Ike Turner kicks the bucket and I don't care
What's with all the sad emoticons? Ike Turner passed away, leaving a musical legacy that was long ago eclipsed by his evil. Thanks to What's Love Got To Do With It, we all know what was up (a coat hanger) and for that reason I don't care to see any more RIP's. I don't celebrate any living thing's demise but damn if I want to read another lukewarm tribute. I am more upset at Davy's Crockett's 5-year-old descendant killing that big ole bear than this man's hellgoing. He's the poster child for domestic violence for goodness sake. And since we're on the subject of violence against women, according to the Los Angeles Times, some activists are planning to protest the L.A. stops of the Pied Pedophile's tour. Organizer Jasmyne Cannick doesn't expect much of a turn out and blames it on apathy,
"It's like pulling teeth to get people to talk about this," Cannick said. "It's a challenge to get the black community to even discuss it. . . . They're acting like he doesn't have 14 counts of child pornography against him. . . . We're all acting like we don't have daughters and nieces and little sisters."
Not the kid. I actually never owned an R. Kelly record although I was a fan from when he was still with the P.A. and singing cute songs like "Dedicated" and "Honey Love." In fact, I remember watching an old BET special on Kelly. Cameras followed him for a couple of days at all hours and I remember being surprised at his tween protégé's steadfast presence. I wondered where her parents were, not that I thought then that he knew no good. I just thought it was strange to be so young and out and about with with a grown, albeit goofy, man (Kells sang a little improptu ode to cheese toast on the special). That young girl of course was the late Aaliyah before she broke. I have had to reconsider my relationship to Kelly's music. His catalogue is too piss-stained for my hears. So I said goodbye to the "Down Low" remix with Ronald Isley, the Crucial Conflict collaboration that brings back such fond memories of my freshman year step show and even "Step in the Name of Love," unavoidable as it is for those of us on the young Black wedding circuit. I know it's not possible to renounce all the music made by bad men but I'm compelled to draw a line in the sand even as the tide closes in.
Tags: Soul, Violence Against Women
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