They always
honor you in death. Rarely, do they remember you in life. But on Sunday, June
28, 2009, Black Entertainment Television (the one I call the Black
Entertainment Tragedy) had the opportunity to pay great tribute to an icon who
left the world too soon while still keeping with their regular plans to present
the people with the 2009 BET Awards Ceremony. I don’t think anyone really
understands the magnitude of this man’s death. While this may not sound like
something substantial, Michael, in death, was responsible for making us all
tune in to a network that many of us had turned our backs on. So, those of us
who made the decision to keep VH1 Soul in constant rotation were now tuning to
BET to see the wonderful tribute. Recognizing that they only had a few days to
plan, it is important that we give them credit.
I have no
interest in discussing whether the tribute was poorly done or whether it was a
great attempt. My focus is on the “regularly scheduled” acts. I tuned in late,
but was kept current by the Twitter and Facebook Social networking avenues. I’ve
long been a proponent of the power these networks have in sharing news and
social commentary. Last night really proved how phenomenal Social Networks
really are. For the first time, I was able to see the comments of individuals
that felt the same way I did and also to see those who opposed. But the
conversations that ensued based on those initial postings were even more
phenomenal. But back to my point.
As I
watched the show, it became sadly apparent that the music that is being pumped
into the black airwaves does nothing but promote a wider scale of ignorance.
Save, a few positive performances, the music was largely “negro mess”. As I
watched everything from the ignorant chain of bondage around T – “Pains me to
look at’s” chest down to Lil’ Wayne, Drake, and company’s decisions to put
underage girls (and I don’t care if the girl is Wayne’s daughter) on the stage
while performing a song about wanting to screw every woman in the world, I was
just disgusted. In between those tragedies were moments that just made you
smile – Ne-Yo, (even if you hate her and her awful outfit) Beyonce, Maxwell,
BBD, the O’Jays (performance only), and even Jay- Z. There were more
respectable acts that just those. Even Tevin managed to look presentable and
sound … good (that was hard for me to admit). But, on a whole, I could only
think about what my students will remember. While the whole Soulja Boy
phenomena is heartbreaking, I couldn’t help but join in with the coonery , “Yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
git money! OWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!” The truth is, music has now come to a place
in life where it’s not about the content, it’s really about the style you bring
and the trends you set. Even T-Pain’s chain served as a commentary to how
foolish artists have become with wanting to outdo the next with ridiculous
amounts of ice.
Michael
Jackson’s flare and vision gave rise to the artists that we now see today.
Because of him, artists have an opportunity to be as flashy as they can.
Unfortunately, they missed an important part of what Michael was – tasteful.
And now, we have the great misfortune of this being the state of our black
music. What will people remember about the 2009 BET Awards? Nothing, because it
was a nightmare that needs to be pushed to the back of our minds and never to
be brought forward again.
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