Peace On That

Thought 1: From article on Money.CNN.com

Times have sure changed in the music industry. To think that an artist can sell 800,000 CD’s and the industry considers the album a disappointment. That is the case with Ashanti’s “Concrete Rose” CD. The Inc, formerly known as Murder Inc, is looking for a new partnership. Considering that Irv Gotti is up for money laundering, I don’t see a deal coming soon. But back to this record selling bit. And part of the challenge of getting a deal is that The Inc is not selling records on the scale they once were. JaRule’s latest release moved just over 600,000 units according to the article. So if going certified gold is not success, what are we to make of the great artists that strive to hit 500,000 units? Are we in an era now where a album release is only successful if it goes multi-platinum?

The byproduct of that philosophy is that record labels push a few artists and leave many talented artists out in the cold where audiences are force to stumble across them. We can blame radio too, but I’ll leave that for another day.

In 2002, Geopele released “Even Closer” but got absolutely no pub for it. That was the year that Indie Arie and Alicia Keys dominated the scene, but I would venture to guess that most people would find Geopele’s album superior to Alicia’s.


Thought 2: From article on MTV.com

So what’ up with Dave Chappelle? There are many rumors flying but I am taking bets that what Dave is says is the truth. I can’t imagine the pressure of having to live up to the expectations that were placed on him. Add the stress of creating a show and by Dave’s own words, he wanted to make sure he was dancing and not shuffling. That says a lot about the man. At times I felt Dave stepped over the line of good taste with respects to his racial jokes and by all accounts, I think it is something that he thought about as well. I’m sure if I’d walk away from $50 million, but I guess I could if it would cost me my soul. Dave is a genius and I wish the best for him. If he never does another Dave Chappelle show, so be it. The “Good Book” says: What will it profit a man if he gains the world but loses his soul?