Scorpeze explains it all…

Check out up and coming indie Chicago electropop trio Hey Champ. They’re great musicians and they actually write good songs. Their songs harken back to the mid-80’s without being kitschy and ironic.

The band consists of:

Saam Hagshenas (vox, guitar, keys)

Jon Marks – (rhythm {drums, drum programming}, vox, keys)

Pete Dougherty – (keys, synths)

Check ‘em out on their website www.heychamp.com

My man Primus Luta is a scientist of music. Literally.

He gets under the hood and looks at the mechanics of how music w0rks. After he breaks it all down, he puts it back together in the form of some pretty dope shit.

Some time ago, he asked me to lay a bass part for this song. Unfortunately, due to situations we were going through with Windimoto, I didnt finish my part as promptly as I liked (I dont jerk people around if I say Im gonna do somn…..mostly).

When he sent me the track, it was pretty bare bones….so I figured there was a method to the madness…and that shit was harder to play than you think it would be…

When he sent me an early mix months later, I was blown away to hear myself in the middle of a jazz-fusion smoker…

I was sworn to secrecy…until now.

Luta is finally ready to release the Heads project to the world. Of course, there is a concept to all of this shit. I’ll let Luta explain it himself in the links below, but I will say this, Luta’s version of Come Clean is related to the 90’s hip-hop classic of the same name.

The musicians on the song are:

Drums, Keyboards, Programming and Additional Percussions by Primus Luta
Bass by Scorpeze
Guitars by Takuma Kanaiwa
Saxophones by Tomchess
Percussions by Zach and Claudia

First, check the song (and his remix using our parts) below:

Now, dig Luta break it all the way down here (it’s pretty interesting):

http://comeclean.avanturb.com/

Peace,

Scorp

They droppin’ CD prices…like I predicted they would….I just didnt know they’d do it so soon. They really dont have a choice in the matter, tho.

http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/industry/e3i56ed42b9a46f8554e2671afccecca01b

Updated: UMG To Launch U.S. Pricing Test
March 18, 2010

By Ed Christman, N.Y.

The Universal Music Group could rewrite U.S. music pricing when it tests a new frontline pricing structure, which is designed to get single CDs in stores at $10, or below.

Beginning in the second quarter and continuing through most of the year, the company’s Velocity program will test lower CD prices. Single CDs will have the suggested list prices of $10, $9, $8, $7 and $6.

To accommodate the lower pricing, UMG labels also plan to step up deluxe versions of albums that can sell at higher prices for the more devout music fans and collectors. UMG is also banking that the lower price points will at the least be offset by increasing CD sales volume.

Most new releases will carry the new price points, although there will be the occasional exception, UMG sources say. At deadline, it was unclear exactly when the program would begin, because Universal Music Group still hadn’t relayed that information to accounts.

“We think will really bring new life into the physical format,” Universal Music Group Distribution president/CEO Jim Urie said.

25% profit margin

Retailers should respond well to the new price points. But the level of their acceptance will likely depend on the profit margins that the new UMG wholesale prices afford. According to sources, the new pricing structure will carry a 25% profit margin, which means that $10 list CDs will wholesale for $7.50; $9 for $6.75, $8 for $6, and so on.

Consequently, retailers who buy from wholesalers will likely be less enthusiastic about the move.

Newbury Comics CEO Mike Dreese gives the initiative “two thumbs up.” But he adds that the industry still needs the other major labels and independents to make similar pricing moves for overall CD sales in order to be positively impacted.

“We are happy to see that a major music vendor has made a decision to lower his price substantially, because it’s what the customer wants today if we are going to see a viable CD business,” Trans World Entertainment CEO Bob Higgins said.

Reaction from industry

On March 16, executives at the other majors were nervous about the UMG move, calling around to accounts for information on the move. Privately, some appeared annoyed by the move. “Why does Universal feel the need to get below $10?” a senior distribution executive at a competing major asked.

Yet merchants have long clamored that lower pricing will prolong the life of the CD, which is down 15.4% so far this year. Album sales were down 18.2% last year, and 19.7% in 2008, when CD sales totaled 360.6 million, as opposed to the 706.3 million units CDs scanned in 2000.

In response to declining sales, the majors and indies have responded by lowering catalog pricing across the board — either formally, like Sony Music Entertainment’s Accel program does (Billboard, Sept. 5), or through promotional vehicles like UMG’s XL promotion — to bring wholesale cost price down to the $7-$8 range. Frontline pricing, however, still remains a mixed bag, with UMG main wholesale price point at $10.35; Sony at $10.50, EMI at $12.04 and the Warner Music Group at $12.05.

Between all the retail circulars touting hit titles at $9.99, and iTunes selling albums at that same price point, it became conventional wisdom among merchants that $10 is the magic price point that will induce consumers to buy more CDs.

The new UMG pricing structure for CDs won’t impact its digital pricing; the company plans to keep its current pricing for digital.

Pricing programs

UMG was the first major to address declining sales when it initiated Jumpstart pricing in September 2003, which put frontline pricing at $10.35. But the other majors condemned that move and refused to lower prices until years later.

As CD sales continued its decline, merchants began renewed requests for the labels to respond yet again beyond the catalog pricing moves, JumpStart and Accel. In the last few months, Trans World Entertainment began testing the $9.99 price point in over 100 stores, while Wal-Mart has been telling the majors to release shorter albums at lower prices more frequently.

The Trans World test — in which most independents and every major except for the Warner Music Group participated — produced units sales increase of more than 100%, according to label executives who participated in the tests. The Trans World test helped sell the new pricing model to the Universal labels, sources say.

On the reluctance by other majors to so far address the $10 retail price point issue, one source says, “The definition of idiocy is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Things are not going to get better for CD sales unless the price point is addressed. One thing that the Trans World test shows for sure, $10 will drive sales and traffic.”

Saw this today…wow….?uestlove of The Roots posted his argument of why Yonce is the new MJ:

http://www.twitlonger.com/show/gcs4e

ok @RezanWhoi here is my beyonce is the new MJ argument.

thriller breaking open has more to do with the LONG overdue accolades america has FINALLY given black artists after 80 years of injustice.

threatening to shut mtv down if they don’t play billie jean has MORE to do with the inequity social problems of america than it did billie jean being a brilliant song.

billie jean IS a brilliant song.

but the TIMING of its release had a WHOLE hell of alot to do with what was going on at the time.

imagine if they gave “super freak” love on mtv when they were supposed to.—you gonna tell me the song that sampled “super freak” could build an empire—but not the song that gave birth to it?

“super freak” was a victim of coming a year too early. when the invisible “no blacks allowed” sign was disguised as a “we play what our audience calls for” game.

that said yes of course. the luck and timing of thriller could NOT have happened to a better person and im HAPPY that i was alive at the time. mike worked hard to get to where he was and this is by far NOT an anti MJ post.

(for those coming late to the party–@RezanWho does NOT agree with me that beyonce is the heir to the MJ throne)

mean what more can i say?

she’s well on her way at a quicker and later pace than the unspoken.

this is year 10 for her at THIS level.

it took MJ 13 years before he became GOD status.

noone is EVER disputing MJ being the STANDARD.

noone.

im pro mj til cows come home.

but you CANNOT dispute the fact that being “the first” kinda trumps everything.

i dont even consider Thriller an album more than i do consider it a 45 minute social experiment.

in other words if we LIVED in a world in which there was a FAIR LEVEL playing field in which RACE was NOT a factor in how art was received and promoted at radio:

in english?

–if there was a fair level playing field

-the idea of “watering down” music so that “america” (white people) can easily digest the music would not even be a factor in the creative process (and for those scratching heads that is the NUMBER ONE priority with songwriters and producers—the “popness” and accessibility of a song to someone who needs sugar before the medicine going down….—cause if that were NOT the case then P FUNK woulda had number one hit after number one hit in their 70’s heyday.

-pop radio, news outlets, and the like would accept all artists in their formats.

(once again for late comers, mtv refused to play the billie jean video because “black music” was not their forte. —”we are a rock channel”—sony threatened to take all videos off the air if mtv did not play it. it went from being a token move to singlehandedly allowing us to FINALLY play in some long overdue reindeer games.)

so again.

MJ is more a social experiment in my eyes.

who just so happened to make some kick ass music.

so yes. his music WAS magic. but my point is SOMEONE was gonna break the bank code in 1982.

it was due time

coulda been grandmaster flash

coulda been debarge.

coulda been lionel

coulda been prince.

someone was gonna pull the king arthur move.

mj was the victor.

NOW THAT SAID LETS START MY campaign.

if you are to pick the ONE figure in music today that is taking that baton:

mofos is looking everywhere.

ursh?
justin 1.0?
breezy?

name em.

who is MJ’s heir?!?!?!

sorry.

the fact that she had to overcome SERIOUS obstacles to get to even being considered really brings the point home!

and since its the age of irony in which tiger is a pimp. the top rapper in 2010 is a white chick from cali

why not B?

when you make songs that enter the lexicon of america’s everyday talk then…*shrug*? is she not a contender?

when you surpass making “a club song” or a “banger” and it winds up becoming “a friggin lifestyle. is she not a contender?

—im sorry there is some vitamin “!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” injected into “crazy in love” ?whenever that shit comes on in the club.—i cant quite describes what it is when a song becomes a lifestyle instead of just a song….

–remember when “g thing” came out in 92 and made white people finally feel like niggas? (gheah!—-and yall reading this dont even front like yall didnt get your vicarious “beyotch!” on during the chronic era—

THAT is the power of “Crazy in love”. a song that made non model, regular, round the way, non black, overweight, uptight, not easy on the eyes, and whatever else category that is meant to be the physical opposite of however beyonce looked in the video….that song made women feel sexy.

—and it was HARD enough to make dudes wanna rhyme over that shit.

when a song can singlehandedly give someone a re-do (you do remember back when her first obstacle was overcoming being the next scrutinized diana ross to the remaining post survivor DC members as florence ballard era right?—she was supposed to be done then right?

crazy wiped our memory clean like that flashy thing in men in black.—

need i go on? she has surpassed the grammy quota. her videos are studied, copied, parodied, and other “ieds”. she’s her own empire. she writes her own material. newsworthy.

i mean you might have a personal “she stole my lunch money” thing going on–
and its kinda hard for me being a stan to someone you know—but the evidence is there. she appeals to all races. all lifestyle creeds from the kiddest of the kid. to the churchest of the church. s. straights. huxtable men and naborcof creeps. housewives and hoes.—i mean she has EVER demographic on LOCK.

she can ACTUALLY SING.
and dances with the best of them
face is a regular on most fashion mags
sells out stadiums
wins countless grammies
makes anthems
got bank
is her own industry

(still counts for something right?)

Y’all digest this and I’ll be back to rap abt this…*still laughing*

In my travels, I have met many a creative person. Some very talented, so marginally so. As we discussed in the last blog, talent is only a small piece of the pie when it comes to getting over in entertainment. This is nothing new, it has always been that way.

Have you ever wondered why some people get over with little or no talent?

It’s simple. They put in work.

I’ve known so many REALLY talented mofos that havent done much with their careers.

Why?

Because they still believe in the Cinderella theory…and it goes a lil’ somn like diiiiis:

“Somebody is gonna hear me sing/rap/play, and they’ll sign me up, put my record out and once people hear it, I’ll be a star!!!!….”

*facepalm*

Lemme let you in on somn….it has NEVER worked that way…you cant even blame it on the collapse of the industry as the reason why this doesn’t work.

You ever hear the story of the tortoise and the hare? It seems the more talented folks are, the more they are like the hare.

These type of people like to perform, but they don’t like doing legwork. They wont do any research, they wont make any phone calls, etc…Sure, they record and they will have GOOGOBS of material stockpiled (which you can hear ALL of whenever you like–just say the word). But they’re just waiting on their Berry Gordy/Tommy Mottola/Clive Davis to come along and find out they exist. Someday their prince will come. Yeah, right.

I will say this, though. The industry has been selling this dream for awhile. When they decide to push certain artists, they may think its best give them a Cinderella story for public consumption.

“Lexie Dawson used to write songs in her dorm room between classes and perform them at little coffee houses around campus. Her performances became popular enough to gain the attention of Sony Records. By the end of the week, she was singing for then president Tommy Mottola. “It has all happened so fast!”, says Lexie….”

The above passage is fictional but typical of the kind of whimsical crap the labels sometimes sell the press and the public. A happenstance signing does happen every once in a while. LL Cool J is a good example. Ad-Rock of the Beastie Boys was rifling through a box of submitted tapes in Rick Rubin’s dorm room. He came across one tape and told Rick that he had to hear this right away. However, it is a rare occurrence and the labels make shit like this up to project a certain image of both the artist and the label for the benefit of both. Also, the public just likes a good story.

There’s a saying that goes “it takes years to become an overnight sensation.” That’s one of the truest things I’ve ever heard. Usually those Cinderella stories you hear have a history of hard work and grinding behind them.

Alicia Keys had already been signed and dropped by a label before being signed to J Records.

Beyonce and her lackeys had been bussin up the shifrow for many years before scoring as Destiny’s Child.

Even The G.O.A.T., MJ, had been doing his thing since the age of 5 before being signed by Motown at the age of 11. You know the story. Wake up. Go to school. Come home. Rehearse. Go do a few shows at a nightclub. Get a few hours of sleep. Repeat.

When you ask these talented and undiscovered people why they dont have anything out yet, you will hear:

a) about the litany of things they have going on, including a couple name drops
b) a bitchfest about theyve been hated on/had bad luck (btw, they could very well be telling the truth)

and the ones you will hear the least:
c) an explanation about how music is fun but not the be all to end all

d) an admission that theyre not ready yet

usually, the folks who fit into a and b still have stars in their eyes…but are no closer to having a career then Joe Schmoe is.

Some people do have legit connects and hook-ups, but the work does not stop there….its just getting started. This is why most protegees/weed carriers fall off. Their Svengali/Crew leader/weed owner will give them the advice/cash/legitimacy to succeed, but the protegee will just sit back and wait to be called up to the Golden Mic.

A Svengali/crew leader/weed owner will want to see you take charge of your own career and put the work in to be successful. They want you to take advantage of the huge leg up you’ve been given. They want to know that they dont have to hold your hand your whole career and have the work ethic to succeed on your own.

Some Svengali (pronouced ‘zven-GAH-lee’) will pamper certain protegees and just hand them the record deal. The protegee will STILL fall off because they expect the record to sell itself based on association. Doesnt work that way.

You will see alot of ex-protegees be REALLY fucking mad at the ex-Svengali for not handing them the world on a platter. But they shouldnt be. 9 times out of 10, the Svengali had to work really hard and build their empire from the ground up. That grind gave them experience and wisdom about the industry. They would like to see their protegees build their situations as well. But that RARELY happens. The protegees usually just sit around with their lip and hand out.

As we also talked about in the last blog, the barrier for entry into the industry is all but gone. If you are smart, you will take advantage of this.

So I say to all my people who I know are talented–PUT YOUR RECORD OUT.

1 of them has listened to me, so far. You are not about to get “discovered” anytime soon. That’s just the truth. So put yourself in a better position than you were in yesterday.

You may not make a dime off of your record, but if it is good–someone WILL notice. This raises your profile. Don’t be afraid to give your music away. You may not want to give away physical copies because they cost you to produce, but you can give away links alllllll day. You never know who might be listening. Because of services like tunecore, bandcamp, etc. your album can be available ANYWHERE.Yes, it will cost you some money to do this. But it wont cost you an enormous grip. You could save yrself some money by doing an EP instead of an album (4-6 songs, please). No fucking mixtapes or a bunch of non-related singles. Give people a focused presentation that shows off some of the different facets of your artistry. Hold off on the Jordans. Slow down on going to the club. Get familiar with that Dollar menu.

Get a damn website. RIGHT NOW:
Trent Reznor already said this. I’ll say it again. Your myspace/soundclick/bandcamp/twitter/reverbnation/iLike/blog page will not substitute for a real website. You still need to have the aforementioned things just to have your cyber real estate covered, but a website is ALL yours. Unlike the social networking sites, you dont have to share the attention with anyone else. You website is ALL YOU, ALL THE TIME. This also gives you the chance to sell physical copies of your album to anyone at all should they want it.

Make your record as professional as you can:
Dont record your album in your basement and then press it as is. Get it mixed in a real studio. Get it mastered (I cannot stress enough how important this is). If the mastering isnt right, get it mastered again (had to learn this for myself).

Get a GOOD photgrapher/graphic designer:
Image counts for a lot. If your website looks like a geocities page and your album layout looks like Pen & Pixel on a bad day, you fuckin up. Find someone that will give you a visual presentation that can stand up against anything in the store. Some talented graphic artists will try to charge you a grip because they may be worth it. Some will try to stick you up just because theyre assholes. But asking around never hurts. You may find someone you can negotiate with or someone who is more interested than building their portfolio than making a bundle of cash.

Bottom line….as an artist, having your work commercially available only helps you. It increases your reach, it shows off your talent, and it shows that your serious about what you do. An artist with something to show for themselves will get taken more seriously than an artist who only exists in their own minds any day. So what if your album is only selling 3 copies a month–dont focus on that. Focus on the fact that should anyone earth be interested in you or your music–they could go to their computer, see you, learn about you, and experience your music for themselves. That’s a chance you shouldn’t pass up. The internet/computer age has made the process affordable to you, so take advantage of it…that is, if you’re serious.

Remember, I’m not saying this from a place on high. I am in the trenches with you. RIGHT NOW. I’m passing along the things I have learned/know so the process can be a little smoother for you.

If you’re an artist and you’re serious about your music, then put it out. Stop bullshittin’. Stop making excuses. Stop waiting for the Fairy Godexec to come.

Stop singing into the hairbrush. Unless that’s just your thang.

Peace,
Scorp

Get the fuck outta here wit this bullshit.

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1631018/20100202/lil_wayne.jhtml

“The experience was out of this world,” said Bieber, who sang Lionel Richie’s original opening line. The world premiere of the song’s video will air during NBC’s coverage of the opening ceremony of the Vancouver Winter Olympics on Friday, February 12. According to a press release from the organizers, both the new version of “We Are the World” and the accompanying video will be available for purchase through a consortium of on-line and retail partners, with all proceeds going directly to the earthquake-relief efforts in Haiti through the We Are The World Foundation, a newly created not-for-profit organization made up of board members Quincy Jones, Lionel Richie, Wyclef Jean, Paul Haggis, Randy Phillips and Ambassador Louis Moreno of the Inter-American Development Bank.

Robin Thicke – The Evolution of Robin Thicke (2006):

“…when you ask yourself/why me?/and why not me?…”

Robin Thicke’s first album Cherry Blues Skies aka A Beautiful World (2003) was a textbook example of trying too hard to please. Too often artists spread themselves thin by trying to appeal to as many audiences as possible. Thicke definitely had potential. His songs were charming, yet a tad immature. His sense of humor, while refreshing, was challenging to translate. His subject matter was definitely original. He wrote songs about being a bum (Be Alright), being a kept man (Suga Mama), and being in a bank robbery (Oh, Shooter-based on a real experience). It didnt help that he looked like what most people think Jesus looked like complete with long hair and a full beard.

Needless to say, he was a tough sell. The album was all over the placed. He tried to do soul, latin, rock, etc. with varying degrees of success. His lyrics were a sore spot–often times clumsy and silly.

When Thicke re-surfaced 3 years later, he had undergone a makeover. Gone were the flowing locks and messenger bag. The new Robin Thicke was clean shaven with a neat haircut, dressed in blazers, sweater vests, and crisp button down shirts. He was signed to The Neptunes vanity label, Star Trak. The first single was the boring Prince rip-off Wanna Love You, Girl replete with super glossy Hype Williams video. The song was produced and co-written by Pharrell–unintentionally revealing the fact that the super producer was working on fumes. The lyrics were still cringe worthy in their attempts to be clever and cute. I had not a lot of hope for the young man.

One day, on a whim, I downloaded (shut up) the advance copy of his new album. It was called The Evolution Of Robin Thicke. How apt that title would end up being. Aside from the lousy first single, the rest of the album was produced by Thicke and his partner, Pro J. What I found was a vast improvement on his previous effort.

The album I heard was sparsely produced. Most of the songs were backed by minimal live instrumentation–just piano, bass, drums and guitar. Some songs were just piano and vocals.

The composition had grown by leaps and bounds, and the ballads stood out the most. Using gorgeous chords and progressions, gone was the goofy cockiness of the last album. Here, we had a young man singing earnestly about his insecurities. Thicke sang about needing love in his life and being strengthened by the love he has received. He sang about growing up and being responsible. Some songs still contained the old Thicke persona (High School Man, Threesome) but those songs were washed away by moving odes like Superman, U Center Me, and Spend the Night With Me.

I guess I wasnt the only one downloading. When the album was released, most of the songs from the advance were pulled from the album and replaced with new and better ones. The album received a huge shot in the arm with the release of the second single, Lost Without U. A hushed, faux-samba that lit up the airwaves, Lost Without U was inescapable during the early months of 2007.

Again, the ballads were the standouts, but the new uptempo cuts were an improvement on the advance. On the subtly funky Ask Myself, Thicke challenges himself to rise to the responsibility of taking care of others in his life and leaving childish things behind. Even though it fits more in the textbook modern R&B mold, his duet with Lil Wayne called All Night Long is elevated by Thicke’s impassioned, pleading faux Michael Jackson falsetto. While Lil Wayne dashes off run of the mill sex rhymes, Thicke’s parts speak of an aching passion that cant be contained. it’s not so much the lyrics, but the almost desperate tone to his vocals that signify something more beneath the surface.

Would That Make U Love Me? sees Thicke asking for acceptance and understanding from the world around him. Like that song, the unorthodox subject matter is still a hallmark of Thicke’s music. He sings about the battle against the temporary balm for insecurity drugs bring in Cocaine, where he employs a pained Marvin Gaye sounding falsetto. He talks about his fantasy life on Everything I Cant Have over a clever sample. The last 3 songs on the album form the heart of the album. 2 The Sky, Lonely World, and Angels speak about trying to find your place in a unfeeling world. These songs along with an earlier song, Can You Believe, are Thicke’s letter to people who are seeking some kind of emotional healing.

It is rare that a modern R&B album abandons The Cool Pose and lays bare the vulnerability and emotions inside that people rarely show. This album, while not perfect, was a bold and risky step forward. In other words, a true artistic evolution.

Prince – The Rainbow Children (2000):

“wanna get lost in the mellow mellow of my mind…”

Watching Prince’s downward artistic slide over the past 20 years is nightmare that music fans cant wake up from. There will always be bright spots in Prince’s modern output, but the crap far outweighs the gems. We wonder if he’s lost the muse to the point that we assume as much. This album challenges that notion.

This album could have been a pure disaster. In fact, most Prince fans regard this album as an afterthought. They shouldn’t.The Rainbow Children is easily Prince’s best album since the blindingly genius run of his first 10 years as an artist.

For 7 years beginning in 1993, Prince abandoned his birth name in favor of a unpronounceable glyph that combined the symbols for male and female. It was painful to watch his associates (read: employees) act like this was not strange at all. The rest of us were told that we could call him “The Artist Formerly Known As Prince” or “The Artist” for short.

In 2000, Prince reclaimed his name and revealed that it was just a highly annoying PR/business move (his publishing contract with former label Warner expired that year). During that time Prince met and became close to one of his musical heroes, Larry Graham. Graham impact on Prince was monumental. Graham is a devout Jehovah’s Witness and he successfully converted Prince to the religion.

In his first album as Prince after the Symbol years, The Rainbow Children is a based around the Purple One’s new spiritual outlook. The album opens with the 10 minute faux jazz epic title cut. The album is narrated by Prince throughout this song and in between the other songs using a drastically slowed down voice. There’s supposed to be a connecting fable in these molasses voiced ramblings somewhere. Points off for this. This bad start begs the listener to abandon the album early. If you hang on, then you will find Prince returning to his mid/late 80’s form.

Inspired by his new fantastically talented drummer, John Blackwell, Prince digs deep into the classic funk/soul/rock sound fans recognize from his glory days without retreading.

The songwriting is strong. The production is delightfully strange as it was on his 80’s records, chock full of weird ornaments that let us know that the Prince we knew and loved wasnt dead like we thought.

There’s a lot of Rhodes on this album, more than any other Prince album. Personally, I think this is his reaction to press proclaiming D’Angelo his heir after the release of the young artists’ sophomore album Voodoo earlier that year. Voodoo’s hit single was the unabashed Prince tribute, Untitled (How Does It Feel). The rest of the album is built on Blackwell’s drums, very funky bass, and P’s trademark rhythm guitars and searing lead guitar.

There are some misfires here. Wedding Feast is 54 seconds of absurdity. The Work, Pt 1 is another weak Vegas James Brown rip-off in the vein of Sexy MF (I truly cannot understand what people see in Sexy MF). Other than that, the rest of the album must be heard to be appreciated. The standouts are the George Duke styled fusion smoker Everywhere, the beautiful Santana-like instrumental The Sensual Everafter, The Erotic City-ish 1+1+1=3, and the sweeping (and too short) She Loves Me 4 Me.

The last 3 songs on the albums rank with some of the best music in P’s career. Family Name is a liquid funk track very reminiscent of Sly Stone’s funk era. The Everlasting Now is a tour de force of funk fueled by Blackwell’s incredible drumming. Last December is the kind of grand, anthemic Purple Rain kind of song that Prince had been trying to write unsuccessfully for years (previous attempts include Strays of The World and Gold). With Last December, he finally succeeds. These trio of songs will split your wig.

There is a ton of preachiness here as The Rainbow Children is intended to be a concept album/fable about the JW religion. Ignore that and enjoy the music. Prince has been preachy since early in his career, so fans should be well used to that by now. In many ways The Rainbow Children is the sequel to Lovesexy (1988), the last album of Prince’s classic period which was also a concept album about a spiritual awakening.

After an album as startlingly good as The Rainbow Children, one has to wonder what happened. Why was Prince hiding this kind of music during the 90’s and where has it gone since? I have a theory.

After scraping the heights of superstardom and artistic daring in the 80’s, Prince spent most of the 90’s wading through the underground after abandoning the spoils of a major label. After The Rainbow Children, Prince returned to the mainstream forefront with a pretty decent yet watered down album, Musicology, in 2004. It is my opinion that Prince’s gift is still alive and well, but he has chosen to cut the dope in favor of doing numbers in this musically retarded climate in order to maintain the acclaim and superstar treatment he is used to. The fact that he didnt promote this album very much at all leads me to believe that this album was made solely to get his artistic rocks off before marching back into the mainstream rat race.

After the pure wackness of Prince’s embarrassing last project, Lotusflower/MPLSound (2009), we can only hope that The Purple One finds his way back to his muse in the new decade.

The King.

I posted this on The Lesson forum of Okayplayer’s message board this past winter when asked if Thriller was merely a pop album with no artistic value.

I’ve been asked to re-post it,  here it is.

I’m still composing my words about what happened yesterday,  so I give you this for now.

-Scorp

The Artistic Merit of Thriller

while we all might be sick of hearing it and while it may not be as heavy as a What’s Going On or Innervisions…the fact is many records we regard as “art” dont have the sociological or spiritual depth of those records…

it would be easy to say that the work of Leroy Burgess or even James Brown is fluff based on the subject matter and dismiss it as not being artistic..which is in fact what mainstream music press does to Black music as a whole…and I have a problem with that…

it would be easy to say that I Want You is just a record abt being horny just the same as a Jodeci record is….

now as far as Thriller is concerned, it is an artistic as well as a commercial landmark for these reasons:

A) you said in another post that you do not regard MJ as a songwriter or producer…which is unfair because he CLEARLY does both…as far as his first 2 albums w/Q…..people tend to overestimate Q’s role…they tend to think that without a producer at the helm, Mike is helpless…it was Mike(w/the help of Randy Jackson) who created the the Jackson sound….it wasnt Jackie, Tito, or Marlon….and you see how well Jermaine faired on his own….

the the biggest issue that led J5 to leave Motown was lack of creative control….Mike was tired of being a singing puppet…he wanted his freedom in the studio…

CBS was unsure and made the group do two albums w/Philly Intl…after that it was time to put up or shut up…

so Mike and the boys got in the studio….CBS sent some studio pros in to make sure the shit didnt go wrong….the result was the Destiny album…the album that put them back on top….

with the exception of Blame It On The Boogie, ya boy wrote every song on that record…

he wanted to distance himself from his family and create a new sound for himself….since he’d already lent his sound to the family brand he brought in Q….

NOBODY else wanted Q…the word was that he was too old, that his track record in pop was unproven…look at the facts….before OTW and Thriller, Q was known as a bandleader and film composer, NOT a pop hitmaker….he’d had success w/the Brojays but that’s it…the last pop hit that he was responsible for before that was It’s My Party by Leslie Gore….

if you hit you tube and listen to the demos that Mike brought Q, you will see that very little is different from the album versions…

matter of fact, here ya go:
Dont Stop demo:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCWJfzH6FDY

Working Day and Night demo:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t51jUmABMlc

let’s go to the Thriller demos….

The Girl Is Mine demo 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztXxORezhpg

Girl Is Mine studio demo 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWUgNAAfcfU

Billie Jean demo:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9E_1eYWx4fM

so…my point…is that Mike created these albums from his own vision….he hired Quincy for a)legitimacy and 2)to run the studio 3) for his connections 4)quality control

so what you hear is his vision not Quincy’s…so from an artistic standpoint, he didnt just sit around and sing what Quincy put in front of him….he knew what he wanted and hired Q to translate….

after OTW, Mike went and cranked out another Jacksons album, Triumph…where he wrote every song except two…

so w.out Master Quincy, Mike was responsible for:
Shake Your Body
Heartbreak Hotel
Lovely One
Can You Feel It
Walk Right Now
Things I Do For You
…and the remaining songs on both Jacksons albums of that period…

but the music snobs like to think that Maestro Quincy sat Green Mike down and told him what to do….we can also add the folks that think Rod Temperton wrote every song on those two albums…and that’s the reason why those records came out the way they did…

Mike created those albums from his own creative muse, so artistically for him, that’s a W….

B) as far as Thriller specifically…Mike did something that no one else had done….he created the musical bridge for mainstream music from the 70’s to the 80’s…he was the cat who survived the 70’s and led the way to he 80’s, where most other 70’s cats were tryna figure out what to do next…most of them were doing disco knock-offs and praying for their survival…

people glaze over it now…but what soul/R&B figure could create a hit rock record that was embraced across the board…AND considered authentic by the rock audience?(the snobs may have been pissed off, but they werent the ones buying the records)…what soul/R&B cat was collaborating with Van Halen….and have it WORK?

it wasnt Prince….w/out Beat It, could you have a Let’s Go Crazy?

what other soul/R&B cat could get one of the Beatles on Black radio in the 80’s?

what soul/R&B cat would get Vincent Price to drop spoken word in the middle a funk/R&B cut cum horror movie?

who was else at the time was incorporating African chants and percussion at a time when everyone was whitening it up sonically(including MJ)…and who would reference Soul Makossa in the 80’s?

listen to the fact that a Black artist who was considered strictly soul/R&B decided to do a stylistic tour de force in one album when it hadnt been done before…

Thriller had:
Funk
straight R&B
Quiet Storm
MOR Pop
Rock

…all in one album by a Black aritst when such a thing was not only unheard of but frowned upon…..

futhermore, on Thriller he spoke abt teen preganancy, gang violence, challenging the social constructs of manhood, the culture of gossip, emotional blackmail, obsession, false accusations of paternity, and belief in one’s self…

fluff?

these are ARTISTIC RISKS….they could have gone horribly awry, but they didnt….he did the record HIS way….and in a rare occurence that we will only see once in a lifetime, hit the bulls-eye and pleased EVERYBODY…the effects of that had both deep positive and negative effects on his work and the entire music industry after that….

let’s remember…when Thriller was being conceived and recorded, MJ was still thought of as strictly an R&B act (Rolling Stone refused to do a cover story on him at the time), a boy band singer made good and the success or failure of the record was of little consequence to anyone BUT MJ…so pulling those strings wasnt as easy as we’d think it to be….

but WHY did he want to make a record like Thriller?….was it just to win the awards and make copious amounts of dough?

partially, yeah…but beyond that…why would MJ risk his entire career (which he’d done a few times before at that point) on a record that everybody, even QUINCY, thought would only be a mild follow up to OTW?

because he wanted out of the box…he wanted the limitations placed on Black musical artistry lifted…to end the segregation, so to speak…to send a message that you can follow your muse no matter what people say or think…you can do the kind of music you want to do and nobody should get in your way or try to stop you….

and he DID that…he achieved that goal of ARTISTIC freedom that reaps commercial success where it is unusual that the two paths EVER cross…

and whether you believe it or not is beside the point….MJ kicked down a huge barrier with Thriller…and many artists, regardless of culture or genre have reaped the benefits…

so at a superficial glance, it could appear that Thriller is nothing but the hottest chick in school for a couple years…but what happens when you talk to that chick and find out that there’s more there than just eye candy…

so like I said….people can feel how they wanna feel abt the artist and the record, we’re all entitled to our opinions…but give credit where credit is due is all Im saying….

Buttercup is a jam by Carl Anderson and written by Stevie Wonder…

Carl Anderson was an extremely gifted  and criminally underrated singer active in the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s….

he first came to prominence in the early 70’s when he orginated the role of Judas in the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar…he was passed over for the Broadway run in favor of Ben Vereen but was cast as the understudy….Vereen fell ill during the production and Carl played Judas on Broadway and on tour. When Vereen recovered, he and Anderson alternated the role…

When the film version of Jesus Christ Superstar was getting underway, Carl was cast as Judas for the film version…his performance in the film brought him rave reviews, acclaim, and awards…

Carl signed to Motown Records in the early 70’s, but no material was released on him…it was there that he met and became friends with Stevie Wonder…

In 1982, after parting ways with Motown, Carl released his debut album, Absence Without Love…his friend Stevie contributed Buttercup to the album…the album was produced by Minnie Riperton’s widower and fellow Wonder friend, Richard Rudolph…

the song was featured again on Carl’s 1985 CBS debut album, Protocol…

In 1985, Carl scored a huge hit with the song, Friends And Lovers, which was a duet with singer and actress Gloria Loring (Loring’s son is Robin Thicke)…

at the time, Loring was a cast member on the daytime soap Days Of Our Lives and the song became the show’s romantic theme…

Carl’s other big hit was his 1992 single, How Deep Does It Go…

Carl continued to act and sing on stage on record for the remainder of his life…

Carl died of leukemia 4 days shy of his birthday in 2004.

other Wonder freaks like myself love this rare groove…hopefully you’ll dig it, too…

I really dig the story in the lyrics…

RIP, Carl