Storytelling.....

Some of the best music I've ever heard tells a story. See exhibits below. Which makes me wonder what happen to good music that tells a story and takes you there?

1) Stevie Wonder: Living In The City. (R&B)

A boy is born in hard time Mississippi

Surrounded by four walls that ain't so pretty

His parents give him love and affection

To keep him strong moving in the right direction

Living just enough, just enough for the city

His father works some days for fourteen hours

And you can bet he barely makes a dollar

His mother goes to scrub the floors for many

And you'd best believe she hardly gets a penny

Living just enough, just enough for the city yeah

His sister's black but she is sho 'nuff pretty

Her skirt is short but Lord her legs are sturdy

To walk to school she's got to get up early

Her clothes are old but never are they dirty

Living just enough, just enough for the city

2) Ice Cube: Today Was A Good Day. (Rap)

Just waking up in the morning gotta thank God

I don't know but today seems kinda odd

No barking from the dogs, no smog

And momma cooked a breakfast with no hog

3) James Blount Your Beautiful (Pop) 

My life is brilliant.

My life is brilliant.

My love is pure.

I saw an angel.

Of that I'm sure.

She smiled me on the subway.

She was with another man.

But I won't lose no sleep on that,

'Cause I've got a plan.

You're beautiful, You're beautiful,

You're beautiful, it's true.

I saw your face in a crowded place,

And I don't know what to do,

'Cause I'll never be with you.

4) Goo Goo Dolls "Iris" (Rock)

And I'd give up forever to touch you

'Cause I know that you feel me somehow

You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be

And I don't want to go home right now

And all I can taste is this moment

And all I can breathe is your life

When sooner or later it's over

I just don't want to miss you tonight

And I don't want the world to see me

'Cause I don't think that they'd understand

When everything's made to be broken

I just want you to know who I am

Good music is meant to transport the mind to another place. To paint a picture in the listener's mind that is interesting and captivating. Maybe that's why some songs pass the test of time and others don't. The lyrics clearly help you see the scene that Stevie depicts on "Living In The City." A hardworking loving family in Mississippi has two children in a small house. The parents are providing a loving environment that allows for the children to learn the value of hard work and education. His sister is a beautiful chocolate colored girl who wakes up early and walks to school which in turn is developing her mind and body because ther legs are to die for. Whew! I know a lot about this family in just a few minutes. That's storytelling to the finest. 

Today's music is void of the fantastic storytellers in most generes. It seems like too many artists have forgotten about the tried and true value of having a message and story in their music. Good stories help music last the test of time. Even my twelve year son knows that a girl was trying to pin a kid on Michael Jackson in Billie Jean even though that song is 30 years old. Artists, song writers, producers wake up. Give us a good story and we will show you a hit record. Songs can't just be about money, jewelry, sex, drugs, and partying. Too much of the popular songs of today are about style over substance. 

I still have hope for this generation though because early this year the critically acclaimed album "To Pimp A Butterfly" by Kendrick Lamar was released and one of my favorite tracks on the album is "How Much Does A Dollar Cost?" On this song Lamar is struggling with if the person who's panhandling outside the gas station is more then meets the eye. Check out the verse below:

Kendrick Lamar:

He's starin' at me in disbelief
My temper is buildin', he's starin' at me, I grab my key
He's starin' at me, I started the car, then I tried to leave
And somethin' told me to keep it in park until I could see
The reason why he was mad at a stranger like I was supposed to save him
Like I'm the reason he's homeless and askin' me for a favor
He's starin' at me, his eyes followed me with no laser
He's starin' at me, I notice that his stare is contagious
'Cause now I'm starin' back at him, feelin' some type of disrespect
If I could throw a bat at him, it'd be aimin' at his neck
I never understood someone beggin' for goods
Askin' for handouts, takin' it if they could
And this particular person just had it down pat
Starin' at me for the longest until he finally asked
"Have you ever opened up Exodus 14?
A humble man is all that we ever need
Tell me how much a dollar cost"

Lamar indeed tells a story that is captivating and interesting. That's good music!!! Others are getting into a similar thought I look forward to more artists telling a story instead of just making a hit record. 

What are your favorite songs that tell a story? Share them with me. 

Straight Outta Compton.....to Detroit.

Straight Outta Compton the movie is released and in theaters starting this weekend. I recently viewed the movie and it was a great trip down memory lane. One memorable scene that stands out in the movie recreates a infamous concert on a warm summer night at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.  I will never forget that night because I was there. The LL Cool J nitro tour was how the show was billed but the true headliner was N.W.A. The other performers that night was Big Daddy Kane & Slick Rick. That concert in the movie was accurate in my opinion as it related to N.W.A. but it's so much more then that. I felt compelled to share my memories of just the concert because the night afterwards was even crazier.

In the 1980's Detroit was a very dangerous place for young people. In fact the crime statistics say even more so then today. That is strange if you consider there were more stable middle class neighborhoods and more families then we see today. The gangs in Detroit were not like the Crips and the Bloods of Los Angeles. In Detroit most of the groups were about making money in their own particular neighborhood. Their affiliation was more for protection and economic reasons to protect their turf then for socialization and random violence. You had groups who identified with the largest street that they lived near.  Eight Mile's,  Seven mile's , Six mile's, PA's, Dexter Avenue, etc. I know most people want to call these groups gangs but I think it gives you a false idea of what they did if you call them that.

When any large event occurred in the city that young people would be going to it was a given that these groups would converge there. Concerts at the Joe certainly fit that description. Safety existed in numbers so large groups were downtown that night. The crew I hung out with was in full effect. It was 10-15 of us and we we went anticipating a memorable evening. We just didn't know how memorable.

Walking into the Joe on August 6, 1989 it was clear it was a sold out concert. People were everywhere. The police presence was extremely high. The energy was palpable. We were hyped because this was our music. A rebellious spirit existed within the music. Rappers were pushing back against a lot of things in their music. None more obviously then N.W.A.

Police aggressiveness is well documented and known now but back then some police officers got away with aggressive behavior and tactics.  This was before police officers were caught brutalizing Rodney King on video for the nation to see. Before Malice Green was beaten with flashlights in Detroit to his death at the hands of police officers. This was before Michael Brown, Eric Gardner or Trayvon Martin. Sure Mayor Coleman Young had shut down the infamous tactical mobile unit know as the Big 4 in Detroit and implemented community policing and promotion of many African Americans to leadership, but there was a sentiment in Detroit and around the country that too many young people felt unfairly harassed and humiliated by "over-policing" from aggressive officers.

N.W.A. managed to grasp this sentiment in their song "F The Police" and speak for a generation of young people when Ice Cube said, "....searching my car looking for the product. Thinking every n---a is selling narcotics". Most of the other artists on the tour had nothing that would come close to this type of rage against the system in their music. LL Cool J, Slick Rick & Big Daddy were both dope and their lyrics were mostly fun battle rap, ladies, and New York borough representing. Which was definitely cool but N.W.A. was pushing the envelope way farther. Needless to say we debated about whether the song would be played the whole way downtown.

If you haven't been to Joe Louis Arena it is a steep incline of steps into the entrance of the building. Walking up those stairs and seeing that many people and police was intimidating. The music that most concert pre shows play was noticeably lower. Probably to keep people from being too hyped. I would be lying to you if I told you I wasn't nervous. The combination of all these "groups" of fellas from their respective neighborhood sounded like a recipe for
trouble but I was not going to let on to anyone that I was scared, but I was. I was only 15. Everyone I was with was older. I was reminded by one of my older and more experienced homies to tuck my gold chain in my shirt and by all means don't step on any one else's crispy clean gym shoes. Once we got inside the arena. It was chaos to say the least.

I'm pretty confident we didn't have 15 seats right near each other. We simply just got as close to our seats as we could and stood there. We weren't on the floor but left of the stage in the bowl seats. I remember looking around a large groups of police roaming the arena and spreading out to deal with fights and issues as they popped up. Looking around the arena. Issues were popping up just about every other section. I specifically remember someone snatching a chain from a girl and running and the police chasing them down the mezzanine. Then immediately to the right. Seeing 20-30 groups of PA's fighting with Six Mile's. Police ran to intervene there. Then several police officers in the section above went running up the stairs to break up another huge fight and all of the guys turned to fight the police. I'll never forget the officer who was cold cocked and went rolling down the steps and knocking down the other police officers like bowling pins. All of this was going on while the concert was occurring.

I remember the lineup specifically. First up was Slick Rick. He was hot because he had three big songs,  "Teenage Love", "Hey Young World", and the nuclear hot "Children's Story" which told the story of a confused teenager boy who was shot by police after a crime spree. Then Big Daddy Kane who came out in bathtub full of bubbles and of course ladies. Later he was dancing on the stage which shocked us because he was so smooth and gangsta rappers didn't dance right? LL Cool J (he drove a white Lamborghini on the stage) and performed a myriad of hits from His three albums. Including "Radio", "I'm Bad", & "Kanday" to his more current stuff "Going Back to Cali", "I'm That Type of Guy", & "Big Ole Butt"

N.W.A. came out firing off their hits. "Straight Outta Compton", "Gangsta Gangsta", then Easy E & Ice Cube took over the set with "Eazy-Duz-It",  "Eazy-Er Said Than Dunn"....and "Dope Man". Then NWA full team came back for "Express Yourself". When the lyrics began to drop and the crowd went nuts for the infamous F--k the Police Ice Cube jumped on top of the large speaker right in front of us. A series of loud explosions went off in the middle of the lyrics. Cube dropped down and ran like hell to get out of the arena. So did the rest of the group. The concert was over. It was a wrap because everyone got the hell out of there as fast as possible. Later it was rumored that the police actually set off fireworks in the area. M-80's to be exact. They wanted to make clear they didn't support any music that encourages young people to disrespect the police or violence against them.

This is a big scene in the movie and some feel it is over dramatized. I think they did a good job with how it's depicted. The movie itself takes me back to the late eighties and nineties and reminds me how tumultuous the times were. Crack cocaine was still rapidly changing communities. Detroit was evolving into a shell of itself. The large school district that was full of students was soon to be imploded. The rapid boom in the early nineties of auto industry jobs would soon be replaced with a cycle of bust. Opportunities for young people were drying up in the motor city. Music would become a huge draw to a lot of my peers and many expected Detroit to repeat the success of Motown many years before. It was not to be though. Our inspiration in music came from else where. Straight Outta Compton, Atlanta, Florida, & New York for the next generations to come.

Lastly I can't help but think about all the physical altercations that took place between the police and concert goers that night. The Detroit Free Press said that nine people were arrested that night and Olympia Entertainment says its was a pretty unremarkable night in comparison to other concerts. My point is no police officer drew their service weapon and fired on or at anybody at the concert. Fights just happened. In comparison to the police brutality we have seen lately it makes me actually appreciate the fact that they handled the scenarios without taking anyone's life. How starkly different from today. 

Check out the movie.....let me know what you think!