Critical Musings: The 2007 BET Awards
So the first four stars to appear on the 2007 BET Awards were Jennifer Hudson, Jennifer Holiday, Mo'Nique and Dana Owens-I'm thinking that's a good thing for the self-esteems of thousands of black women who don't deem their bodies-real bodies-as bodies that matter and bodies deserving to be desired. Music videos aside, BET gets some credit here for recognizing the psychic and spiritual struggles of many of the women in their audience, with relation to their bodies. Call it the Debra Lee effect.
Years ago I wrote that Diana Ross's image as an independent woman was as "saccharine as her voice." I don't feel that much different about her now. Ms. Ross benefited from songwriting and production that just crackled - listen to "Come See About Me," "Love is Like An Itching in My Heart," "Love Hangover" or anything on that Diana album, the gem that Nile
Rodgers and Bernard Edwards provided her in 1980. But Mary Wells, Brenda Hollaway, and a pre-Buddah label Gladys Knight had access to those same songs and production, and none of them has ever achieved the legendary status (Ms.
Knight, notwithstanding) of Ms. Ross. The bottom line is that Ms. Ross was a star and after 40 years that's all that matters.
Any credit I give Mr. Combs, I give quite grudgingly and even then, it's never with regards to his music. Admittedly I got a jones for Keyshia Cole, but there's just something about "Last Night" that's infectious. But how
progressive would it have been for Ms. Cole to have been the object of Mr. Combs's affections in the video for "Last Night" instead of the Eurasian staple that always accompanies him to the marketplace. Ok, if you're selling perfume, I get it, but how about a simple gesture to those round-away woman? Every time I hear Ms. Coles sing "I used to think that I wasn't fine enough" in those opening lines of "Love," I go shaking my head.
The JB tribute was nice and it's always great to see Public Enemy on stage one. But as contemporary R&B continues to be shaped by folk like Akon and Rihanna, who don't share in the nostalgia of an aging African-American (as opposed to Black or diasporic) public, I wonder how long slogans like "I'm Black and I'm Proud" will resonate for an increasingly "Afropolitan" audience.
The moment Birdman showed up on stage with his kids, the whole rapper with his kids thing was over. And we understand it's all a performance to show that they are engaged fathers. Whatever. Notice how you rarely see female performers traffic in their kids the same way, likely because it's assumed they are doing the parenting thing full time and thus there's little value in showing off their kids. That said, I have to side with Nelly, Akon and Lil Wayne when they suggested that hip-hop ain't supposed to be raising anybody's kids. If you got a 6-year-old who is watching hoochie-mama videos on BET, that sounds like a parenting problem to me. Turn the videos off - and then complain to your cable provider about the content of their programming, with the threat of contacting some of their advertisers if said cable provider isn't responsive.
"Appearing on tonight's show...Lil' Jon, Lil' Kim, Lil Wayne..." - high comedy indeed.
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Comments
1.
Anonymous says:
what's up with little kim she' s getting so fat prison must have treated her well.
07/09/2007 at 4:17 PM
2.
chaz says:
jalylah: No I took notice of that as well!
07/05/2007 at 3:51 PM
3.
chaz says:
jalylah: No I took notice of that as well!
07/05/2007 at 3:51 PM
4.
Jak says:
Its too easy to hate on Diana as people blame her for everything from Florence Ballards demise to present day global warming(okay, I exagerate a lil bit) but the fact of the matter is that check out any long haired girl with a dress on today, and note where they got their groove from. The fact that she has had pop, r&b, jazz, easy listening and even country influenced songs are never mentioned. All I keep hearing or reading about are that she is not as good as Aretha or Patti etc-well she never said she was, neither was she designed to be like them. Diana is what is known as a stylised singer. That is why her songs do not transport well when covered by anybody. She has a unique voice that "only" she sounds like..
I note that JB is deemed the hardest working person in showbusiness, ditto Beyonce, well I also ask you the public to get out memoirs by anyone from the 60's. They will indicate that when everyone else at Motown was tucked up in bed, Diana Ross was busy practicing/perfecting her craft. Its a shame that this is not recognised. More props to your bad self-DIANA!
07/03/2007 at 4:21 PM
5.
TAMMY says:
WAS IT JUST ME OR DID ANYONE ELSE NOTICE HOW TONY YAYO GOT DIS'D BY T.I. DURING HIS PERFORMANCE? YAYO STUCK HIS HAND OUT TO GIVE T.I. DAP AND HE WAS STRAIT DENIED! WHAT'S GOING ON THERE,HMMMM?
06/29/2007 at 7:58 PM
6.
jalylah says:
1st thanks for pointing to that Afropolitan article. Very interesting.
"I wonder how long slogans like "I'm Black and I'm Proud" will resonate for an increasingly "Afropolitan" audience."
And vice versa. As a bi-ethnic African American (i.e. one side descended from the enslaved and unfree the other from those who escaped capture) with family in at least three continents, I was surprised to learn that some of my African American friends couldn't get down with Obama because he is a sort of Afropolitan (emphasis on sort of since its genetic and not cultural per the white mother and Indonesian step-father.) Also wondering if part of Rihanna and Akon's popularity derives from a sort of Afropolitaness, in that they are brown skinned people with kinky hair whose identity might be more nation-based (Barbados or Senegal) than race-based or maybe just in flux. Many of us need or Black people to be Black. The extra modifiers can be unsettling even as we wield them, i.e., Great Grandfather, French, Great Grandmother Choctaw. Maybe the decreased prominence of race in their idenities makes global audiences more comfortable with them?
06/28/2007 at 3:38 PM
7.
tY says:
It's amazing how people do not respect the Incredible Diana Ross. As a child, i remember my family partying to Diana Ross every weekend, Upside Down, The Boss, Love Hangover and all her 12 inch remixes, While you might not see the Vision or the Impact that Diana Ross had on young afro-americans, you can see it thru Beyonce, Mariah, Janet Jackson, even Madonna...they all wish they could be an Icon Like Diana Ross. Diana Ross does not get enough props. Regarding Songwriting: Has Whitney houston have written a song before, No. Has Beyonce ever written a song without 15 songwriters helping her, NO. Has Janet ever written a song without Rene or Jam/Lewis...NO. Only Mariah and Madonna write there music. So don't hate on Diana Ross for that. She is indeed a Legend.
06/28/2007 at 2:36 PM
8.
tY says:
It's amazing how people do not respect the Incredible Diana Ross. As a child, i remember my family partying to Diana Ross every weekend, Upside Down, The Boss, Love Hangover and all her 12 inch remixes, While you might not see the Vision or the Impact that Diana Ross had on young afro-americans, you can see it thru Beyonce, Mariah, Janet Jackson, even Madonna...they all wish they could be an Icon Like Diana Ross. Diana Ross does not get enough props. Regarding Songwriting: Has Whitney houston have written a song before, No. Has Beyonce ever written a song without 15 songwriters helping her, NO. Has Janet ever written a song without Rene or Jam/Lewis...NO. Only Mariah and Madonna write there music. So don't hate on Diana Ross for that. She is indeed a Legend.
06/28/2007 at 2:36 PM
9.
tY says:
It's amazing how people do not respect the Incredible Diana Ross. As a child, i remember my family partying to Diana Ross every weekend, Upside Down, The Boss, Love Hangover and all her 12 inch remixes, While you might not see the Vision or the Impact that Diana Ross had on young afro-americans, you can see it thru Beyonce, Mariah, Janet Jackson, even Madonna...they all wish they could be an Icon Like Diana Ross. Diana Ross does not get enough props. Regarding Songwriting: Has Whitney houston have written a song before, No. Has Beyonce ever written a song without 15 songwriters helping her, NO. Has Janet ever written a song without Rene or Jam/Lewis...NO. Only Mariah and Madonna write there music. So don't hate on Diana Ross for that. She is indeed a Legend.
06/28/2007 at 2:36 PM