J*Davey is on our radar

Blind I and OKP fans have hit me up to their work awhile back. The music is innovative and def takes some getting use to. Much like a Wu-Tang album, they are ahead of their time and most people won’t get it until 5 years after the release date. Lady D’s blog is one of my new fav readings. Brutal honesty. My friend LuLu hit me up to their stance on the record industry and no punches are pulled. More after the jump…

J*Davey – Finer Things

J*Davey writes:

“lights out !” : an open letter to the record industry & the idiots who work for the fascist regime .
read this out loud !

this
is intended for all of you lowly puppets who sit in your big offices in
big buildings that will soon be out of business & thus, forced to
hold vacant memories of an industry that once was . this is for all of
the big wigs in suits & ties who sit at the head of the conference
room table with creative opinions as empty as the “music” they force
down the throats of the now bored & uninspired creative consumers .
this is for all the idle assistants who only work hard enough to get
their names on the grammy party lists, or whose only existence remains
obsolete if he/she can’t get into the hot new band’s hollywood show
debut . this is for the borderline retarded a&r guy who should in
fact abandon his dreams of changing the failing record industry to
become a highly paid talent scout at a modeling agency . this is
definitely for all the marketing low lives who fail to avidly push
great talent because the world’s fave reality slut randomly decided one
day while botoxing her armpits that she wants to be a rockstar .

yes .
this open letter is for all of you .
come feast your eyes upon the truth behind your insolence for 5 minutes , if you even have your job for that much longer.

your
blatant lack of respect & worship for the oldest & dearest
artform has brought a once thriving & artistic industry to a
grinding halt . your willingness to believe that the world wide web has
killed the consumers’ thirst for new & exciting talent is wildly
ignorant & safe . you would like to feed into this stupidity
because you are too lazy to stand behind substance ; you’d rather take
the low & easy road than take the time to nurture true talent .
you’d rather tirelessly feed us the same carbon copied , lip synching ,
sex dripping , faux punk “i got my entire outfit from hot topic” rocker
, buffoonishly ghetto “are they even speaking english?” hip hop , “same
old same” sound from song to song type image & force us to believe
that this is all the world’s artists have to offer . you’d rather watch
your company stocks & yearly record sales severely plummet than
take strong initiative to fix the current problem . you’d rather see
hundreds of employees laid off & out of work during the holidays
because you’re too afraid to stand up for something new & different
. you’re content with creating a 1-hit wonder society , where any idiot
with anything shockingly catchy can enjoy a sorry 15 minutes of fame
& a future segment on vh1′s “biggest 1-hit wonders of 08″
extravaganza .

where is the new generation of legends ?

beyonce
& alicia keys are old shoe ins . r kelly , sure , but his personal
dramas easily overshadow his genius . radiohead & outkast comes to
mind , & then i draw a big blank .

the latest thrill in
music has been an over abundance of great dancers with mediocre voices
, albums , singles , concert ticket sales , etc . thank god the
internet allows every joe blow in the universe a free forum to
overexpose every little thing , especially mediocre celebrities . thank
god for online music forums , such as myspace . artists are able to
directly connect with the people & expose themselves & their
art to everyone everywhere at the click of a button . myspace proves
that music can no longer fit into a box . long gone are the days of
urban vs pop vs alternative radio . gwen stefani had hit songs for
years on the pop & alt charts , but she records a song written by
pharrell & she’s instantly on top of the urban charts as well .
this new r&b dance pop music crosses over to white kids & that
kelly clarkson “since you’ve been gone” song was smeared across the
lips of many a young black girl last year . m i a is all over the indie
alternative stations , & lets not even get started on gnarls
barkeley .

all signs point to the obvious : true music consumers
right now are a ) young , & b) smart . young kids are able to point
& click their way to every new trend . they arguably have short
attention spans & they want to be in on what’s cool &
personable to them . when madonna emerged in the ’80s you had tons of
girls around the world imitating her every move & style down to the
mole . kurt cobain turned grunge commercial when he was exposed to
millions of kids who felt like society’s outsiders looking in . hip-hop
has been a huge influence on mainstream culture since the early ’80s
because of it’s relativity . kids have not changed . young people are
not mindless robots who like what you tell them to like with no
opinions . the youth are always looking to be enthralled .

they
want to be entertained . they want to feel as though they are a part of
something that will be written about , studied , & revered 20 years
later . they , like all of us old & young alike , want to be
inspired . when i was a kid i saw prince prance around on stage &
dazzle people with his art & i felt inspired to do the same thing .
why are you music industry idiots attempting to tell us that we don’t
want to be touched ? why are you trying to rob us of new musical
experiences ? will there ever be another motown 25 / michael jackson
moonwalk experience ? will we never again hear a single like queen’s
“bohemian rhapsody” on the radio because the hook isn’t catchy enough ?
will we never see another band like the talking heads & joy
division or parliament ? will there never be another artist to rival
frank zappa ? will we be forced to hear different versions of the same
dumb song on every single radio station every 5 minutes simply because
the record label had enough money to pay off the station manager ? are
we still supposed to care about mtv when there are hardly any videos in
rotation ? do i even need to mention b e t or v h 1 ? are any of the
classic record industry outlets working these days ? as of late it
seems that artists are independently breaking ground with their own
efforts . songs are being licensed for national commercials from
artists’ myspace pages & personal websites . ellen degeneres has
been known to book musical guests from videos seen on youtube , &
as i aforementioned , gnarls barkeley not only created a new genre ,
but they also won grammy awards for an album that was recorded in home
studios & released through an indie label .

why should
artists even seek major label deals ? they are completely outdated
& obsolete . artists are sold the dream that talent can secure
superstardom , but it becomes evident that labels only sign bands
nowdays because of the band’s existing fanbase & record sales , or
because they dig the artist’s look & want to cash in . they don’t
want to develop the art . they don’t want the artist to express
his/herself entirely . they just want the artist to comply with what
will get the company a big monetary return . they sign you for millions
, pimp you for pennies , then drop you a year later when the music they
made you record & release is no longer relevant . you’re left on
the streets unsigned & irrelevant & ready to infect the world
with the music you’ve always wanted to make , but no one will take a
chance on you due to your previous material . meanwhile , the label has
already put white out over your signature on the slave deal &
replaced it with a younger version of you . cold game , ain’t it ?

the
age old model is failing . as an industry based on faithful consumers
you have lost your connection with the people who matter most : the
PEOPLE . you have yet to show them that you are with the changing times
& able to adapt to something new . you are proving that you are too
afraid to promote good music . you would rather let the monotonous
drone of what is today’s music remain unbalanced by substance . you
would rather watch more legendary artists abandon you for direct deals
with itunes & touring companies . you would rather allow the
internet to defeat what should be your life’s work . maybe you should
excuse yourself from the next a&r meeting to go take a look in the
bathroom mirror . stand there & ask yourself why you took this job
, & when you realize it’s simply because you wanted to be cool
& “in the mix” then return to the conference room , take that gun
out of your pocket , & shoot yourself in the head in front of your
coworkers so that you are made an example of . if you can in fact leave
that conference room & look in the bathroom mirror with pride &
hunger to break the monotony then head back into that conference room ,
jump on top of the table & read this manifesto .

this is a challenge .
we’re calling your bluff .
record
labels are nothing but banks that give artists hi price loans in
exchange for artistic control . put your money where your cocks are .
go out on a limb & support real music for a change . find the line
where the internet & the real world meet & infect more people
with something magical . start building more legends . it’s almost too
late . interscope is dead . def jam is next . motown who ? mca what ?
warner , you’re not too far behind . the war sirens are ringing &
you’re content with playing deaf & dumb .
we’re calling your bluff !
we’re here to reprogram how you & the rest of the world listen to music .
we can do this together , or you can stick to your own devices & peril in the process .
we are the people . we are the future . we are the present .
who are you ?

*******************************************************************

copy
this , paste this , & repost it wherever you see fit . email it to
those who you believe can benefit from somethin like this . this is
from the heart in jerry maguire “who’s comin with me?” fashion . lets
open our eyes , our ears , & our hearts . lets stop standin for the
bullshit & start demandin these idiots to take charge & make
change . substance has the right to be heard . support real shit &
start takin it to the streets !

c’mon people .
it’s 2008 . diddy killed music in 94 . it’s time for some better shit .

pass it on . . .