The Dark Side of Music

Once upon a time, I used to think that a career in music was premised on talent. Actually, it used to be back in the early days, but the trajectory changed along the way. With the glitz and glamour associated with success in the field, everybody wanted to sing. Of course, how do you explain the proliferation of countless music shows and competitions across the world? The powers that control the industry figured that many were impressionable and gullible. They knew that many thought that all that actually glittered was gold. So the trap was set through the organisation of a myriad of talent shows with promises of fortune and fame that were never attained by many.

Many came to the awareness that there was a price to be paid which went unspoken. For the desperate, traumatization awaited them on the other side of fame. The money and recognition was accompanied by pain, trauma and addiction. This pattern kept inquisitive minds like mine wondering why anyone would be successful and unhappy. Didn’t they say that money and fame were the gateway to happiness? Why did they all end up as drug addicts, amidst the fame and fortune?

The first time I came to the consciousness that the music industry is a hell-hole and den of filthiness was in the early 2000s. At the time, I was a final year Bachelor’s student. I remember vividly the year of Alicia Keys and India Arie at the Grammys. Both had received multiple nominations. Arie got a whooping seven. But to the shock of many, including yours truly, she went home with a zero win. That was the year, it dawned on me that the music industry was unconcerned about recognizing talented musicians, and that it was all a political game. That was the final Grammys Show, I would ever watch. I realised that the music industry was just a factory of lies and propaganda.

Consequently, I lost interest in music and all its reward systems like the Grammys at the beginning of the millenium. I decided that I was going to dedicate my love to the “music oldies”. In essence, the music made in the past twenty four years in music has not really piqued my interest. I have refused to upgrade and discover anything new. Okay, I lied! Lucky Daye is amazing. Who else?……..

The 2000s witnessed inorganic transitions in the industry. Aaliyah died tragically. Left Eye died in a fatal car crash. Michael Jackson passed mysteriously. Whitney died in a bathtub, although reportedly, she never bathed in tubs. Prince died in the elevator. Strange occurences occured in the 2000s. Meanwhile, music degenerated and lost meaning. Music became immemorable. Consumer satisfaction and overall value were replaced by making a quick buck.

The 2000s was the era of Beyonce Knowles. I have never been a fan, although I did love and appreciate Destiny’s Child, and own their debut and sophomore albums. Following the dissolution of the group and the mistreatment of some group members by Knowles’ father, her solo career became uninteresting to me, due to her disrespectful public utterances about her co-group members. It saddened me to hear that while Beyonce was driving a Jaguar, others could not pay their phone bills.

Coincidentally, it was in the era of Beyonce Knowles that many female singers were disenfranchised and rendered invisible. An unseen hand ensured that no other female was honoured and exalted like Beyonce. It seemed like the sky had become too small for other birds to fly. Blu Cantrell vanished. Mya disappeared. Aaliyah was killed. Amerie’s career ended abruptly. Rihanna was there for a short while. Alicia Keys had Clive Davis to thank for her survival. The list of women singers who were suppressed just so Ms Knowles only could shine is pretty long. Apparently, competition had become criminal and monopoly was the name of the game.

In view of recent revelations in the music industry following the leak of a video which shows P Diddy’s physical abuse of Cassie Ventura, one hopes that all the messiness entrenched within the industry would be exposed and sanitized. It might very well be the demise of Hollywood, but we shall surely see, won’t we?