Prince and the Price of Fame.

When Prince, the greatly talented musician died suddenly the other week, the memory of Michael Jackson’s equally sudden death flashed across one's mind. The manner of their deaths was as tragic as it was weird. In spite of their larger-than-life public image, each one of them was all alone, helpless and pathetic at the time of death. And both of them had drug issues. Why not? When fame and riches go together in the life of a person, there is often a huge price to pay. Sadly, such consequences include, but not limited to acute loneliness, emotional disturbances and sadness. They can’t afford to cope with the reality of life. After all, they are “superstars”. It’s considered an entitlement for the famous to be in high spirits on 24-7 basis. Alas, that is not possible according to the law of nature. So, what do the insanely rich and famous do? They get their “high spirits” anyhow, unnaturally.  

 

Now, the drug dealer that had been supplying “the stuff” to Prince for about 25 years had come out to state that, the superstar once spent $40,000 at one time on drugs. When poor folks indulge in hard drugs such as heroin, cocaine and other illegal substances, they are called drug addicts or worse, “crack heads”. They also get thrown into jails. It’s however a different ball game for the famous. Society excuses them for being on “pain killers”. They are cast as victims of the pressure of being filthy rich and famous. In fact, ordinary people are supposed to sympathize with them whenever this happens. 

 

Let’s hope the up-and-coming artistes learn from the sad ends of Prince and some others before him - Michael Jackson, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Elvis Presley, James Brown and a whole lot of others. It’s alright to dream and aspire for stardom. But there is a need for those with such an aspiration to make provisions for the future consequences of fame. Right now, there are millions of young people turning their backs on basic education. If they are not aspiring to become sports stars, they are struggling in the music industry and each of them is aspiring to become another “Prince”. What a pity!

 

RIP Louis Johnson (April 13, 1955 – May 21, 2015).

RIP Louis Johnson (April 13, 1955 – May 21, 2015) of the “The Brothers Johnson” band. The well-known bassist died on Thursday. He was 60.

He and his brother, George, started their careers as studio session men for Billy Preston and Quincy Jones. In 1976, the two formed “The Brothers Johnson” and came up with No. 1 hits among which were, Strawberry Letter 23, Ain’t we funking now, Blam and Stomp.

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Ne-Yo Swindled out of $4.5M by Manager.

Kevin Foster (the former manager, trusted adviser and friend) of Shaffer Smith - aka Ne-Yo allegedly forged the singer’s name and signature on some loan documents. And thereby incurred a big loss for the singer, to the tune of $4.5 Million.

In papers filed in Manhattan Federal Court, Ne-Yo said the erstwhile manager swindled him out of $4.5 million. The money was sunk into a floundering water company, a get-rich-quick scheme. The two were first introduced to each other way back in 2005. Shortly afterward, Foster convinced the singer to let the accounting company he was then working for "handle all of Smith's business management and accounting needs."



It was Foster's job to manage the star's bank accounts and ensure that ne-Yo was financially situated as to maintain his accustomed lifestyle for the remainder of his life.

The two guys eventually developed a personal relationship, with Ne-Yo placing complete trust in Foster's handling of his finances and affairs. The singer however later discovered that his faith in Foster was misplaced. Ne-Yo discovered that Foster had been spending some of his money without the singer’s permission. The singer finally decided to hire a different accounting firm which uncovered instances of Foster engaging in self-dealing and inappropriate conduct that included forging Ne-Yo's name on loan documents.

From sports celebrities to those in the entertainment industry, a simple lack of education is their bane. At the height of their fame, some of them even entrusted their money in the hands of mere hangers-on. And this is not talking about “newly-arrived” celebrities that live above their means.

My question is when will those celebrities begin to emulate Oprah Winfrey who insists on signing all checks going out of her account? But, come to think of it, Oprah is a college-educated celebrity. Education will always make a huge difference in a person’s life. It’s the utmost foundation for a life of success. #Nothingbeatseducation

 

The Color of Music.

In Nigeria and many parts of Africa, people fall in love with good music, irrespective of the language, color or the nationality of the musicians or singers. It is indeed common to walk into the home of a music lover in Nigeria and see an array of CDs, tapes and, for those who still have them, "albums" of assorted music genres from indigenous Nigerian music to R&B, Soul, Reggae, Country, Jazz, Classical and Rock. Some Nigerians even listen to Hard rock and the Metallica!

When you tune to any Nigerian radio station, one moment, a Soul music will come blaring at you while, the next moment, a Country music will start to play to your delight. Over there, once you are a music lover, that is it! Back in those days...and I am talking about 20 years or more...I could vividly remember a lot of friends, neighbors and colleagues whose stereos would blast, day and night, mostly the songs of Don Williams, Kenny Rogers, Dolly Patton and those of the other Country musicians. 

The Nigerian music scene has always been a showcase for the popular phrase that music is an international language with no form of barriers. I thought that was the belief all over the global community until I got to the United States and discovered, to my chagrin, that music did (and does) have language and color barriers among a whole lot of people.

During the apartheid regime in South Africa, according to one White South African I once met, the music of Mariam Makeba, Hugh Masekela and certain other Black musicians were officially banned on radio and other media. This however did not stop many White South Africans, including some of them who were most notorious in their  supports for the evil practice, from listening to these same "Black music" in the privacy of their homes.

That is the effect music has on the psyche of people the world over with the exception of America!


A couple of years ago, as a believer in "music while you work", I was at work listening to a series of downloaded music on my desktop computer when a colleague walked into the office.

"Don't tell me you're listening to that kind of music..." he asked indignantly. "...that's a Redneck music!..."

What he referred to as a "Redneck" music was "In the Misty Moonlight", a classical duet recorded among others such as "Dear John" and "Together Again" in the 1960s by Skeeter Davis and Bobby Bare. These were beautiful love songs that I grew up listening to and, so were such a huge part of my childhood that they never fail to evoke certain sense of nostalgia in me each time I listen to them. Incidentally, while in high school in the 1970s, a classmate of mine brought a tape containing some of these songs to school that we all enjoyed listening to. But to my ignorant colleague, all he could hear or see in the song was some racial issue!

Some minutes later, I was listening to "I can't stop loving you" by Ray Charles when another colleague, of a different race, walked into the office.

"Jesus!..." he exclaimed in disgust. "Are you turning this place into an extension of Soul Train?"

Ironically, this was the same fool who, about an hour earlier, had paid me huge compliments for listening to some "good, old Country songs."

This time though, I had to educate him. I told him he had been so blinded by racial prejudice that he did not know "I can't stop loving you" by Ray Charles was under the Country genre of music.

All over the world, music is an international medium of expression with no barriers of color, race or language. But in America, interest in music is divided into race, color, language and everything else anyone with a sense of racial bigotry can think of. The only exception to the rule consists of very few individuals who dare to appreciate whatever they consider to be good music without any narrow recourse to the racial backgrounds of the musicians.

Chicago - Feeling Stronger Every Day.

Chicago - Feeling Stronger Every Day
As a strong believer in old school music, 
this one by Chicago is one of my most favorite music, 
one of those I always want to start my day with,
and this is not really in terms of the emotional lyrics 
involved but the great instrumentation, 
especially the powerful horn arrangement 
at the end of the track...it never fails to have 
a very mind-blowing sensation on my psyche. 
(Click on the link to listen).