You know I have a theory… of course if you know me, I always have a theory. Not necessarily the type of theory that’s conspiratorial, but more along then lines of certain ifs=thens, inputs=outputs etc.,
Musically and culturally we’ve reached a place where anything goes and as a consequence everything went. I’m not necessarily speaking from a standpoint of “Back in my day” or “This filth, flarn filth”. I’m not necessarily on the prude wagon because I believe context is everything and certain artists like Prince or Public Enemy (or you can go back as far as Bessie Smith) when they invoked certain terms either directly or in a subversively subliminal manner that was/is a special type of revolutionary act.
Now? Club, club, club, boobs, boobs, boobs, buns, buns, buns, turnt, turnt, turnt. Again, I abhor the Puritanical (I truly do) but because I’m far passed the ethos of a horny adolescent at this point in my life (and true confession I was passed that ethos probably at 20) I’m tired of that being the dominant conversation.
Fortunately, yours truly and all of us have choices. I choose not to validate what’s not acceptable to me, plain and simple. Why? Because I’m Grown. Grown Folks do grown things. Grown Folks listen to yes you got it: Grown Folks Music. Not old folks, old school, nothing from the last year or hell the last 20. No, they listen to what’s Grown. The sons and daughters, nieces and nephews, play cousins of Sly Stone, James Brown, P-Funk, EWF, Al Green, Anita Baker, Luther, MJ, Prince, Sade and on and on (because literally it could be a while listing names of the established Grown) are out here. You have to know where to and who to look to so that you don’t get caught up and out there complaining about what the youngin’s are doing.
Here’s a bit of advice… let the youngin’s have their over-processed, watered-down, no-talent, can’t sing without technical assistance, always talmbout how much they got, how many persons they done knocked down, how high they got while writing the wack-ass tripe that is force fed to the masses by media conglomerates that care more about the fiscal bottom line than the exploitation of a person’s bottom type music.
Me? Oh yeah I’m going to be at the other table, you know the Grown Folks table? Yes, that one, with the big piece of chicken, great music that talks about all aspects of life(not just the weekend) aspirational as well as inspirational, we deal with the good and the bad, all in love, all like adults are supposed to do. Oh no don’t get it twisted… this table is not age restrictive. If you are 15 and down with the grown sound we’ve got a place for you at the table. Conversely, if you are 55 and 95% of the music that you listen to has trap drums, traces of auto-tune and seeks to blame not build, shame not shore-up, brag not reflect, is really a hyper-consumptive commercial masquerading as a song then you will be asked to give up your seat. No questions. Point blank period. If we did anything else it would be unacceptable.
If this sounds like the kind of musical spread that you’re into/down with… join us, there’s plenty of room.
Ivan Orr is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, performer, and writer. A native of Charlottesville, Virginia Ivan was involved with the forming and nascent days of The Music Resource Center as its first Program Director. A graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Department of Music, Ivan currently resides in Richmond, VA where he maintains an active performance and production schedule while serving as the Music Editor for Grown Folks Music, a position he has held since 2010.
