick out there who will fork for a happy meal, there’s no need for a dude to go the romantic route.
ALSO, if you really want to blame the blunt, unromantic songs of today, again, women are to blame. Of course I like a few of the jams, but it’s women who faithfully support these artists by buying their music and going to their concerts.
So ladies, up your standards and stop fuggin’ with dudes who are not willing to give you what you want or deserve.
@Monk, as a woman who isn’t afraid and has set standards for those whom I wish to love me (floetry), I must say “walking alone takes SOME faith” (Etro Anime), among other things…
Romance is everywhere tho when you are open to it……..not limited to relationships!!!!
@OrangeStar616,
Once a woman sets her (realistic) standards, it may take a while to weed out the bustas but the pay off will be be greater and worth the wait if she does. That may entail being alone for a while but that’s not really a bad thing if you’re using that time to develop, grow, and love yourself.
@Monk,
Ya know smthg. It doesnt even take that long. When you start to carry yourself with respect you’ll see that most arent “bustas” to begin with. They’re just chasing a path of least resistance. Which is probably the same thing that motivates women to “go with the flow” (be “easy”) rather than assert their dignity (a bumpier road).
@Monk, “But as long as there’s a chick out there who will fork for a happy meal, there’s no need for a dude to go the romantic route.”
and that removes blame from (some) men how…? don’t you have your own set of morals to adhere to? that’s like saying you don’t have to adhere to traffic laws because the signal light is flashing and not steady. you’re going to jump off the bridge with her because that’s what she’s used to…?
@Smiley Face, girl most mofos go the route of least resistance, so even when you do have those standards ALOT of mofos act like just acting right is TOO much work but I digress LLS
@OrangeStar616,
don’t i know it! LOL
@Smiley Face,
As Orangestar said, a lot of dudes are going to take the easy lay up if the path is clear for them to do so. If their goal is to “score”, ain’t no need to practice that half court buzzer beater when he can get the easy two points.
Once men mature enough, of course it becomes more than just how many times we can “score” to us and that’s when we practice our three point game, in essence, doing what it takes to get a more quality woman.
@Monk,
“Once men mature enough, of course it becomes more than just how many times we can “score” to us and that’s when we practice our three point game, in essence, doing what it takes to get a more quality woman.”
Excellent point this.
@Monk, i love it, Jamie blames the alcohol..Monk blames women.
LOL. i love you guys.
@Monk,
This argument can easily go in circles. One could argue that a reason more women dont value themselves is because they are not valued in our (black? American? global?) community. We dont exist in a vaccuum. All this shet is interrelated. That’s not to say it’s a man’s job to raise the female population’s self esteem. But come on, man. You dont actually believe that a male singer submits a song to a male dominated industry that then releases said song and it’s a woman’ s fault this happened. Let’s keep it real. Kelly wouldn’t be nearly as popular if only females were buying the records.
@Me fail english?,
Wait a minute…for real. You come on now. We men might buy Maxwell’s music…it helps to have that dude spinnin while entertaining. But the present day R Kelly? No ma’am…who the hell in their right mind even wants to joke about getting a random chick pregnant?
@atltx,
Present day or not, I know men that effed with TP2.com, Chocolate Factory, the Keith Murray joint, etc. Let’s be honest. Jay didn’t choose him for with Best of Both Worlds because men were completely indifferent towards Kells.
@Me fail english?,
You’re right, the argument could go in circles. I’m not totally exonerating men from blame because I think men should definitely place more value on themselves and who they’re forking as well. To me, that’s one of the big differences between a man and a boy. With that said though, I’ve seen countless men (my father included) step their game up because a woman wasn’t gonna go for that shullbit. Sometimes it takes just that. These young cats who wear their pants saggin’ and all that mess wouldn’t wear their joints like that if they didn’t get any play from the women..trust.
I really don’t think that many dudes are buying R.Kelly or any of the new R&B cats solely based on how much they like it. They’re doing it primarily to cater to the women whom they’re dealing with. You ain’t never see two heterosexual guys go to an R&B concert that’s full of male singers together. But they will take their woman there.
@Monk,
I agree with you. If women would stop accepting a lot of things as law, men would change.
But how are they supposed to set their standards with no in-home examples? Lack of positive father figures… jaded womenfolk… For a lot of these young chickens, TV and music is who’s setting their ideals on how they view themselves and that is not poised to change any time soon.
@Deviant, I was just about to make this point…until I read ahead and see that you made it…
a lot of these young girls have no examples of how a woman should be treated other than the images they get from songs and television….
so how are they supposed to demand that they get treated differently when the only thing they know about romance is getting taken to the hotel room so they can be hit and quit and if they’re lucky they might get a little room service out the deal…if they’re lucky
I BLAME weak low self esteem females!!! Yea I said it! I love Kellz and his music is what it is and there is a time and place for this music. It is 1am in the back of an Impala….O the memories….but I digress. But if ladies are not requiring the romance before you give it up then your not gonna get it.
But then again there are some females, like myself that really don’t care for “Romance”.
@TiP,
“I BLAME weak low self esteem females!!! ”
Ummmm no.
@miss t-lee,
had me scratching my temples too…
@TiP, and why dont you like “romance”?
@Panama Jackson,
Well I guess it depends on you definition of romance, I consider spending quality time with me watching the Wire romantic, but flowers not so much, they die and sh*t. So, I can take it or leave it. When I receive it rarely impresses and if I don’t receive it I’m not mad. Most of the time I think it comes across as fake. Plus it can be so fleeting, here today gone tommorrow, and most wonder what happen to the “romance” just like this blog entry.
@TiP,
“I consider spending quality time with me watching the Wire romantic”
lol. Do you date The Champ?
@TiP,
so you don’t do random “lemme make the lady some dinner/dessert” or “let me run a warm bath so i can watch my lady bath her body before i get to her”? none of that? really? just a tv show and ya’ll in the same room, woo woo woo? wow.
@TiP, romance is subjective I suppose and if both parties are down with the “Watch the Wire” together kind of romance then I don’t guess there’s a problem.
It’s when romance…in whatever form it comes in is completely absent….no effort no quality interaction….no teasing before jumping all the way in….just gimme the right look in the club… down a couple drinks and do the do….that’s the picture that most songs today paint of how one gets to the end goal.
Oh jeez I was having a great morning then came into this post to read complaining about the “good ole days” of music. After reading an article on black people complaining because the prince/male character in the Princess and the Frog is latino, I forwarded it to my boy who just responded “smh black people ain’t neva gonna be happy”.
Black romance isn’t dead, didn’t you hear, we got a black romantic love story going on in the white house right now.
prince/male character in the Princess and the Frog is latino
Is he Latino… I thought he was creole and gave it a pass cuz the movie is set in New Orleans. If he’s Latino i think it’s wrong on sooo many levels. How is Disney FINALLY going to make a movie featuring a black princess and make the prince Latino of all things?? That’s like a slap in the face. Why couldn’t he just be black? Would it have been harder for them to write a movie with a black princess and black prince? No. That shyt is contrived. I haven’t seent it yet. I did watch the trailer cuz i was genuinely excited, but that is some bullshyt.
@Dorian G.,
He’s not even Latino, the dude who voices him is Latino. The prince’s name is Naveen and is from a ficitional country called Moldonia (sp?).
*Now ya’ll see why I don’t do Disney…fairy tales my arse.
@miss t-lee, Moldonia
Girrrl! White supremacy is real. I couldn’t believe that when i saw it. The market for children’s entertainment featuring black characters is really scarce.
@pgh muse,
lol@ scarce. You mean non-existent?
If it TRULY doesn’t matter what race the princes are why not make em all black?
It would shut up all us complaining Negroes and it wouldn’t matter to the rest of the even-tempered world. No?
@pgh muse,
Yeah…I never really paid attention until I started looking for toys for my nephew and godchildren.
It’s a shame.
I don’t like R. Kelly and haven’t liked R. Kelly since the Chocolate Factory. I’ll acknowledge his talent, but he makes his share of bullshyt and I can’t pollute my space with that crap. I stan for some forms of ignance, like anybody else – just not in my music – at least not R. Kelly. I can’t take him or his protoge’s. I like real instruments. If there aren’t going to be real instruments then let the beats knock and the lyrics be creative. I don’t know. Something.
On to Black Love – Black Love is definitely not dead. In my circle of friends and relatives most are married or are in LTRs – so i can’t say it’s dead. It may be in the ICU… but it’s not dead.
@Dorian G., Oh jeez I was having a great morning then came into this post to read complaining about the “good ole days” of music.
yeah, i didnt want to purposefully pin the whole thing on that b/c i actually enjoy a lot of music out today. hell, i like gucci mane’s album. yeah, i said it.
we do have romance in the white house, we assume. i wonder if the obama’s get tired of everybody pinning their hopes and dreams on them.
re: the disney movie, you’re right though, black folks ain’t neva gonna be happy.
@Dorian G.,
There are so many other reasons to hate Disney that the possibly Latino prince isn’t even near the top of my list. Also, I don’t have a problem, per say, with a Latino prince. Latinos need princes too. I also don’t have a problem with the interracial romance. I guess the issue would be, are they implicitly saying that a black man could never be a prince, even for a black woman? (Yeah, I said “even for a black woman,” because lets face it, in the United States black woman are at the bottom of the list of desirable mates and most people assume that nobody wants us but black men.) That would absolutely be a problem. And it would absolutely just be the latest example of latent racism by Disney.
But Disney has a lot of latent issues with “isms.” Classism and sexism being two other prime examples. I hate Disney for the same reason I hate Tyler Perry–finding a man to love you is not a reason to spontaneously break into song. It does not guarantee happily ever after. And there is nothing inherently wrong with or miserable about a woman who does not have a man. That message runs in most Disney movies–the unhappy and tormented princess who finds true happiness when the handsome princes comes into her life. Sorry, but women can be complete and happy beings on our own. Lonely is a state of mind, not a side effect of singledom.
@Dorian G.,
This “just look at the White House” argument for looking on the bright side of the black community is really on its last leg. How about look at yourself to see why you have a negative impression rather than look at these two people you dont know who live a life extraordinarily different than your own.
@Me fail english?,
Damn you usually have one of the better sarcasm meters on here
@Dorian G.,
Stop lying. I almost NEVER catch the sarcasm.
@Me fail english?,
Thats unpossible!
As I’ve said many times before…and I’m a serious music head:
R. Kelly = Not a fan.
I don’t think I own any of his albums but just a few select singles from him. Somehow I equate his crooning with hoodrat illegitimate child birthin…but then again I have an old school jones that won’t accept most of his stuff as “love making music.”
I’m still puzzled as to how he can put out the same song for 15 years and folks eat em up. First it’s you reminding him of his jeep, now there’s something church about you. I’m through with this bama. Who will replace Luther, Ike and Barry?
@CPT Callamity, “Who will replace Luther, Ike and Barry?”
Al, Marvin, The Isley Bros, Sam, etc etc etc
these youngins dayum sure ain’t gonna do it, they nothing about love and sensuality, all they know is vulgarity and overt sexuality.
@CPT Callamity,
“First it’s you reminding him of his jeep, now there’s something church about you. I’m through with this bama. ”
Bwahahahahahaha!! I’m sorry but I LMAO because I can almost picture the look on your face! LOL
@Smiley Face,
lol. I did too.
@CPT Callamity, you really including Ike???
@Panama Jackson,
Ike was a musical genius, crack and spousal abuse issues notwithstanding.
@Me fail english?,
Perhaps I should’ve clarified which Ike. Not Turner…I’m talking about Isaac “Hot Buttered Soul” Hayes. Creator of the Shaft Soundtrack and king of the 4 song album with one song lasting 18 minutes! Genius!
@CPT Callamity,
I totally wasnt joking though. You would’ve been right with either one. He was an architect of rock & roll and a virtuoso. Its a shame (and his own damned fault) that his legacy has been reduced to nothing more than wife-whoopin’, cake-force-feeding, smoker.
Yall should read/listen up on him.
I could care less what Arruh sings about. I’m a hip hop fan, folks. I can listen to all types of ignorant, nonsensical shet so long as it’s written well and has a good melody/rhythm. My main beef with him is that he isn’t a talented song writer. That and most of his music sounds like the staler/ more trite version of a good song I heard 10 years earlier.
I blame the labels. Once upon a time, artistic people (or at least people with an “ear”) were key in artist development. It was more difficult to get poor music greenlit since an actual musician/songwriter/something/anything was gonna critique isht. Now its all about branding, image consultants, people with no talent but went to college for business giving the go ahead. In another lifetime I witnessed this first-hand. Disheartening as a fan. Frustrating as an employee. This is why I work where I work now. lol!
@Me fail english?, It was more difficult to get poor music greenlit since an actual musician/songwriter/something/anything was gonna critique isht.
i dont know if i agree with this. for every person we remember, there are 100 artists who put out albums that sucked major ass b/c they weren’t any good. there are a million folks out there with albums that suck but somebody greenlit the shit, from the 60s, 70s and 80s.
@Panama Jackson,
Possible there’s some selection bias (since I wasnt around back then, the only stuff that survived for me to enjoy is what was good). But we seem to be the first generation complaining about OUR OWN music.
Not some old fogies that are stuck on the music of their youth and talking down to the kids. The intended audience is whining about a lack of good music. Our parents weren’t talking about “I wish Holland Dozier Holland would just stop all they bullshet already! And this Quincy Jones??? Who digs this stuff?!”. That is a relatively new phenomenon.
@Me fail english?,
I disagree 100% percent. All them “true Rock Heads” were complaining about what they called commercial crap in the 1970′s. Black people boo’d Whitney Houston in the 80′s. And you had a full movement in the early 90′s by groups like Lords of the Underground, Tribe, Souls of Mischief…etc critiquing mainstream rap counterparts at the time. So yes it is selection bias, because 20 years from now no one is going to remember Boosie, D12, Max B, or Soulja Boy at all. They’re just mindless entertainment for us today, not memorable artist that represent our generation.
@Dorian G.,
So yes it is selection bias, because 20 years from now no one is going to remember Boosie, D12, Max B, or Soulja Boy at all. They’re just mindless entertainment for us today, not memorable artist that represent our generation.
great point.
@Dorian G.,
And I have to disagree with you 100%. What you and Champ are talking about is the selection bias that Panama already pointed out and I owned up to.
The point is that if we won’t remember Kellz, Dream or whoever else we’re complaining about, then who will we remember? That’s what’s new.
Also, “true rock heads” and black people who didnt like Whitney Houston had commercially successful Anita’s and Bon Jovi’s/Springsteens (actually I dont know wth you’re talking about here). So stop frontin like ATCQ wasn’t doing numbers while their fans criticized Lynch Mob.
Of course there will always be ppl that arent fans of a (sub)genre. No, metal fans won’t dig hair bands. That’s not the same as popular R&B fans currently lamenting the state of popular R&B.
I don’t like R. Kelly and haven’t liked R. Kelly since the Chocolate Factory. I’ll acknowledge his talent, but he makes his share of bullshyt and I can’t pollute my space with that crap. I stan for some forms of ignance, like anybody else – just not in my music – at least not R. Kelly. I can’t take him or his protoge’s. I like real instruments. If there aren’t going to be real instruments then let the beats knock and the lyrics be creative. I don’t know. Something.
On to Black Love – Black Love is definitely not dead. In my circle of friends and relatives most are married or are in LTRs – so i can’t say it’s dead. It may be in the ICU… but it’s not dead.
@pgh muse, death is for suckas anyway.
Black romance isn’t dead, but if there is anything or anyone to blame due to the perception of it being dead… then let’s blame ourselves.
Why?
Well, why hate the supply and ignore the demand?
The end.
@SouthernCharm,
even though this confused me a bit, i think i agree
@SC,
Right right
Kudos on the topic, Panama. This is something I have thought about for a long time and Kellz is an excellent catalyst for this topic.
12 Play really was a turning point in R&B. That album was so straight forward about sex that it threw folks for a loop. From then on, it seemed like there was no holds barred for what R&B could be classified as. I can’t lie, when I was younger, I bumped the hell out of some R. Kelly partly because his music was hilarious because there is no way in hell a woman would fall for the lines in songs (half on a baby? Really?) You really can’t blame Kellz too much for lack of black romance in the mainstream R&B music. It really is the breakdown of the family in our community.
For black men, to quote Brad Pitt in one of my favorite movies of all time, “Fight Club”, “we are a generation of men raised by women”. Probably one of the greatest social commentaries ever. With a lot of black men growing up without fathers or positive male role models, you are really without someone that can directly show you how to romance a woman. Either you find out from women, like I did, or you find out an outlet for it, i.e. music, TV, movies. From that you can either pull from the positive outlets (the Cosbys, the Evanses, even a Different World) or the negative (sexually blatant R&B, bad movies, or the neighborhood thugs). It’s no excuse, but it’s reality. A lot of black men just don’t know how to be romantic, because a lot of us equate romance with sex and they are two totally different aspects of a relationship/courtship with a woman. Sex can be sex, but romance+sex = a rather enjoyable experience.
For black women, without any positive male role models, they can feel like they don’t know how they should be treated by a man so it can lead to be treated less than what they are worth. Romance is something some women have no idea about, not the big stuff either. It can be the smallest nuances. Example: I took a woman out to dinner, I pulled out a chair for her, and she said “Oh, did you want to sit there?” I said no, I was just pulled the chair out for you. Yes, she was embarrassed, but it puzzled the hell out of me because she was 2 years older than me so I felt something like that shouldn’t have been new to her. She did not know how to react. We laughed it off but it stuck with me how far down our community has come to where a woman isn’t used to a man pulling a chair out for her.
Much like everything else in our community, you can’t put too much of the lack of black romance on anything other than the real reason. Us. We say it all the time but we really got to do better. Marvin Gaye’s “Soon I’ll Be Loving You Again” was about oral sex, but hey you couldn’t tell because it was about the delivery. Teddy had some sexy songs but it wasn’t so damn straight forward. True, good R&B is all about the delivery, no matter the subject matter. As for Trey Songz, he needs to pull up a chair and sithisazzdown.
@ComicBookGuy,
“…I took a woman out to dinner, I pulled out a chair for her, and she said “Oh, did you want to sit there?” I said no…”
Wow, that is something sad.
@Highfive,
It also has zero to do with romance. Chivalry /= Romance
@Dorian G.,
Chivalry doesn’t always lead to romance, but it usually is a good precursor to it.
@ComicBookGuy,
Dorian just feels like arguing today. Chivalry can be very romantic.
@ComicBookGuy,
LOL I’m chivalrous probably to a fault, yet I’m the least romantic dude you will ever come across. Doesn’t mean I wasn’t raised to help a woman cross a puddle, or open the door for a lady to get in the car.
@ Me Fail English?,
You just trying to argue with me today. I’m merely putting a fan to all this “the way we were” nostalgia y’all got going on here today. Regardless of how much in dream world it is lol
@Dorian,
How is thinking chivalry is romantic nostalgic?
And some things change over time. For the worse. No use in denying it.
@ComicBookGuy, Agreed!
@ComicBookGuy, Co-sign on your points, folk…
As stated in the above-thread, when phrases such as “hey Ma..” and “sup shawty” started working on women, that was truly a sign o’ the times (although I must admit, I’m still partial to “sup shawty”…u can’t beat the simplicity of it)
@DG,
I never got people’s problem with those phrases.
Baby Girl, Sweet Thang, Foxy Lady, Darling… none of that seems any classier than “hey ma”
@Me fail english?,
Depends on the context, I guess…many of the women I know can’t stand either one…probably because of the kinda men who tend to say it to them, and perhaps whatever conversation they may have after it is not hittin’ on anything.
“Hello” works just fine, so I’m told…
@DG,
My personal favorite: “Hey gul, whatcho name is?” Anytime one of my friends used to tell me about a guy asking them that, I died laughing.
@DG,
I can get with that. It’s the “sign o’ the times” part that threw me as if this new.
@Me fail english?,
my favorite salutation ever used by a guy trying to holla at me was “Hey Champion, I like your size.” Jamaican men, I swear.
@ComicBookGuy,
“We are a generation of men raised by women. Do you think the answer is another woman?”
Excellent movie.
What is truely sad at this point is that i find Robin Thicke doing better R&B than most black males now. *Shakes Head* but that’s the way it is. Can I get a Jill Scott album soon?
@Perdita,
“Robin Thicke doing better R&B than most black males now.”
Really? I can’t with this statement.
Especially after hearing more than a few tracks off his new album.
He’s phoning it in also.
@miss t-lee, Robin Thicke ain’t hittin on too much LOL..
I do like the direction Raphael S. has gone in tho..still these guys are like 30 +..I see nothing in this younger gen that already ain’t been said up thread….
@OrangeStar616,
“Robin Thicke ain’t hittin on too much LOL..”
Oh trust, I know. Especially after hearing a track with him and Nicki Minaj? *eyeroll*
I caught a episode of Raphael Saadiq on PBS a couple of weeks ago, he’s always been good, he’s just under the radar most of the time.
@miss t-lee,
Raphael Saadiq def on point. and so many others that are under the radar and dont get props. Avant, Ginuwine, Bobby valentino(sometimes) first albulm was the best. Joe, OMG Jon B! I loves soem Jon B!
@ A-0 ,
Exactly, most people don’t even know Ginuwine had a new album out this year….lol
There’s plenty folks still doing good music? Will most people hear it? Nope.
@miss t-lee,
Since he stopped messing with Timbaland, Ginuwine’s music as fallen off.
@ ComicBookGuy,
Although he’s not as popular, the man can still sing a love song.
@A-0,
“Ginuwine”
Elgin singing “In those Jeans” is under the radar? mmmm…don’t know about that one, lol
@miss t-lee, I haven’t heard that much off the new album the first was great the second took awhile to grow on me. I am keeping my fingers crossed on the third. Most of the good R&B is hard to come by. Thank God for pandora and vh1 soul.
@Perdita, he said with this new one, he’s letting other people write and produce for him. thats why its uhm “different” so far. I like Sex Therapy but I refuse to listen to a track with Nicki Minaj. I love Robin Thicke but I’m not sure about this new one. we’ll see.
@Reecie, well there went my hope for him. guess he is still trying to get on the cover of vibe or some such nonsense…. Why do they crave commercialism so much! I know, I know Money and fame and Bi*tches… Well Blial still has a cd coming sometime soon.
@Perdita,
I think you will be suprised by the new album, and not in a good way…lol
@miss t-lee,
“Really? I can’t with this statement.”
^ *dap* Plus, even though I do like some of his songs his live falsetto on tv shows is wack. There is a lot of production to make his voice smooth.
@legitimate_soul,
Yeah I saw him live and my jaw hit the floor. How the hell you can’t sang AND you not sexy (imo)? Like how the hell you get a record deal (5 pts. name that artist!)?
Fergie, on the other hand, sang her ass off that night.
@Perdita, welcome and sh*t
and jill scott phoned in her last album too. lol.
Can i throw in Jagged Edge. ” Lets ge married”… Mint condition also does some great love songs. R&B isnt totallt dead. I hope.. I pray..
@A-0,
o_O @ Jagged Bama Edge LOL, Jodeci > than JE..
Dru Hill. them B- more bamas for that matter, they had some songs, remakes and all
@OrangeStar616,
Oh hell yeah Jodeci > JE. no doubt on that. but JE heart break and Hard were good albulms.
Dru Hill also. but and however…could you take Sisqo seriously??
@A-0, LOL
@A-0,
I kinda’ cringed at the “we ain’t gettin’ no younger” as a reason to get married from Jagged Edge. Definitely not romantic, on some get in where you fit in so you don’t die alone. I know the rest of the song has more romantic attributes, but that argument about no getting younger wasn’t convincing to me, lol.
“What happened to Black love and the R&B song?”
It’s trapped in the closet?
@Cheekie,
trap deez
@The Champ,
“trap deez”
Now, Champie, you know the CIA already had to trap those deez because of their “gift that kept on giving”.
ok so I just went and listened the the R. song about him getting some young tender pregnant….sooooooo that was a waste of 2.3 seconds
girl you make me wanna get you pregnant…knock you up….knock you up…usually i leave the club with a girl who has a man….
what kind of f@cktard (man or woman) would think that was real R&B. He’s basically saying that you look so good i don’t want to romance you, wine you and dine you, let you meet the rents and my other offspring and I surely don’t want to make sure your gene pool and my gene pool would produce a freakazoid…i just want to lay you down spread you limbs and let me shoot my human making jizz into your womb(nevermind it could be infested with some other dude’s rancid jizz) and see if we can make a child together all because you gotta big ole booty….the horror!!!!!
@Nikkisix,
i just want to lay you down spread you limbs and let me shoot my human making jizz into your womb(nevermind it could be infested with some other dude’s rancid jizz) and see if we can make a child together all because you gotta big ole booty….the horror!!!!!
and the problem with this is?
@The Champ,
I mean…I’m just saying…..can I at least get some stats from your wenis report before we get to making humans and everything and sooooo…..and a fish dinner from the after hours spot?!?!?!?
*sidenote*…why Snoop latest efforts crankin like sh*t?!?!…Malice in Wonderland will be copped tomorrow….
@OrangeStar616,
I Wanna Rock is a banger. I will be copping that tomorrow, too.
@OrangeStar616,
Girl…your DC came out all up and through this post, LOL!!!
@Smiley Face, girl I’m just sayin souf eass up in the heezzzzy babay LLS…. seriously some artists I feel sort of proud of tho, for doing what they do for sooooooo long and s t i l l b e crankin……gotta love Snoop!
I’m still wondering how Soldier boy got our word LOL
I think it can be argued that Black Romance and the Black love song is reflective of the state of communication between black couples and men and women period. Kinda’ like Mos Def and his analogy of how hip hop is doing. The answer is “How you doin?” , no Wendy. Some folks are healthy, and some are ailing. The real issue has to do with artists and writers who may be ailing or simply in a place where they are more focused on sex (which can be fine amongst consenting ADULTS, which is ironic in terms of discussing Kels). I believe the love songs we knew before weren’t all about “love” either and was a direct route to sex too. The difference is nowadays romance is not necessarily a direct route to sex. Part of the sexual revolution is that the “romance” is not necessarily needed if you just trying to ‘get down’ and the desire to ‘get down’ is more blatant. So I am optimistic that black love and romance is alive and will continue to be alive, just a different time where things are more out in the open and not as covert. I would argue that the average R. Kelly fan doesn’t think of him as a love song maker, and I don’t think he would either. He refers to himself as The Piper, not a love maestro.
That said, I got a lot disdain for Kels and stopped messing with him after 12 Play. I am not feeling him or his music, and if listening to the radio I turn the dial when his songs come on. Plus, I would argue his beat game is better than most and stripped down, many would not feel his lyrics. They probably feeling the beat and arrangement of his songs.
For the record, I love real love songs and black romance.
@legitimate_soul,
Mos Def gets credit for two of my favorite slow jams. The Beggar and the Panties from The New Danger album are da biznis. Almost makes me wanna tell Mos Def that he can get it. Also love Blue Black Jack. Mos Def has an impressive range. I love his stuff.
@BiggFoxy,
“Mos Def has an impressive range. ”
Don’t he though? I wonder why he’s not more popular than he is. He seems like he’s an easy fit across a few different types of music. Effortlessly dynamic.
@BiggFoxy,
Did you like “Beauty In The Dark?”
@miss t-lee,
Absolutely. He samples one of my favorite Isley Brothers songs.
@BiggFoxy,
Me too! I felt the “he can get it” vibe from Mos too, but he hella fertile with “more seeds than Ol’ D. B….” (-Redman) and he got ex-wife/baby momma drama which makes me love him as an artist and stick to that alone. LOL!
(sorry, the hip hop references are just swimming in my head especially today)
@legitimate_soul, Mos’ mind and creativity are madddddd sexy, a classically trained thespian even before the music, which lends itself to his over all appeal…..gotta admit I was very disappointed when I heard he had a rack of kids..still his artistry is NICE
@OrangeStar616,
Agreed!
for the record i really can’t stand r. kelly. aside from his perverse ways he has influenced a lot of r&b singers today. funny thing is i really don’t have a problem with trey songz or the dream. when trey songz dropped d.o.a. kellz i thought it was hilarious and everything he spoke of in that song is true.
i was offered the untitled album and i’m not even going to waste my time downloading it. i personally think he is too old to be singing about such foolishness.
@Tunde,
i personally think he is too old to be singing about such foolishness.
lol, so he should start crooning about boneva and metamecil?
@The Champ,
He should stop singing all together and focus on getting help for his issues…..He probably got this album out with “called in”, simple-azz songs to pay his legal fees….
*channeling my inner Mad Rapper* ‘Cause it’s unsigned and unknown cats whose ‘ish is more John Blaze….
@legitimate_soul,
“‘Cause it’s unsigned and unknown cats whose ‘ish is more John Blaze….”
el oh el.
I stopped taking R Kelly seriously once I heard
“You remind me of my jeep; I wanna ride it
Something like my sounds, I wanna pump it
Girl you look just like my cars; I wanna wax it
And something like my bank account, I wanna spend it”
The dumbest shit I ever heard.
@TrueMan,
“The dumbest shit I ever heard.”
^Agreed. I felt the same way…Until he bested himself with more.
@legitimate_soul,
Word. I was about to say I’ve heard worse. Not surprisingly, from Kellz!
Nothing kilt a an R&B song deader for me than the “God voice” on “I Don’t Mean It (Rmx)”. I feel like eternal damnation was a given for Kellz at the exact moment I heard that BS.
@Me fail english?,
Holy ish!!! I had forgotten about the God voice…that was pretty bad. _______
But then he put out “Thoia Thong”. *side-eye*
Ya’ll are right…he keeps one upping himself on the phuckery…lol
@miss t-lee,
Nothing kilt a an R&B song deader for me than the “God voice” on “I Don’t Mean It (Rmx)” .
OMG I TOTALLY forgot about “God voice” on I Don’t Mean it. BWHAHAHAHA. That was the funniest ish ever!
I realize this is not the Champ’s entry, but I still want to talk shyt about the Pissburgh Steelers……basically they SUCK!!! And oh yeah Who Dey biatches! LMAO
@V Renee,
I was wondering exactly how long it would be before someone rubbed that ish in our faces. I just knew it would be Dorian G. (he musta got busy at work or working on his F.I.N.E. newsletters)
Thanks V Renee…you win.
*actually my Dad threw me under the bus yesterday, he was having a little too much fun talking junk about my team…lol He actually called Ben a sissy.
@miss t-lee,
Thanks V Renee…you win. .
::snickering::
You’re welcome! I couldn’t help it!
And I think I like Daddy T-Lee. He sounds like a smart man. Ha!
@V Renee,
Yep I love my Daddy, but he’s ruthless when it comes to the Steelers (he’s a Cowboys fan)…lmao
@miss t-lee, That dang Steeler / Cowboy rivalry is hilarious cuz it’s so OLD. My grandfather HATED the Cowboys… so did my dad. And the funny thing is they don’t even hardly play each other like that anymore. It’s been like 20 years since the Steelers and Cowboys had beef, but old men (God Love them) will keep their loyaties to the grave
@ pgh muse,
Yep…a very old beef, but don’t forget they met up in the 90s for that one super bowl. He took the time to gloat extra hard on that one…lol
@miss t-lee,
Your dad is a good man, even though the Cowboys stunk it up yesterday. smh
@miss t-lee,
I just don’t like seeing anyone else beat y’all except for us really. It removes the satisfaction.
Also if you wanna sign up for the F.I.N.E. e-newsletter just email your name in the subject line to prezelect@dayumni99ayoufine.com
@V Renee, D*mn V Renee…
Just when i was happy that u were commenting again lmao… that was cold.
@pgh muse,
Bwhahahahaha!!!
I’s sorry!
@V Renee, u are forgiven :0)
Shock Value, “One-up-manship”, and convenience conspired to kill romance in R&B.
Once upon a time, Marvin Gaye was seen to have taken things too far with a song called “Sexual Healing”. How dare he make such a risque song?!, but damn if that song wasn’t a hit. Similarly, this UN-colored feller’s over there gyrating his hips all provocative like, talking about you ain’t nothing but a hounddog and all that. Folx raving about, “oohh I can’t believe he said/did that” inspired curiosity in others who flocked to witness it for themselves creating increased revenue for such performances.
Haters on the sideline were getting swole saying, “man, I coulda done that. But that’s ok, Imma take it to another level.” Now, they had to drop something more risque, more outlandish, more provactive- push the envelope a lil bit further so they’ll be what’s ablaze on the avenue.
In this society of fast food, movies on demand, 24-hour news, and google, coupled with the fact that people in general have lost the desire to work for anything (why wait until you can afford it…you’ve got a credit card), we want it all and we want it now (i.e., why read the book, it’s coming out in theatres soon.) No more of that reading between the lines crap! Which brings us to today.
Not specifically blacks and R&B, but our society as a whole, has seen a new era…one the envelope has been pushed so far that Nine Inch Nails has to sing about how “I want to f*ck you like an animal” to shock someone. And since folks just want you to get to the point anyway, why spend all that time writing innuendos about how I will seduce you, when I can just sing about Birthday Sex? Afterall, that’s easy, it’s what they want to hear, and it’s what’s exothermic on the expressway.
@Caballeroso, there is something very erotic in whats left unsaid, just like alot of men (and some women) like a lil mystery its sexier, than having it all displayed off the rip!!!!!
That mystery makes folk use their imagination and for some thats a huge turn on, the mind after all is a major sex organ, major!
@OrangeStar616, To be clear, the intent of what I wrote was to express why I believe the art is in it’s current state. I did not intend to imply that I endorse it’s current state. I’m down with a little mystery- sometimes to a fault.
@Caballeroso,
Great point! I agree.
@Caballeroso,
Good point, frat. Nothing is left to the imagination anymore.
Oh yeah, that word exothermic brings back bad memories of chemistry class.
@ComicBookGuy, I’ve finally overcome my Thermodynamics issues and nightmares.
Let me interject: Black folks boo’d Al Green and Anita Baker too.
Ok you folks are writing all kinds of essays up in here today LOL… I’m far from an extreme optimist or idealist but I do not believe black love/romance is dead. But i DO believe that R&B music sucks nowadays. I mean its just pure TOMFOOLERY. Like that Bobby Valentino song where he’s singing “She gon let me beat beat beat beat…” UGH disgusting. I don’t consider myself a prude but some of the music out these days makes me uncomfortable, especially knowing that impressionable teenagers are hearing this stuff. But then again, s*x sells and always has and these so-called R&B singers wouldn’t be putting out all this rauncy a** stuff unless there was a demand and a market for it. Conversely, many of the people buying this garbage and basically subscribing to this school of thought and treating members of the opposite sex accordingly. So its the age old chicken and egg dilemma. Has society’s declining morals changed music or has sh*tty music contributed to society’s (esp teens) declining morals. I guess we will never know. THE END
I just want to say that as someone who owns everything Trey Songz has done, alot of his music does have romantic content. In fact, my husband and I chose “It would be” from his Anticipation mixtape as our wedding song
If you ever took your love away I could truly say I’d die right here today/ Don’t give me the world I just want my girl/ If i could have anything/ I put it on everything/ That it would be you you you/ I just want you you you
*sigh* (excuse me while I jump my husband)
So I don’t think romance in black music is dead, maybe it’s just hiding so it doesn’t get mugged by 50 Cent
“When you say the romance is dead, what you’re really saying is you have exhausted the possibilities”……(poetry snaps)
another fictitious character which goes back to the point is romance itself a thing of imagination and perception to get the booty and make a woman feel like she aint just give the booty up for nothin?…..then again if the mind perceives it doesnt that on some level make it real?
Nigras know the law
This sh*t is so on point and so well written. I’ve checked out the site a few times but I’ll be checking you out more regularly. As a blogger myself, I get similar comments to the one I’m leaving now. Sometimes I wonder if they’re blowing hot air up my ass. Then I read your sh*t and it’s like, wow, maybe some can really appreciate good writing. Putting you on my blog roll as soon as I slam this period.
@Mason Jamal, thanks for the love! (on behalf of the three of us)
I UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING THIS POST SAYS, THATS WHY THE THOUGHT THAT CAME TO ME AFTER HIM GETTING 6 GRAMMY NODS IS THAT THERE IS ONLY ONE MALE SINGING R&B ANYMORE.
THANK THE GODS FOR MAXWELL!!!!!!!!!
THANK THE GODS FOR MAXWELL!!!!!!!!!
THANK THE GODS FOR MAXWELL!!!!!!!!!
THANK THE GODS FOR MAXWELL!!!!!!!!!
THANK THE GODS FOR MAXWELL!!!!!!!!!
THANK THE GODS FOR MAXWELL!!!!!!!!!
THANK THE GODS FOR MAXWELL!!!!!!!!!
THANK THE GODS FOR MAXWELL!!!!!!!!!
THANK THE GODS FOR MAXWELL!!!!!!!!!
I don’t give him credit for killing R&B because the beautiful thing about music is that it lasts forever. Once any song (produced by an endless number of capable crooners, dead and living) gets into your spirit, it’s there. … That said, I’ve never been a big fan of the R, uh, arrah, uh, you know, the 18th letter (not Rakim). But, when I went to the 2001 Essence Music Festival and they threw him off the stage because he refused to clean up his act/performance because there were families (read: kids) in the audience, my opinion of the guy was cemented: squandered talent. Like you said, P, he’s a follower of the genre he created. Which is, well, sad.
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