Cue The Who
That chaos, that mayhem, that freedom. That’s me in my feelings about music. I’m tired and as the title of this rant indicates I will not be fooled again. Fooled by what you say?
Fooled by the false flags on both sides of the equation, both sides of the good if you will.
Let’s Start Our Meal With Some Vegetables
Check out this interview with Sinbad on Sway In The Morning if you haven’t already. Chock full of the nutrients that will provide some get right for your mind about this game. Sinbad knows what time it is and he definitely drops some jewels here. Pay particular attention to how he and Sway discuss the importance of building on the past and what a real career is as opposed to a virtual one. File this under “The Good”.
What Year Is It Again?
Some days I just don’t know. I mean more days than others. If I listen to the purported “R&B” station it often feels more like 1985 than 2015. Sure there were things that were great about 1985 musically and there were things that sucked. Yet I don’t believe in 1985 R&B equated to old or classic. Once you start using those words you have in essence moved the music to the museum. From the street to the museum. See when the music is in the street it is alive, vibrant, growing, progressing. Once you move it to the museum then it is to be looked at and the curator of said music becomes more important than the creator in many instances. There are many reasons for this phenomenon and a lot of them are legitimate: An over-saturated marketplace, displacement of the identity of the music via Hip-Hop, Major Label saturation of market with sub-par product, Independent Artist saturation of market with sub-par product and on and on… right now I’m stuck on the fact that if I’m listening to a station that purports to be an R&B station why is it so easy to take the easy/lazy route(in my opinion) and have 90% present of the music that you program is music that’s on the average 10 – 20 years old? Is there not enough great music being produced right now in 2015 to invert that percentage rating? Lazy says no. I say…
Let’s Stop Crying and Start Caring
Said it before and I will say it again, the present is a gift that we need to be grateful for because at the end of day it’s all we have. How does that relate to ye olde rant here? It’s quite simple: So much focus on a past that we’ve experienced and fretting over a future that we cannot predict has created an atmosphere where we ignore what’s right in front of us. I am just as guilty as anyone about this… but I had to stop shedding the tears over why it can’t be like it once was and hoping that the future will return to that past time and place. Here’s one thing I can predict: It’s not going to happen, well it’s not going to happen in the way I think or want so what did I do? Look for the good at every turn and realize that radio as I once knew it is no longer responsive to nor cares what I want to hear. Radio only wants to deal in what I’ve heard. Going out to a place where a DJ spins used to be a place where I could deal in what I want to or need to hear and again it’s more often these days about what I’ve heard. So like the true explorer that I am I have to do the heavy lifting these days, the discovery and I’m fortunate enough to have partners in crime who lift and share just like I do and it is a pleasant surprise when I can deal in the now and have something from right now on repeat. This process makes me feel like I’m in the moment because I am, I’m not reminiscing about what it feels like to be 15 when that’s long passed. I like the ability to focus in on how I feel right now.
The track below was sent to me from a fellow heavy lifter and it immediately spoke to me.
These lyrics: I know I’m destined for greatness, f*ck a critic’s advice… They hatin’ ‘cause I’m a player (they hatin’ ‘cause I’m a player)
This music:
R&B Radio Suckaz will never play this…
I also have a special word for the R&B is dead crowd:
I’m going to need all those naysayers who are stuck in 1997 to enter the stadium parking lot and head straight inside, no need for will call or to hit the ticket booth, there are plenty of seats for all of them. You cannot comment on what you’ve never heard. They don’t, blah, blah, blah, no you just don’t hear the tree falling in the woods because you’re in the house with the windows closed.
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.
