This from THAT Guy

No Homo???

DISCLAIMER

As a result of my affiliation with and within different organizations, businesses, groups and institutions it is imperative that I make the following clear:

The thoughts, words, opinions and views contained in this blog do not represent those of the aforementioned associations and should not be attributed to them.  This from THAT Guy stands alone as a separate communications and multimedia piece for the purpose of expressing what’s on MY mind. 

One more thing:  If at any time while reading This from THAT Guy, you get the feeling that I’m being overly critical, insensitive and/or judgmental, suck it up, because I AM…

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Self admittedly, I am not the best person to talk about the usage of popular culture vernacular.  For the most part, it gets on my nerves.  It’s a big pet peeve of mine.  I can’t stand any of these idiotic phrases that make their way from movies and hip hop music into daily conversation, in my opinion, only made famous because a famous person used them.  Once again, I may not be the best person to talk.  I still use the word “dope,” occasionally use “fresh” and would think it was critical, if “critical” made a come back!  So yeah… I’m outta the loop.  But some of these new words and phrases are just plain nonsensical. 

Tell me, what kind of greeting is, “What’s good?”  And what kind of response is, “What’s really good?” The truth is that every time a friend of mine says, “Real talk,” I really want to smack the stuffin’ out of them.  And the one that gets under my skin the most is the use of the phrase, “No homo.”  That phrase is often used where there’s no real contextual value, but for whatever reason makes the speaker feel better about whatever statement made prior to or immediately after.  I even remember calling out one of my cousins/co-hosts from our online talk show on it.  The brother said something to the effect of, “…yeah Jon, no homo, but you know I love you like a brother.”  WTF!  One thing really has NOTHING to do with the other!  It was just a mindless use of a popular phrase. 

This all brings me to my most recent experience.  Facebook’s Honesty Box can truly be a hilarious experience.  For those who aren’t familiar, Facebook has an application that allows visitors to leave anonymous messages, so long as you have an Honesty Box in your profile.  It goes without saying, since these messages are anonymous, all types of things are written.  The only edge you have in the Honesty Box experience is that you can tell the gender of your messenger.  If their statement is in a pink box, they’re a woman; blue, then they’re a man. 

Like I said, it can truly be a hilarious experience.  If you think having conversations with people drunk off that liquid courage is funniest, then you’ve never had an Honesty Box.  In my experience, women have said all types of things.  And now I can say, so have the men…  Yes.  Men.

I have recently received an Honesty Box message that was surrounded in a blue box, meaning it came from a man.  The message simply read, “Sexy as Sh*t!  No homo…”  And there it was… another completely mindless use of a pop culture phase.  I was perplexed, and at first couldn’t figure out what perplexed me more.  The fact that some dude told me I was “sexy as sh*t,” or that the same dude tried to throw out the phrase, “no homo” like that was supposed to mean something.

It wasn’t like he said, “You rock a mean suit.  No homo.” Or, “I think you’re a good speaker.  No homo.”  Both of which can be taken as compliments too. No, this brother said I was sex-say… No homo.  Oh, the hilarity…

And I kinda felt sorry for ol’ dude.  How could he NOT know that if any guy sent another guy that anonymous message, it can’t help BUT look suspect?  Even the most sexually secure of us would look at the that scenario and be like, “No homo?  Are you sure???”  Ladies, I know you love us to be secure in our manhood, but for real; what would you think if both you and your man looked at Trey Songs and shouted, “He’s sexy as sh*t.”  Immediately followed by the bonehead “no homo” statement.  Would you scratch your head?

When it’s all said and done, DO YOU… (another silly pop culture phrase.) I only ask that we all think before we speak and definitely think before we act.  Back to my main concern, think before we swallow down and regurgitate every little pop culture phrase.  Think before we abandon common sense in order to be down with the in-crowd.  Think before we open our mouths as to ensure that there is consistency between our thoughts and our words.  And for Christ sakes, PLEASE think before we stuff some foolishness in a poor guys Honesty Box!  No homo, of course.

BET Awards 2009: Possibly the End of Soulful Music

DISCLAIMER

As a result of my affiliation with and within different organizations, businesses, groups and institutions it is imperative that I make the following clear:

The thoughts, words, opinions and views contained in this blog do not represent those of the aforementioned associations and should not be attributed to them.  This from THAT Guy stands alone as a separate communications and multimedia piece for the purpose of expressing what’s on MY mind. 

One more thing:  If at any time while reading This from THAT Guy, you get the feeling that I’m being overly critical, insensitive and/or judgmental, suck it up, because I probably am…

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Originally, my intent was to blog about Maureen Orth and her foolish and hate filled statements about Michael Jackson immediately after his death.  But after watching last nights’ BET Awards, I think I’ve found something better to discuss.  Instead of focusing on the Vanity Fair writer and her overall wackness, my new goal is to present something that might have more bearing on the longevity of the Black aesthetic.  But if you’re interested, Google, “Maureen Orth, Michael Jackson, TV Interview.”  You can read or watch her madness for yourself and come to your own conclusions of what should be done with her.   My vote is that we gag her mouth with year-old toothpaste!

And the truth is I didn’t want to watch the BET Awards for fear of getting, exactly what I got.  I begged my facebook friends to hit me up when the Michael Jackson tribute started, so I could take part in the remembrance, but I was informed that tributes would take place THROUGHOUT the show.  And with that, I ended my moratorium on watching BET, which has been in effect for at least 6 years.  What’s worse, I can’t stand award shows.  So the combination of the two is what has lead to this blog.

Last night, BET could have possibly murdered what was left of soulful, black music.  Alright, maybe in all fairness, they didn’t murder it, but they’re definitely sensationalist reports at the scene of the crime.  After last night, it became increasingly clear, that the magical melody and heart filled soul that was present in the man they honored, isn’t in today’s music.  And if it is, not to level it was in the past.  If it’s present… it’s on life support.

The last minute attempt at pulling off an evening long tribute to the King of Pop was admirable in concept, but deplorable in execution.  Many have said that it was done the best way possible, considering the time in which they had to do it.  But sorry folks, I don’t buy it.  Consider if you will, from production to performance, what you thought the most troubling parts of last nights’ broadcast were; and then ask yourself, “How does the timing of Michael Jackson’s death play into my concerns?” 

For example, if a live show is going to be broadcasted on a time-delay so that profane and suggestive lyrics can be edited out, THEN EDIT THEM OUT!  And if you don’t think it can be done effectively, then contract the artists to only perform radio edit of their songs.  I’m certain they wouldn’t do album versions on Saturday Night Live or at the Grammy’s!  But maybe this can be attributed to the untimely death of Michael.  Maybe if there was an extra month to plan the event; the curse words would have been bleeped and clean words would have been heard.

Do any of you remember all the people who were given microphones who couldn’t conjugate a verb or speak halfway decently?  That’s what teleprompters are for, BET…  Plus, I was amazed at how many times I heard, “I’m not even gonna read the teleprompter for this…”  No Homie!  Read it!  And if you have a problem with reading, then someone should invest in Hooked on Phonics, just for this occasion!  But wait a minute, maybe if there was an extra month to plan the event; there would have been an absence of reading/speaking embarrassments?

And what about the vocal quality of the performers?  I almost gave BET a pass for this one, but it’s a shame, when little Keke Palmer can sing a few seconds of a song and sound better than every female artist who performed.  Yes… including Beyonce.   I got excited when I saw all six of the New Edition squad, until Ralph started to sing.  I hopped up off the sofa when I saw Guy hop up on the stage, until Aaron Hall started to sing.  And when Keith Sweat emerged, I thought of the old school basement parties and smiled… until Keith started to sing.  All of this played into the enjoyment of the show, or lack thereof.  But once again, maybe if Michael had passed a month early, they would have had time to get their vocals back to full strength.  I can remember Howard University talent and student shows that were ten times better than what we saw at the BET Awards.

To be fair, there were definitely some bright spots.  Tevin Campbell did his thing.  I enjoyed the trio of Trey Songs, Tyrese and Johnny Gill.  And Mary Mary…  I don’t recall how they sounded, but maaan, Tina Campbell’s HIPS!  I loves me some hips…  But the saving grace for the BET Awards had nothing to do with the lackluster heavy rotation artists of today or the half-drunk performances of yesterday.  The saving grace came in the form of the O’Jays.  Three old men who were probably the drunkest in the crowd, but once on stage, their instincts took over.  They sang, they danced and they sounded and looked good.

That’s when I started to wonder; are we helping BET destroy what is left of quality music?  I say “we” because WE are the ones requesting foolishness for heavy rotation and video play.  WE are the ones that trade great vocalists for one hit wonders with pretty smiles.  WE are the ones who scream our @$$es off for SoulaBoy Tell’em, but treat the O’Jays like they’re a passing fad. 

The flipside however, speaks to a different reality.  WE are not the ones truly empowered to create a fad for music and music types.  In essence, we’re brainwashed into supporting the newest, hottest, hippest track.  Whatever gets heavy rotation on the radio this week is what we’ll unknowingly hum to ourselves next week.  It is the nature of music to speak to our subconscious mind.

I say all of this, to say what…

After watching the BET Awards, I was extremely sad.  We all have witnessed the biggest magic trick in modern day music and the slight of hand was too quick for our eyes.  And that’s what it was, one big magic trick.  The goal of magic is misdirection.  The magician gets the audience to focus on his right hand.  And while we’re all focused on the right hand, he makes something “disappear” with his left hand.  It’s misdirection, ladies and gentlemen.

The death of Michael Jackson was perfectly timed.  It felt like BET used it to excuse the piss poor excuse of a talent show that was aired on television.  Maybe it looked and sounded better live, I’ll extend the benefit of the doubt.  But on television… it was a hot mess.  But the truth is, the whole time; the miracle of Michael Jackson was used to keep us focused.  And in the process, that misdirection kept us blind to what was really going on… Soulful Black music, with live instruments, melody, rhythm and harmony was disappearing… right before our very eyes.