Is Nikki Minaj a Hater?

If you caught this year’s BET Awards show you may also have some questions in regards to the motivation behind Nikki Minaj’s statement that suggested at least one of her fellow nominees does not write her own lyrics. If you didn’t happen to catch the show yet, Nikki ever so casually mentioned (dripping with sarcasm) in her Best Female Hip-Hop Artist Award acceptance speech, “when you hear Nikki Minaj spit, Nikki Minaj wrote it”. It was assumed by myself as well as other viewers I spoke with that Nikki was tossing that bit of “shade” at up and coming female hip-hop artist Iggy Azalea since Iggy was the only other artist in the category who has made a relevant impact in sales and on the charts. I also made that assumption because of Nikki’s posing as if for selfies when the camera panned her way during Iggy’s performance. It appears as though Iggy is taking the highroad to Nikki’s comment or maybe does not feel a retort is necessary since she is listed as a writer on all the songs on her debut album The New Classic. 

But if Iggy Azalea wrote on all her songs then who was Minaj’s jab being aimed at? Eve is listed as a writer on all the tracks on her most recent album Lip Lock and the same goes for Angel Haze on her album Dirty Gold.   Charlie Baltimore may have been added  as a nominee just to round out the category because she has not had an album to release since 1999, so it’s safe to say she was not the intended target of Minaj’s statement. Could it be that Nikki Minaj is just hating on Iggy’s success since her debut album is the highest charting female rap album since Nikki’s album Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded? 

Whatever Minaj’s motive, my professional advice to Nikki is don’t hate, collaborate. Seeing as how the female presence in hip-hop is not strong because of there being so few female hip-hop artists, those few could strengthen that presence by working together the way the men do instead of being catty, jealous, and petty. Females demonstrating unity within the hip-hop arena would show the world that as individual artists the ladies are just as committed to and serious about the business of music as well as women’s position in hip-hop being a permanent. So to all the ladies of hip-hop I leave this thought: if you can collaborate with the men on songs then why can you not with your fellow comrades who are fighting the same battles as you in this male dominated industry? 

R&B Song Lyrics: Has the Envelope Been Pushed Off the Table Yet?

As anyone who knows me or has read any of my blogs can clearly tell, I am a fan and lover of music, especially good music, so it is disheartening to have to point out the downward direction a lot of today’s R&B song lyrics has taken. Of course music is a form of expression that allows us an avenue to exercise our first amendment right of free speech, but I fear that “shock value” is playing much more of a role in R&B song lyrics today than free expression. During the era of artists like Marvin Gaye and The Isley Brother, R&B music had soul and was at its best. There was no need to distinguish the type of R&B the song portrayed by issuing sub-categories such as neo-soul; it was just good music. During their prime, songs like Sexual Healing, Between the Sheets, and Tonight Is The Night were ballads that “pushed the envelope”, but still maintained some sense of romanticism. Though these song lyrics directly spoke of sex and/or were suggestive, they used no foul language or explicitness. Today, however, it is not uncommon to see R&B covers with the Parental Advisory label stamped on them. Artist like Tre Songz and Bruno Mars are pushing the envelope even further putting curses to melody in songs like Na Na and Gorilla. Personally, I would like to see music take a retrospective U-turn because I’m afraid of what the next generation of R&B song writers will do or say to incorporate shock value. If the envelop is indeed still on the table what will melodic vulgarities sound like when that envelop hits the floor?!

Album Releases: To Party or Not to Party, That is the Question

As an aspiring artist manager the matter of planning an album release party is a very real and relevant topic. Album release parties are always a celebration for the artists and those who aided in the overall production of the album, but they also serve as a useful marketing tool for promoting the album. For those artists who are already established and have the finances themselves or the financial backing of a major label that can provide promotional and marketing teams, album release parties may be viewed as just another party. Nikki Minaj was denied entry to her own album release party because the club had reached capacity by the time her and her entourage showed up at 3:30 a.m.3  Had the party been used for marketing I’m sure she would have tried to be there much earlier, at least I’d like to think so. For an up-and-coming artist, the album release party is definitely a source for marketing their music, therefore, the outcome of the party is vital. Unfortunately as parties go, there can always be factors not planned for such as tragic shooting of seven people at the album release party of Nino, Lil’ Mouse, and King Samson in Chicago.4 The most innovative marketing tactic in music history was pulled off by none other than Beyonce when she released her self titled fifth album on December 13, 2013; No album release party, no commercials, no promotions of any kind just the one word announcement “Surprise!” posted on Instagram. Through this new marketing technique of keeping the secret “in the bag”, once released the secret spread like wildfire and within hours sales of the album showed proof of such. Beyonce Knowles proved that party or no party, if you have acquired the fan base the music will sell itself.

3. International Business, T. (2012, November 23). Nicki Minaj Denied Entry To Own Album Release Party. International Business Times.

4. International Business, T. (2013, March 21). 7 Shot In Chicago Club After Fight Breaks Out During Album Release Party. International Business Times.

Music and Film: When Music Goes Big Screen

I love good music and I love good movies so when the two are combined I am elated, but how much love do musicals (or films with a basis of music) really receive from the rest of the world? I am a self-proclaimed music-movie addict. My attention is involuntarily drawn to the television whenever a movie like The Five Heartbeats, Cadillac Records, Ray, or Idlewild is showing. Music is used in most movies to, “affect how the audience interprets what they see”.2 Biographical films such as Ray or Lady Sings the Blues, unavoidably, include songs as crucial parts of the life stories of Ray Charles and Billie Holiday, but the gross of musicals or music related films suggest it is the content of the movie and not the music or musician starred in the film that people are paying to see. Despite the film Cadillac Records co-starring, arguably, “the” top R&B female artist in the world Beyonce Knowles playing the role of Etta James, the movie only grossed close to $9 million. Similarly Lady Sings the Blues and The Wiz, films that starred the incomparable and original diva Diana Ross, made little or no profit. Although the film Ray took over a decade to be made due to securing the $40 million for production, it grossed over $120 million at the box office. In the past two years, 2013 and 2014, it is the animated musical films that are leading in the box office; Rio 2 grossed nearly half of a billion dollars and Frozen has been rated the highest grossing animated film ever making over $1.2 billion.  From these findings one could conclude that people pay to watch films for their content more so than for the actors or soundtrack, but the children of the world and children at heart love the combination of music and film most in an animated format. 

2. Fisher, J. P. (2009). Soundtrack Success : A Digital Storyteller's Guide to Audio-post Production. Boston, Mass: Course.

Song Writing: The Soul Behind the Music

The foundation of my love for music and what drives my interest in the music industry is one of the fundamental elements of music—the lyrics. Though most know the protective riddle from childhood that states words can’t hurt us, but anyone who loves music as I do knows and has experienced the power of words through song. My favorite songs are the ones that have the ability to connect to people in the most emotional and intimate of ways, allowing listeners to explore and expose their own vulnerability. So how or what influences the lyrics of tearjerker songs such as John Legend’s Ordinary People or Chrisette Michelle’s A Couple of Forevers? I am sure most listeners, like myself, tend to believe (or like to believe) the lyrics of such songs are a result of a relationship the artist is currently in or had in the past, but despite how much we’d like to believe that it is not always the case. According to an American Song Writer Magazine article that hi-lites an excerpt from the book Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Story Behind the Song, Ordinary People was not written as a result of Legend’s or co-writer Will.i.am’s own personal relationship experiences. John Legend admits to his parent’s up-and-down relationship being a point of reference, but the song itself was developed simply from the idea of how the dynamics of relationships can be; Chrisette Michelle’s A Couple of Forevers, on the other hand, evolved from a completely different source of inspiration. In an interview with American journalist of ABC News and National Public Radio Michel Martin, Chrisette reveals that her inspiration for the lyrics to her most recent album derived from an internal sense of wellness. Michelle declares that focusing on her physical health landed her in a better mental, emotional, and spiritual space which is where she wrote from. Author of The Art of the Story-teller, Marie Shedlock, suggests that in time, for positive work, writers will discover their own way to tell a story.1  So be it a personal experience, an idea, or just feeling healthy, we now know powerful and heartfelt lyrics can be birthed from a variety of sources. As long as these type of songs continue to be written, produced, and performed with heart, my love affair with music will be long-lived. 

1. Shedlock, M. L. (2008). The Art of the Story-teller. [S.l.]: The Floating Press.