Artist In Residence
I love a good mystery. And one of my favorites concerns the band Earth, Wind and Fire. In my opinion, Earth, Wind and Fire is the greatest pop band of all time. They were highly accomplished musicians, talented songwriters and electrifying performers. But more importantly, they also reflected a type of consciousness seldom seen today. They were positive. Fast forward to now. Many of the most successful and revered musical icons of today are, for the most part, representatives of “thug culture”. I checked my dictionary for a definition of the word thug. A thug is a criminal; anything but positive. Yet thug artists not only monopolize modern media, they’re actually promoted by modern media. They’re prominently featured in mainstream media publications. They regularly appear on mainstream television programs. And they’re frequently cast in many high profile Hollywood productions. Career wise, it’s a great time to be a thug. Why does the mass media promote individuals that typify the criminal lifestyle? It makes no sense. Or does it?
Earth, Wind and Fire never, ever got the kind of media coverage given to thugs and I have a theory as to why. It’s actually quite simple. It’s called racism. But it’s a strange, perverted, inverted, highly advanced form of racism. Modern media promotes thug culture to reinforce the long held, universal belief that blacks are indeed niggers. Forget that “n word” nonsense. Let’s call a spade a spade.
Earth, Wind and Fire was too unique and too positive to be promoted by mass media. They didn’t sing about bitches and hoes. They didn’t celebrate a violent, destructive lifestyle. They didn’t reflect a criminal mentality. EWF represented a black consciousness that went against the universal perception. Earth, Wind and Fire were true musical revolutionaries, and revolutionaries are a major threat to the system. Earth, Wind and Fire was never promoted because they were dangerous.
EWF, my favorite all time as well. Dumb down seems to be the flavor of the hour. Many of these “thugs” would be lost without a computer to create their virtual music. They wouldn’t know what to do with a musical instrument or for that matter understand lyrical nuances including but not limited to verb/subject agreement. Furthermore the over-use of simile racks my brain. EWF marked a time for me when music challenged my mind rather than simply providing a computer generated beat and some filthy verbiage to poison my intellect. Dumb down!! Thanks Miko for reminding the world of what real music sounds like. EWF the elements!
Earth, Wind and Fire – unbelievable music. I am SURE if they started out today, we never would have heard them. Or even heard OF them. Yes, the thug cultures are the celebrated. But if you look around, the media has just gotten lazy – the only celebrities are the celebrity-whores. And this is beyond even music – politics, sports, etc. Quality is no longer celebrated. Photogenic, polarizing celebrity is the thing and spectacle is king. And back in the day? Well, maybe EW&F were dangerous. And maybe it was racism. I was too young to really see any of that in the business-of-music world. All I knew was that there was a LOT of great music coming out all around. Now when I look back, I wonder how so much great music could’ve happened so often. The airwaves were alive with great music. Constantly. Very little “product”. All I know is that I’m grateful I got to experience their music in “real time” – even without all of today’s hype. And maybe I’m even a little glad they didn’t have today’s hype, because great bands had the creative freedom that real artists today, who are so quickly thrust into celebrity status, may never have again. Sad but true, these are “interesting times”.