I want you to fail. I mean that.

Not really…but that seems to be the general attitude in today’s world.

Whenever something positive happens it gets very little attention.

For instance, on Concreteloop there were photographs of Michelle Williams (from Destiny’s Child) visiting children to inspire them to anything they want, and she has also joined the campaign to promote awareness of HIV/AIDs by wearing ‘Until’ bracelets. Did this get any attention from the general public? Of course not.

But the rumours that Michelle was broke (meaning in the poor house) got much more attention. Not only was it a chance to laugh and mock her situation, but also an opportunity to bash Beyonce and her family.

But why would you be more interested when someone fails?

In my opinion, it is because you are failing yourself. There is something, or many things, that you dislike about your own life, but you don’t want to address them. Instead you focus on the negative happenings in others’ lives to distract away from your dissatisfaction with your own life. You thrive on anything bad. You don’t want to hear about Beyonce marrying Jay-Z because you’d rather read about their marriage problems. You don’t want to hear about Chris Brown taking Rihanna to meet his mother because you’d rather look at the photos of Rih-Rih’s face after the ‘incident’. You don’t want to congratulate Ciara on pushing until her album came out because you’d rather laugh at her ‘flop’ album.

Do I want you to fail? No…but you want me to.

Ciara debuted at No.3, selling approx 81,000 copies.
Chrisette Michele debuted at No.1, selling approx 83,000 copies.

Since Ciara came on to the scene five years ago, people have been less than impressed with her vocals. On other hand, Chrisette’s voice is admired by many, and her raw talent is clear. The ‘mainstream’, more marketable Ciara has had ample promotion (not on Beyonce’s scale, but quite a bit), but after two ‘buzz’ singles and a single with the highly in demand Justin Timberlake, her album sales are still….well…

What happened?

Three years ago, things were on the up. Ciara’s sophmore effort, Evolution, opened with approx 300,000 sold in the first week, which was over double her debut album’s first week sales. Her first single, Promise, was doing big things worldwide, her songs were featured on movie soundtracks, and there seemed to be a (rumoured) blossoming relationship with 50 Cent.

What happened?

The same thing that happened to Jennifer Lopez, Ashanti, Mya, and many more singers who lack the vocal talent to make them stand out from the average Joe’s voice. Please don’t think that I’m bashing any of these artists or Ciara, because I’m a fan of or like them all. However, even I can’t pretend that they could go head to head with the likes of Beyonce or Christina Aguilera.

For goodness sake, what happened?

Eventually the public gets tired of the celebrity’s image and starts looking for something deeper. Suddenly people don’t get about fashion lines, ‘cute’ couples, hot beats, sexy dance moves, controversial music videos, or anything else but the vocals that aren’t there. Then the CD sales disappear, and another young person finds themself back in the real world.

But who knows…the public is fickle, so if Ciara revamps her image (and maybe goes back to her dance roots instead of the usual ‘Look, I’m sexy!’) there could be room for her at the top.

Plus the proof is in the pudding. More and more people are downloading movies and music as the amount of sex increases, and the quality decreases. If sex sells, why did Christina Aguilera’s debut album sell 4 million more than the sexually charged Stripped? If sex sells, why hasn’t Beyonce (and Sasha) outsold Whitney Houston? If sex sells, why did Rihanna (the clothed girl gone naked) have to release countless singles and videos, meanwhile Alicia Keys (fully clothed) released four singles and equalled her sales in less time?

Not only is it sad for the industry in general, but also for the artist. Some of them have a good/great voice to fall back on when the public starts crying, “Grandma, put some clothes on!” However, some of them are surviving on their fashion, famous boyfriends, and any other gimmicks their record label can find.

Take Madonna and Janet Jackson, for example. They’re both told to stop going for the younger crowd and cover up. Madonna has defied the odds, and whatever her critics say, and continued on like she always has. Her soldout tours, stable CD sales, and high public interest shows that she will be fine. On the other hand, Jackson’s sales have been on the decline. The more sex she uses to sell, the lower her sales get. She’s been dropped by two record labels in quick succession, so the future looks very, VERY bleak. She’s proof that a sexy image can only go so far before someone ’sexier’ comes along and takes your spot.

Then the future is ruined as well. The young stars look at the current legends, icons, etc focusing on their image more than their music, and follow the same path. This leads to girls barely out of school wearing the skimpiest clothes they can find, instead of SINGING, ACTING, or DANCING. We’re stuck with ’singing’, in between the breast shaking, ‘acting’, in between the raunchy shots, or ‘dancing’, in between the booty close ups.

Whenever another female artist or actress starts wearing less and less clothes on stage or screen, the usual excuse is: Sex Sells…but does it?

I’m sure you’ve heard (or seen…) the naked photos of Cassie and Rihanna, but are these ‘private’ photos really that surprising? Cassie, Rihanna, and even my favourite singer, Beyonce, use sex heavily to grab a hold of your attention and not let go. Their sexuality gets them signed to record labels, magazine covers and spreads, etc. Meanwhile, more talented singers and actresses who keep their clothes on get…nowhere. They have to stick to mixtapes, play to ‘intimate’ crowds, star in films that go straight to DVD, and anything else that will be forgotten a year from now.

Does sex sell? No, I don’t think it does.

The media is pushing more and more sex all the time, especially in the music industry. The female singers are encouraged to wear little and shake a lot. Strip, drop it like it’s hot, and don’t forget to mention your album coming out when you’ve finished.

And that’s the problem right there.

These industries forget two things. One, not all of your audience consists of hetereosexual males and lesbians. Two, just because some men and women will ‘pleasure’ themselves whilst watching these raunchy music videos or films, it doesn’t mean that they’ll get out their credit cards and buy your product. When I’ve seen six pack abs on male singers, it’s never made me think, “Yep, I’ll buy your album!” No, it’s made me think, “Damn, I wish you would If You Seek Amy.”

Ivory

PS. What’s with the poor excuse for these naked photos that ‘Everyone’s done it at some point. Don’t you have naked photos of yourself on your PC?”

No, I don’t.

We’re not. Some of us are, but not all, especially not myself.

We know about this stereotype that black women are fat, angry and darn loud…are you? Maybe you are, maybe you aren’t, but why are we all tarnished with the same image?

Being a black person can be hard for many reasons, but the one that I’ll focus on today is whenever one black person does something we all go down with him/her. For example, an overweight, black woman might squeeze herself into the ugliest outfit on earth and strut off down the street. I bet there’ll always be someone who says something like, “She’s an embarrassment to black community.” But why? Why can’t she just shame herself, and maybe even her family and friends?

Then there’s gun and knife crime, that’s getting worse and worse. A black teenage boy somewhere goes around carrying a knife, so then every black teenager is suddenly a suspect?

To make matters worse, we seem to be the only race who’s ‘lucky’ enough to have a representative for us all. I don’t remember voting for Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson to speak on my behalf…when was that poll taken?

My point is, if a black woman is rude to you….a black woman is rude to you. She may be a rude, stuck up cow, but remember that’s just HER, not ME.

Actually, now I am feeling a bit angry….