We love posting these from G Koop & O-Man because the match very nicely with one of our core tenets here at GFM which is “Bridging the Gap”. G Koop & O-Man’s production style lends itself to numerous “teachable moments” and we’re glad they decided to put out this series. Checkout special guests iiZrElL and Joyo Velarde, as G Koop & O_Man put down some West Coast Funk!!! Special shoutout to Sarah Crisman for putting us onto to this dynamic duo.
This is “Bridging the Gap” personified. The perfect marriage between musicianship and technology. Special shout out to Sarah Crisman for tweeting this out the other day.
I was particularly waiting for the cypher when I found out the BET Hip Hop Awards were coming on, but unbeknownst to me, not only did Cube and Rev Run show up [let the church say legends], they brought their mini-he’s and showed out! I almost back-handed my flat screen because I was so excited about it. I love this brand of nepotism!!
Intro: In our final entry for the series we take on a slightly different subject matter than the redemptive nature of last week’s focus. Yes, we are poised to deal with all the lasciviousness of a rather un-saintly nature. But honestly, not all of the messages that we will feature today will put you on the express to you know where. As always, we start with the now and when we compare it with the then, we focus on the connection that what’s being said is absolutely nothing new. The delivery, the audience, and possibly the reactions may change but sentiment operates in the realm of the eternal.
This week’s topic: Material Boys and Girls
Blame It-Jamie Foxx feat. T-Pain/Let The Good Times Roll-Louis Jordan
The Message
The message is pretty clear in both of these songs…a good time, although “Blame It” takes a more dionysian approach in its heavy reliance on alcohol and subsequent abdication of all responsibility. Where this pair fits into our material theme is that they squarely fit the old adage “You have to pay to play“.
The Music
“Blame It” see: auto-tune. “Let The Good Times Roll” generally credited(and rightfully so)as the bridge between the swing era and rhythm blues and rock and roll. Louis Jordan’s “jump blues” was primed for dancing, and Jordan set the standard for many an entertainer to follow his suit in the decades to come.
Intro: Last week we dealt with getting your groove on. This week we deal with a slightly different (spiritual) groove but a groove nonetheless. How this week will differ slightly than the previous two week’s entries is that the music highlighted this week will not be paired off in a comparison, but will be presented in a singular manner decade by decade. The reason for this slight alteration to this week’s post is because I wanted to show decade by decade that this phenomenon is not new at all.
Honestly, if we had time to do a very in-depth study of the music we would realize that from the very beginning of gospel music this phenomenon has existed. This post by no means is a religious discussion, we are discussing the music and its intersection with popular culture. I would love to hear some of your thoughts on whether this phenomenon exists because popular music/culture influences these performers or does an actual separation even exist in the music aside from the message? Having witnessed many sides of this debate and even having been on the receiving end of ridicule (for playing a devil’s instrument in church) I’m interested in hearing why you believe that as the music changes from generation to generation the ridicule remains in certain quarters? The overarching message of the music has remained the same for centuries why are we continuing to have the same debate on the delivery?
This list in no way is meant to be exhaustive.
This week’s topic: I Went to the Club and a Praise Broke Out
Just like last week, the message is pretty clear with all of these songs…Jesus. So you can just copy this message throughout the post.
The Music
With production values that scream the latter half of the first decade of the 2000′s (auto-tune, 808 snare fills, 808 tuned kicks, futuristic swirling synth sounds) this song was destined to be a hit. Who knew that at the time of this posting this song would have spent an incredible 55 weeks on the Billboard R&B charts peaking at #5 and still in the Top 15? As of this writing it is the second longest charting song of the year behind K’Jon’s On The Ocean. It’s hard enough for “pop” acts to stay relevant on the aforementioned charts over the course of a decade, the team of Erica, Tina and Warryn Campbell are ending the decade just like they began. Incredible.
The music and the methods of making and selling music have changed dramatically over the decade since Mary Mary’s debut but one fact remains the same when it comes to Mary Mary: Longevity. There are not many songs that remain in the conversation like a Mary Mary song. Is it the music or the message or both? (more…)
Intro: Last week we had our first installment of our “Bridging The Gap” series. This week I’m delving into pretty well charted waters. In fact, in some instances you could say I’m selling out and going strictly commercial. Yes every now and then I descend from my lofty music hipster perch and…ok, who am I kidding, but the point remains that this post is more about my curiosity as to why some of these songs for better or worse won’t go away.
The only real nugget of discovery that I could potentially be offering up this week is the long held opinion that I have regarding the fact that every generation has a few entertainers whose sole mission is to make music that appeals to the widest possible audience. [Sidebar: I think that particular phenomenon has increased exponentially in the last decade due to a couple of factors, but I digress...that's an entirely separate blog post.] This mission is accomplished through association with any type of pop culture be it an A-List actress or a Saturday morning cartoon type character.
This post is a special edition of our “Bridging the Gap Matchup Series” you can find out more about the series and read the inaugural post here.
Prelude
Every generation has its musical heroes and sheroes and as fans we often support the “home team” even through a “rebuilding season”. If an artist is fortunate enough to last beyond a couple of albums and carve out a body of work that spans almost two decades, you can best believe that some material of a very personal nature that chronicles the strife that is concomitant to life will be created.
When this phenomenon occurs: Art imitating life and life imitating art, we find a wide range of reaction from the audience as we should because art should be provocative. But what moves a piece of music from the generic casting of “art” into the realm of “great art”? How do we qualify or even quantify “great”? Is it possible? When we make statements about what we believe to be great how much bias do we bring to the table based on our love of nostalgia? These are some of the issues I would like for us to consider as we ring the bell for the “Main Event”.
Intro: A generation can be defined as: “A group of persons living contemporaneously”. In this state of contemporary living there are many factors that serve as “Signs O’ The Times” (pun intended). Economics, politics, religion, the media etc., all play an integral part in influencing the music of every generation. Often, there is a disconnect between the music and the messengers of different generations which often pits members of different generations on opposing sides of the musical landscape. Interestingly enough, if we delve deeply enough into the subject matter of songs from purportedly opposing generations, often there is more that unites us on a human level than divides us.
In the spirit of the season we would encourage members of different generations to get together to discover and discuss the music of a different generation. This should be a time to put away the bias divides us and create an environment whereby each generation might learn from the other. As different as 1979 is from 2009 there are many similarities in how we relate to one another that should unite us.
Over the next few weeks we will compare and contrast songs from different eras that fall under a similar subject matter heading. We will examine topics ranging from relationships to materialism to simply having a good time. This is not a best of list or a popularity contest list but really it is a tool to spark some meaningful conversations, full of constructive debate that should lead to some “teachable moments”.
This week’s topic: Relationships
Miss Independent-Ne-Yo/Around The Way Girl-LL Cool J
The Message
With declarations like “Cause she walk like a boss talk like a boss manicured nails to set the pedicure off” from Ne-Yo to “Silky, milky her smile is like sunshine that’s why I had to dedicate at least one rhyme” from LL Cool J, these songs reside in the infatuation aisle at “I’d like to get to know you better” Mart. Yet, at the same time these songs serve as an ode to the independent woman. (more…)
