The May Re-Up

Can anybody tell me what happened to the old adage “April Showers, Bring May Flowers?” Cause all I’ve seen this so far month has been rain, rain, and the threat of rain…..at least over here on the East Coast. But what a month we’ve had in music events….

Needless to say everyone (including myself) is still reeling from the death of Prince last month, and the music world as a whole hasn’t been right since….But more on that later. Back on May 3rd, we also lost Afeni Shakur, legendary activist and mother of rapper, Tupac Shakur. Her death was felt by everyone because between her and Ms. Wallace (Biggie's mom), we felt their pain when they lost both their sons at such a young age to senseless violence.

Then on May 6th, Justin Timberlake released his latest summer jam, “Can’t Stop The Feeling.” The song is on the soundtrack to the movie, “Trolls,” coming out later this year; and is in line to become this year’s “Happy.”

In other news, pissed off fans were "looking high and low" for Lauryn Hill after she showed up 2 hours late to a concert in Atlanta. The show was supposed to start at 8pm, and Hill didn’t arrive on stage until 10pm. Did she at least have a good explanation for her tardiness? She stated that “the challenge is aligning my energy with the time, taking something that isn’t easily classified or contained, and trying to make it available for others.” Come on now…..If folks are paying top dollar to hear you sing songs that are almost 20 years old, the LEAST you could do is show up on time…..Now I love me some Lauryn as much as the next person, but if I paid $200 for a concert ticket for the main act to show up THAT late….I’d be pissed off too.

So what happened? Well, it’s the South, and many of their performance spaces have a noise curfew in effect, so needless to say, the venue cut the sound off in the middle of her show. She ended up performing for all of 45 mins. Next time Ms Hill, if you’re gonna be that late, at least let folks know, so they can start “aligning their pockets” before paying all that damn money for a ticket to your show.

Additionally, Sharon Osbourne finally left Ozzy…and then he finally left civilization for a few days…..For real! He actually went missing for a bit. One has to wonder that after 33 years of marriage, 2 kids, drugs, alcohol, and biting the head off a real live bat- what could have possibly led Sharon to her breaking point after all this time? Apparently Ozzy was having an affair with a younger woman, and was kicked out of the house by Sharon. Is it wrong that I was actually expecting something more dramatic than that?

Speaking of being kicked out…..Azealia Banks has finally been booted out of the "Twitter-verse." I say, and I think most would agree…..It’s about damn time! But what made it come to this point, you might ask? Well, that’s easy- she spew out a bunch of hateful, racist, homophobic slurs at Zayn Malik of One Direction; claiming that he stole ideas from her, and used them in one of his videos.  Now if you’re unaware (or just over the age of 25), “Directioners,” as they prefer to be called, are every bit as vicious as the “Bey-hive"- just younger. Banks' statements led to a Twitter Feud between her and 14-year old Disney star, Skai Jackson who basically served her up a plate of “Shaddaupp” in front of all of cyberspace. Let’s face it, Azealia had it coming, and someone should have told her about herself years ago. If getting served by a teenager wasn’t enough, her statements also led to her getting dropped from London’s Born & Bred Festival, where she was supposed to be the headliner. So not only has she lost her dignity, but money too….and all because she couldn’t keep her mouth shut. She’s supposed to be a rapper, but only knows how to ignite drama on Twitter. Can anyone name a noteworthy song from her? 

*****Crickets*****

Speaking of feuds, the most bizarre one of them all has got to be between Arsenio Hall and Sinead O’Connor. Now last we saw Sinead, she was ripping up pictures of The Pope on live television, and now she’s claiming that Hall was Prince’s drug dealer for a number of years, and that he spiked her Marijuana at a house party in 1991. I don't understand....Why are we just hearing about this now, 25 years later? Tell me, does this look like the face of a drug dealer to you?

Wait a min…..Oops....Sorry….

Yup, me neither…..But who knows?

That being said, “errrbody and dey momma’s uncle” was in an uproar over Madonna being chosen as the sole performer in Prince’s tribute segment at the Billboard Awards on May 22nd. Everyone had an opinion about who should or shouldn’t be doing the segment. So much so that a petiton was started and subsequently ignored by Billboard. Most said that it would be best if those who actually knew him and worked with him were to perform instead, i.e. Sheila E, The Time, The Revolution, and/or the whole Minneapolis Sound Crew. Adding fuel to the fire, singer-songwriter, Linda Perry stated on The Talk that artists like “Chaka Khan, The Time, & Sheila E. haven’t been called up to do the tribute because they are not “relevant.” Once again, social media got its panties all in a bunch from her statements and how they reflected the attitudes of the music industry. Maybe I’m wrong, but I didn’t take her statements as offensive cause it sounded to me like she was only stating the truth about how the industry feels about older artists. It doesn’t matter how good you are, if you’re over the age of 30 and not named Beyonce or Justin Timberlake, the industry labels you “old-school,” and therefore, not marketable to a younger crowd. Is it fair? Absolutely not…but that’s the way it is. I could be wrong, but I don’t think that Perry’s statements reflected how she personally felt, but rather she was stating how the industry looks at older artists. However, I do agree that it could have been worded better….but that’s the “beauty” of unscripted TV. But what I don’t understand is how the industry could consider Madonna any more relevant than Sheila E. She’s old as Hell too! But in either case, considering what the industry considers “relevant” nowadays, I don’t think I’d want to be lumped in that category anyhow.

Now after all that…needless to say, Madonna was a HORRIBLE choice for a Prince tribute. That broad can barely sing her own songs anymore…nonetheless someone with the amount of range such as Prince. She even brought Stevie Wonder out on stage to sing with her, and that didn’t even help matters any. Don’t get me wrong I’m a fan of Madonna in heyday….After all, I’m an 80’s baby, so I don’t really have a choice in the matter…her videos were all over MTV back in the day! But hearing her sing Purple Rain made me literally cry…and not because of how beautiful it was…in fact, anything but. It was quite painful….

On a side note: Did anyone else notice that her face never moved the entire performance.....I'm Just Sayin...                                                     

In fact, the whole awards show was quite painful to watch. The only real highlight was hearing Demi Lovato belt out “Cool For The Summer;” even though it was technically “Cool for Last Summer,” but that’s ok though….I'm just happy to see someone with talent on these shows! That being said, Ms Celine Dion, after coming on the stage with her son to accept her ICON Award, making all of us bawl profusely in the process, then belted out a stirring rendition of Queen’s “The Show Must Go On;” proving that at 48 years of age, she could out-sing anyone else who graced the stage that night. She Slayyyed that song and made it her own like nobody's business.....Proving why she is every bit deserving of the title: Icon.

And there you have it, that’s my Mission Report for May 28th, 2016 (Captain America: Civil War reference)…..What did you think about this month’s most pressing matters in music? Sound off in then comments below, or respond on Twitter, using the hashtag #TheReUp.

Until Next Time…