Jill Scott's "The Thickness" and Social Relevance to Black Girl Self-Esteem

My early issues with Jill Scott, back in 2000 when "Who Is Jill Scott: Volume One" came out were rooted in my selfish comparisons to Lauryn Hill, Mary J. Blige, Faith Evans, and Eryicka Badu (and to some degree, Angie Stone). I played her first album over and over, and could not get passed how self indulgent I thought the album was. However, at the time, I was experiencing several run in's with bad spoken word, riddled with empty metaphors and man-hating jargon that drove me to adopt a prejudice for anything that resembled spoken word. So for that year Jill Scott fit the bill and was well within range for me to fire my criticism.

But Jill Scott's "The Thickness" (along with "Golden" and her ENTIRE third album) reminded me of her gift. We must not forget, she penned the hook for The Roots "You Got Me" that Erycka Badu sang; not to mention her single "Long Walk" garnished attention (though my favorite from her is "The Way"). Scott's "The Thickness is a harsh insight at the early hormonal development of modern day girls. The quick blossoming of tits and ass, to distort the internal human within, has caused a horrifying exploitation for female advancement. The song is primarily driven by the struggle for Black women, yet it's directed at all women. All women who are exposed to the ass shaking and lip licking that passes by in videos that has "nothing to do with the song." Jill Scott puts it out for us in plain English and does not attempt to bury her message in quasi-metaphors; but rather unleashes the Urban frustration with mind boggling reality that evokes head bobbing, several "Mms" and "Mm-hm's" (to indicate that we're with her) and laughter. She reveals self-hatred at it's core. The type of hatred that begins with popular culture and mis-education. That expands from Urban rhetoric only intended to manipulate rather than motivate. That explodes into several years worth of confusion and curses behind mindless mistakes that eventually causes an apocalyptic life shift and mis-directed hatred that black women often turn inside out (when they become disillusioned of eventual happiness, and settle into pessimism).

Scott's message is "self responsibility." Not so much the Bill Cosby or John McWhorter ideology, but the old method of black folks on the block where all the neighbors were deputized to whoop the ass of any child that was acting out; not to mention a child that was walking her way into self destruction. In other words, Scott encourages self responsibility with a little help from the entire block. For we are designed to teach one another; and by allowing a hands off approach when one sees a girl's self destruction in sight denotes that the voyeur would do well to have inflicted the problem they're selves. Scott tells us that we are responsible. And the problem is NOT an individual problem. But a community problem. The inner separation in Urban life has caused an uproar of Li' Kim's and Foxxy Brown's to swan dive to their untreated psychosis, while allowing themselves to be bitch slapped by societal stereotypes (not to mention the proverbial R. Kelly piss in the face of now allowing themselves to be called a "bitch"; along side "nigga", they are the two most universally used insults to ever lose their meaning). Scott's attempt is to derail the Jezebel before she does too much damage; and if we don't unite and put a stop to it "It is our fault!"

Thank you Jill Scott.

The Second Black President

When author Toni Morrison proclaimed Bill Clinton as "our first black President" it was enough to evoke pause, confusion, frustration, and anger. To hear this from the author of The Bluest Eye, Sula, Jazz, and Beloved (some of the most complex books on black culture since Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man and Alice Walker's The Color Purple), one might need to step back and consider her perspective. Morrison is not an idiot. Her esoteric mind is responsible for the brilliant darkness beneath the surface that infects a small Ohio town in Jazz; for the longing of a black girl to not be who she is (having gone beyond the abuse of Celie in The Color Purple) with The Bluest Eye; the local blacklisting in Sula. So for Morrison to step up and claim Bill Clinton to be "our first black President" is not only a cause for disturbance, but a cause for an outcry of irony because Morrison's point was unbelievably accurate when one takes the statement within context.

Her reference was from the Bill Clinton blow-job, gone public, in that he garnished understanding from black men around the world accompanied with shrugs from men of all colors and praise in rap music (Too $hort used Clinton as the launch pad in the declaration of "Player's Holiday", featuring Mac Dre, Mac Mall, and Ant Banks when saying "The President did what?...awe, that's all good, baby."). Not to mention embraced his loose nature, even within the denial, as a tribute to human error. For in black culture human error is a cause to forgive, while keeping it firmly locked in memory. Not that blacks would turn a blind eye to such an action (while making it the butt of all jokes on Def Comedy Jam), but blacks are more apt to understand a slip up than conservative whites; especially if the slip up comes from someone that blacks relate to.

Morrison states it perfect in her defense for Clinton when she wrote:

"...white skin notwithstanding, this is our first black President. Blacker than any actual black person who could ever be elected in our children's lifetime. After all, Clinton displays almost every trope of blackness: single-parent household, born poor, working-class, saxophone-playing, McDonald's-and-junk-food-loving boy from Arkansas."

She goes further in saying that the backlash he received would have been less extreme had it been an actual "white" president. For infidelity is top priority for men in power (white men especially). Therefor the Clinton scandal created a cause for Clinton to be considered "one of us" while, like most blacks in power, going on to make a bigger fool of himself by creating the newest annoying slogan (twenty years too late and stolen from black culture) with the whole "Chill Out" madness in regards to Hillary (needing) to drop out the race.

But that is neither here nor there.

Barak Obama is a direct contribution to the strange twist American culture has taken over the last ten years. In a time where the golfer to idolize is black, the rapper topping the charts is white, Queen Latifah is doing Jenny Craig commercials and Oliver Stone is making PG-13 movies, it is not an unreasonable bout that we might potentially have our official "first black President" by the end of the race. Despite Morrison's defense of Clinton (along side her claim in his defense of victim-hood) the relevance of Obama tops the Clinton "blackness" for the simple fact that his clean cut approach might be toeing the line, while being much less dangerous than the presences of Clinton. It's interesting how this works, because white people actually feel a calm in Obama's presence instead of worry. Not that this is going to make the "nigger" comments go away; it is more like Obama will be placed in the "safe-Negro" category, along side Will Smith and Denzel Washington, and looked upon as a model for black men to aspire to.

This does not stop the internal racism within black culture who question if Obama is "black enough." The fact that a black candidate is closer to presidency than any one before him is not enough for blacks to smile with a gleam of hope. It is taken that there must be some Uncle Tom buried down there some place, and we should be of the interest of NOT trusting him (as we find the room to shout "WE WAS ROBBED" upon Alfonso Jackson's resignation from HUD after suspicion of special treatment towards friends of his ...then again, Jackson may be thought of as an Uncle Tom solely based on his twenty year friendship with President Bush), just in case he turns out to not play the game the way we always dreamed a black president would.

Strangely enough, the criticism from Obama's blackness came down strong from writer/professor Shelby Steele. Steele states that by going to an all black church which is "intellectually beneath him" he is not only selling himself short by surrounding himself with his own kind, but denying his white mother who raised him. Steele states that who Obama is comes from a direct influence from his white mother, not the black church; and so, essentially, for Obama to attend such a church is more of an attempt to please the black voters at the expense of his heritage.

Steele may have a point, but his claim is not nearly as accurate as Morrison's statement of Clinton as "our first black President." Steele is telling us that by attending a black church and denying his mother (Obama has never, one time, denied his Mother; these were actions done by Fredrick Douglas and August Wilson), Obama is actually deceiving the black community by being a politician rather than a spiritual being. In a sense Steele feels that Obama should not attend the church, surround himself with more "diversity" and claim his white roots along side his black roots, while allowing them to flow through the same vein. Ironically Obama's universality and closeness with a wide range of people is not only an honor to his mother, but a greater fusion with black culture. Obama is proving the theory of "legacy" through action not through coaxing. Not that Steele has missed the point, but Steele's lack of belief in the potentiality of a black president is a let down at the least, and betraying at the most. Steele's pessimism, mistaken for "reality", comes off as self-hating and welcomes the internal limitations within black culture rather than dismissing them (along side Randall Kennedy). To make a claim that Obama does not have a chance at winning the election is NOT living in reality; it's living in oblivion; for Obama's chance to become the second black president becomes more of a clear vision as the days go on.

Black Music In The Absurd (a remembrance of the 90s)

Black music has had the reputation to inspire, not only through innovative rhythmic break-throughs (not to mention, the ability to adapt American ways and turn it into culture; a culture that would not exist if not for Black influence), but through irony. Songs of pain and hope filled with fictional and outrageous outcomes -- all in pursuit of freedom and acceptance -- makes Black music the cornerstone to Americas musical heritage (much like the Minstrel show is the origin of American Musical Theater). Black music toyed with the absurd, going all the way back to African folklore to slave verse to blues to Rock 'N Roll. The absurdity was ironic (immortalized by the Jews) and carried an inner pain that forced the song writer to exploit his/her most self-indulgent confessions. Leadbelly did this with "John Hardy." Skip James with "Hard Time Floor Killin' me Blues" and "Devil Got My Woman." In later years, Chris Thomas King did this with his album "Dirty Hip-Hop Blues", which was forgotten along side Justin Warfield and Cody ChestnuTT. What modern America forgets is that King, Warfield, and ChestnuTT reminded us of Black absurdity in music which is, all too often, confused for the brainless (think Genuwine; think H-Town; think Teddy Riley -- Black music that corrupted creative conduct, and snuffed out the light in risk and replaced it for capitalism).

However the 90s found room in remembering the Black absurd and gave us songs that were a beautiful reminder that music of the absurd -- both musically and lyrically -- is/was still a possibility. The purpose of the absurd is self-indulgence with limited relatability. In other words, if you get it, you get it; if you don't, you don't. That's all there is to it; and at times one may not get it at all; in fact the song could be laced with so much absurdity that it is not intended to be anything other than the artists inner expression, put to music as best it can (other times it can be a love/hate letter to a certain someone, and we are given the lyrics as an external sketch for internal longing or pain). Think Marvin Gaye's "Trouble Man." Male woes lead by complexity, in search for release while embracing the contradictions within:

"I come up hard (baby)
but now I'm cool,
I didn't make it
sug'a,
playin' by the rules.
I come up hard (baby)
but now I'm fine,
I'm takin' trouble,
sug'a,
movin' down the line."

Rarely does male complexity come out in modern music; though D'Angelo succeeded with this in the obscure, yet straight forward "Shit, Damn, Motherfucker" about walking in on a sex-affair between his wife and best friend:

"Why,
the both'uh yous
buck-ball naked?
Why,
the both'uh yous
buck-ball naked?
'M tellin' you what's on my mind,
'm 'bout'tuh go get my nine,
and kill both'uh ya'lls behind."

The singer Joe nailed it with "All The Things (Your Man Won't do)" when he admits his intentions of destroying a boring love affair by charming the woman's vulnerability with his superior (financial) intentions of an infidelic joy-ride through a temporary escape. Joe has no intentions of love (never once does he say "I love you"), but rather intentions of showing the woman a "better life" (a popular topic in 90s music, next to slow wine-dine-love making -- a much more polite notion with male one-track-mindedness):

"I'll put a string of pearls right in your hand
make love on a beach of jet-black sand,
out here in the rain,
we can do it all night.
I'll touch all the places he would not
in zones he never knew
would get you hot.
Nothing is forbidden,
when we touch."

Joe plays into urban life escapism ("One day, we're all gonna be rich"); the same theme that ran through hip-hop in the beginning (think "Rapper's Delight"). The absurdity was the honesty in music that has been forgotten. Joe completely contradicts himself when saying "...make love on a beach of jet-black sand" then immediately follows it with "out here in the rain/we can do it all night." This is a give-away to Joe's absurdity for such a mission. This song is not about him loving her; but rather giving her a release. Other wise, Joe could not care less.

Amerie attempted the absurd with "One Thing", but fell flat on her face with anti-urban expression, by using bourgeoisie over vulnerability (Joe used "bling" not bourgeoisie). In "One Thing" she sings:

"Baby,
I don't really understand
my car keys are jigglin' in my hand,
my high heels are clickin' towards your door."

Amerie is a fashion victim in heels. It's hard to believe she would long for a man. Had she sang about being heartless, one may have been more inclined to buy this notion over her would be vulnerability. Deborah Cox understood vulnerability better than Amerie in her remake of "Just Be Good to Me" alone (next to the wonderful "Sentimental" where the music video featured -- as most did -- Omar Epps as the love/lost). Cox is a woman of vulnerability; Amerie is an Elle Magazine model.

Diddy's "Last Night" with Keysha Cole is a throw back to the early Prince sound of the "Purple Rain" age. Diddy accomplished the absurd with "Last Night" through the orgasmic voice of Keysha Cole. Yet Diddy just couldn't put himself aside long enough to allow the song to be it's own (the Jermaine Dupri syndrome). Instead he ends the song ghetto-fabulous by his profane demands ("Need to pick up the mutha-fuckin' phone!") and kills the personal indulgence the song communicates. The white band Three Days Grace achieves a better absurdity with their pop-crap single "Pain":

"Anger,
and agony,
are better,
than misery.
Trust me,
I've got a plan
when the lights go out
you'll understand.

(Pain)
Without love.
(Pain)
Can't get enough.
(Pain)
I like it rough,
cuz I'd rather feel pain than nothing at all."

Ben Folds caught the absurdity that Diddy missed with his Dr. Dre remake of "Bitches Ain't Shit" (proving Ben Folds as the most soulful white boy on piano). For in the case of Diddy the love for music passed years ago; his beautiful production on Heavy D's b-side track "You Can't See (What I Can See)" up to his work on the brilliant Mary J. Blige "My Life" album capped out Diddy's musical ambitions. Kanye West nailed it (on his inconsistent track of genius) with "Never Let Me Down", "All Falls Down", "Last Call", "Two Words", and the recent "Stronger":

"Lets get lost tonight,
you can be my black Kate Moss,
tonight."

Yet these are selective. A little too selective. The consistency of Black music in popular culture is no where near where it was in the 90s. Sure, one must consider that music is forever in transition; but one would hope for this experimentation to continue. I came up with fifteen that have always sat close to my heart and reminds us that music of the absurd is not just for the white boys. It must be remembered that Black musicians began this (think, Sly and the Family Stone), and do have the responsibility of continuing this.

1) "Whip Appeal" - Babyface

Though the song was released in '89 from his album "Tender Lover", Babyface hit a nerve with "Whip Appeal." "It's No Crime" was a confession, "Tender Lover" (with Bobby Brown) is about feminine vulnerability. But "Whip Appeal" is personal. Not once does he disclose the secret behind the "Whip Appeal"; he keeps that "way to communicate" between himself and the love of his life. It's a wonderful absurdity and a great exercises in self-indulgence.

2) "It Never Rains (In Southern California)" - Tony, Toni, Tone'

Tony, Toni, Tone' has always been obscure by their own right. The fact that their album "The Revival" was even given the name blurs the line between self discovery and Holy outreach. "It Never Rains..." is mythical and plays into distant love. Virtually the title does not make sense, and yet we accept it because a rainless California is what we're told is a reality (Tony, Toni, Tone' being California natives is a dead give away). Yet the magic in the fact that it never rains (while in the video upon coming together it DOES in fact rain) translates their personal attachments to love. Whereas the song "Whatever You Want" is about possessions in exchange for empty promises, "It Never Rains..." removes the need for material and replaces it with folklore.

3) "Gotta Love" - Jodeci

Where does one start with Jodeci? The "Forever My Lady" album broke boundaries by introducing a new type of a man to the world; the man in hopes of building a family instead of avoiding the responsibility, while never severing the "freak" inside. Lead by the innovative DeVante Swing, "Gotta Love" (much like "Playthang" and "Let's Go Through the Motions") is a raw sex song that revels in irresponsible intimacy, without the doggish "fuck a ho" that H-Town misguided us with (not to mention the stolen Jodeci harmony done badly). For what audiences missed about Jodeci is that though DeVante's ghetto-fabulous persona, dipped in hip-hop, held a hard exterior the very notion of "Gotta Love" comes from the Keith Sweat beggary that we all made fun of. Difference is DeVante made the begging ok for our generation, whereas Keith Sweat made it (damn near) pathetic.

Yet it's unfair to bound Jodeci's absurdity to just one song. "Let's Go Through The Motions" is a song about dry humping, which is about as absurd amateurish, and High School one can get; and yet the song holds a sexy tone that is shameless in it's request (in a sense, it's a song about "safe sex") and explores the emotional immaturity of grown folks. For we all get caught up in the moment of sexual desires yet rarely do we truly put to words the actions that took place. For one to report back "We dry humped" can cause a freeze up in the room; but Jodeci is brave enough to say "Let's Go Through the Motions", simply for the sake of movement and the image of sexual pleasure.

4) "Sympin'" - Boyz II Men

The translation of sympin' is "begging." Nothing more. They said it plain:

"Sympin' ain't easy,
get on your hands and knees
and lift your eye brows.
Sympin' ain't easy,
if you wanna get in,
then you gotta be willin',
to cry and beg and plead,
if you need."

As if "Motownphilly" wasn't enough to confuse listeners, "Sympin'" relayed to selected few. The song having been pushed deep into the "Cooly High..." album, so as to be missed or ignored, was one thing; but the release of "Sympin'" ("White Men Can't Jump" soundtrack) as a single made the "alright guys" come out in listeners, while screaming for them to SPEAK ENGLISH!!! But "Sympin'" is an achievement for Boyz II Men. They proved their will to play into the absurd was not only genuine, but a cause for a thinking audience.

5) "Pink Cookies In a Plastic Bag...Gettin' Crushed by Buildings" - L.L. Cool J

By the time "Pink Cookies..." came out, most of Cool J's loyal followers had pretty much tuned out. Already confused, but accepting of "Mama Said Knock You Out", "Pink Cookies..." threw everyone for a loop. It's a song about making love. That's all it is...at least, that's what Cool J tells us it is. Upon the songs opening he speaks it:

"The act of making love...
...is...
pink cookies in a plastic bag,
gettin' crushed by buildin's"

But then he really throws us with the opening line of the first verse:

"I take thirty electric chairs,
and put 'em in a class room,
that's thirty MCs
I set free from their doom."

WHAT??? As if this wasn't enough, he makes the entire song a metaphor based in hip-hop titles and references:

"Rub you down with warm Ice T,
make you feel Brand Nubian,
instantly.
Boogie Down and check this Production,
gimme them lips they look good for suction."

It's a brilliant metaphor for love making -- the pink cookie as the vagina, the buildings as the penis -- though it is based more in male dominance than anything. However, Cool J can get away with this. Most women WANT to be dominated by him. He's just that imposing type of figure. However, Cool J could have easily stuck to his same style (like Kool Moe Dee) and watched his career crumble (like Moe Dee); instead Cool J tested himself with not only "Pink Cookies..." but the beautiful "Six Minutes of Pleasure", "Boomin' System", "Loungin'", and "Hey Lover." There has not been an element that Cool J hasn't touched; and he sums up the reality of his existence to us all when he says:

"L.L. Cool J, nigga,
greatest of all times!"

6) "Misunderstanding" - Al B. Sure

The title defines the absurdity. Al B Sure has had a knack for digging love out the cracks of chaos, dating back to the release of "Nite and Day." His song "Oooh (This Love)" showcases a tone rather than his meanings; and "Misunderstanding" is of that same tone. "Misunderstanding" is simply about the refusal to be walked over, as a person wearing his heart on his sleeve. Being rich, famous, and sexy Sure is telling us that there is still a human being beneath the surface (way beneath the surface). Though Al B Sure made a short lived career as a performer, with mostly mediocre music, his small few that caught us were those that made the least amount of sense. "Right Now" was the worst Al B Sure song next to his unnecessary remake of The Eagle's "Hotel California"; but "Misunderstanding" was Al B at his peek.

7) "No Brothas Allowed" - No Face

Spawned by the already obscure Digital Underground, No Face's short lived limited exposure was for true West Coast hip-hop listeners. No Face was no where close to the essence of Digital Underground; but "No Brothas Allowed" revealed racial hatred on a seemingly surfaced level. For one hardly took Digital Underground serious, especially after "Humpty Dance" (the most over played song of the 90s); but No Face, with Shock G on the track, collected the obscured sound of "The Underground" and produced an echo of a song with "No Brothas Allowed."

8) "I Love Your Smile" - Shanice

Straight out the diary of a little girl, "I Love Your Smile" is a crush that ripples with self indulgence. It's a crush that no one but Shanice can understand (the mixed blood pretty boy in the video was a bad representation to the reality of her crush). One would imagine this being aimed at the man who is not good looking by standards of cliche'. But good looking in the eyes of Shanice in her school girl innocence. "I Love Your Smile" achieved the absurd by taking corny and giving it bump. This allows forgiveness on the part of the listener for a song that would, other wise, be written off as pop crap and expected to be remade by Brittany Spears.

9) "Slow Love" - Doc Box & B. Fresh

The ultimate one hit wander that was played on "The Box" almost as much as "The Humpty Dance." "Slow Love" crept into the psyche of urban black girls across the nation, and encouraged brothas to take notes if they wanted to achieve big. For Doc Box & B. Fresh were aware of their blatant rip off from Cool J's "I Need Love" (the first hip-hop ballad ever), and yet "Slow Love" stands on it's own. Not since "I Need Love" had a rap song been so mood perfect. With the opening words ("Bus' it!") dance floors in High School gyms across the world would erupt in squeals and cause droves of young'stas to dance close and sexual in urban fantasia in hopes of finding the climax that "Slow Love" promised.

10) "BBD (I Thought It Was Me)" - Bell Biv DeVoe

The song is almost too on the nose. Yet what makes "I Thought It Was Me" so wonderfully absurd is that it is a man's worst fear of rejection. Ricky Bell guides us in plain text in this tornado of confusion:

"(I thought it was me)
I thought it was me that made the girl this way,
(I thought it was me)
Came to find out she's like that everyday.
(I thought it was me)
I thought it was me,
that made that girl so wild.
(I thought it was me)
I found out she's like that with all the guys."

Is she a ho? Not in a literal since. But they are describing a woman who is exercising her selective freedom. Ricky Bell finds that his status and celebrity are not enough to impress this girl. More so it takes a bit of charisma to grab her focus. Is she like that with "all the guys?" Or is it simply the fact that she ain't interested? Either way, Ricky Bell is forced to swallow his ego and back off.

11) "Minds Playin' Tricks On Me" - The Geto Boyz

An instant classic upon it's first play on the radio. "Minds Playin' Tricks On Me" was not only an urban breakthrough, but a confession to addiction. It's a cocaine trip in it's most open form, without saying, straight out "I snort coke!" Scarface does give it away on his second verse with:

"Day by day it's more impossible to cope...
...I feel like I'm the one who's doin' dope.
Can't keep a steady head, cuz I'm nervous
Every Sunday mornin' I'm in service.
Prayin' for forgiveness...
...and tryin' to find an exit out the business."

The absurdity is in the hallucination. For urban life is based in escapism's and even the most clean and sober urban-liver fears that their mind is playin' tricks on 'em, while constantly seeking for a way to calm the stress.

12) "Body & Soul" - Anita Baker

Who would ever expect Anita Baker to be in Black music of the absurd with such a beautiful tune like "Body & Soul?" I include this one based on the off beat melody and the evasive piano bangs that lace the song. Baker has given herself away to the possibility of love unjustified. She's too classy to fall for anything so undisciplined, yet the Billie Holiday in her boils to the surface with the tone of "Strange Fruit" to her vocals. Baker is the most distinctive black woman singer out there, next to Pattie LaBelle, Tina Turner, T-Boz, and Aretha Franklin. The song is all about letting go of an internal longing; and it is with "Body & Soul" that Baker gathers the self-indulgence and releases the tension.

13) "Baby, Baby, Baby" - TLC

Perhaps the most original anti-woman group of the 90s. They moved to their own truth and stood as an influence to a new direction of femininity. "Ain't 2 Proud 2 Beg" gave a bravery to female sexual longing, while "Baby, Baby, Baby" pondered individuality and personal freedom. In other words, TLC was "new age" without being pushy about it. They in sighted fear in men, in that, they introduced a breed of women who were not likely to fall for the thug and shallow; but rather the internal and introspective (a contradiction to their real lives). The absurdity in "Baby, Baby, Baby" is not only in the title, but the content:

"But you gotta be down
a nickel gotta be true.
Cuz other wise this B ain't got no
time for you."

14) "Boyz II Men (The Sequel)" - MC Brains

The short lived joke of a career of rapper MC Brains conceived, in my opinion, one of the most laughable moments in 90s Black music history. His first performance and introduction to the world on Show Time At the Apollo gave way to a hack in the making, when he came out rapping "Oochie Coochie" and delivered the laimest contribution to rap music since Hi-C sang "Leave My Curl Alone." Brains was a pretty boy caught up in his appearance, and put no effort into his music; except for "Boyz II Men (The Sequel)" which featured Boyz II Men along with him. Brains sang (badly) instead of rapped on this song, and conveyed the only moment of honesty his entire career held. He sang of love for his parents, and the hardships of growing up (the concept of it being a "sequel" comes from the original "Boys to Men" sang by New Edition on the "Heartbreak" album in '88). The fantastically slow beat and nasally singing by Brains communicated a true innocence to his plight. For Brains was seventeen when he released "Oochie Coochie", and could not possibly understand the hardships of manhood. Yet it spoke to our generation, and marked a spot for Brains in music history.

15) "Jazzy Belle" - Outkast

These guys were strange from the release of "Playas Ball" in '94; and to return, in '96 with "Jazzy Belle" (taken from the pejorative "Jezebel" which translates to a black woman with a huge sexual appetite) -- which calls out a message for the loose nature of black women to get it together -- was a realization that we were not experiencing a fluke of a first album; but rather a group in search of new heights with each project. The remix features Babyface singing the hook:

"If you really want to be my star
maybe we can mend a broken heart
(Jazzy Belle)
If you really wanna be my boo,
straighten up yo' shit!
I'll be wit' you."

"Jazzy Belle" enclosed urban frustration not into love, but the possibility of love if a major attitude adjustment is put into play. They were brave to take this approach, and did so without shaming black women, but rather putting out a warning.

Broken Ledger

Heath Ledger's death (a suicide? or accidental, according to the Ledger family) has caused the sudden fans to come forth. With responses like "He was on of my favorite actors" and Ang Lee's ridiculous parallel of Ledger to Brando is a sad calling to American standards. Ledger was a good actor and his death is a sad event. His work in Brokeback Mountain says it all in terms of his depth (though Jake Gyllenhall was the heart of the film); not to mention his appearance in the over rated Monster's Ball (Lee Daniel's "urban" expose' and Halle Berry's attempt to "play down" her beauty) established Ledger as an actor to look out for.

But that's it.

Ang Lee's comment on linking Ledger's acting capacity to Brando is a far cry from the truth. The closest comparison there ever was to Brando was James Dean; and even Dean's comparison was out of admiration and homo-eroticism rather than actual fact (Dean was bisexual, as was Brando; Dean's persona was openly snatched from Brando; it was written that Dean would irritate Brando with how boldly he would imitate Brando's acting style, beliefs, and personal life). Brando had no comparisons. Not even Johnny Depp matched Brando's esoteric nature. So Lee's comment, in my mind, results as false.

The closest Ledger came to any one outside himself was the late (brilliant) River Phoenix. Both Ledger and Phoenix were their own being, choosing the projects they did out of necessity and spiritual connection (Brando took his early career for granted and eventually was taking projects just to make money and ride off his name rather than embrace his love for acting; he stopped loving acting after On The Waterfront). Phoenix with My Own Private Idaho, like Ledger with Brokeback Mountain, can be seen as the on going plight for male acceptance in homo-phobic America. Both films explored the depths of male/male love (at the expense of jokes and possible blacklisting) better than most male/female love stories, that pretend to be genuine while falsifying character circumstance to fit plot points. Both Brokeback and Idaho left no room for pretend; nor did Ledger or Phoenix play it safe and make light of the dances with danger for the sake of exploitation. Both films consider the backlash of gay love and dare to go against cliche' beliefs of gay male encounters (in that all gay men wanna do is fuck).

True?

As true as heterosexual men wanting to fuck; and yet as viewers we are told to swallow the garbage male/female love stories because their nature is considered "normal." But neither Ledger nor Phoenix allowed themselves to be caught in the madness while fully committing to stories that solidified their place in popular culture.

The annoyance behind Ledger's death are the pseudo-fans who come forth and claim a "loss." John Lennon was a loss. Malcolm X was a loss. Marvin Gaye was a loss. Aaliyah was a loss. Gregory Hines was a loss. River Phoenix was a loss. Heath Ledger was a misfortune (as was Kurt Cobain and James Dean) that gets mitigated from over-blown mourns. The fact that the deaths of Ledger, Cobain, and Dean conjure the vigil outbreaks without any real weight behind their work proves the shallow mindedness within Popular Culture. It encourages the "fuck it" attitude and allows would-be's to gain a legacy without truly earning it (Tupac Shakur earned his legacy). Even the death of Notorious B.I.G. brought an uprising to America's obsession with melancholy, forgetting that B.I.G. made two mediocre albums (the most over rated album of the 90's, next to Nirvana's "Nevermind" was B.I.G.'s "Ready to Die"), both of which contributed to the Diddy cess-pool of pop crap, and resulted in the ridiculous rip off from The Police's "Every Breath You Take." The celebration of B.I.G.'s death was not done out of honor, but out of guilt.

Ledger's plight towards stardom gained a respect based on his choices, rather than his mark. Fans revel in his nature to find projects that were "honest" in order to make Americans believe they have an understanding of what an artist is (these same "fans" who threw out the "brokeback" jokes, never truly embracing the importance of Ang Lee's contribution to cinema -- despite his ignorant comment). Not to mention it is forgotten that Ledger's place in history is marked ONLY by Brokeback Mountain, not First Knight; not The Patriot; not 10 Things I Hate About You; not Fourfeathers. Therefore his death can only be seen as a misfortune, not a "loss."