The Musings of Leon Mayne

Big shout out to my friend Ronke of Musings of Ondo Lady for featuring me in her weekly "My Space" blog. I'll be attending her London blogger's meet up with some of the Pbleepd team so I'll post a little something on it. In the meantime check out My Space - Leon Mayne (the name's been baited now)

Hip Hop? No R&B is Dead

Had to bring this 2008 article I wrote back because certain people are mistaking certain tracks for R&B, Enjoy the read...

For as long as I can remember, the pervasive influence of music has been sustained through it’s uncanny ability to relate to human emotion as well as diversify it’s sound to please the masses. One genre in particular that represented such claims was R’n’B which up until present has been able to re-invent itself time and time again providing music for the mind and soul.

From the late 80’s onwards R’n’B was established and divided into different forms of eclectic and soulful sounds including Soul, New Jack Swing and Neo-Soul. These sub genres were the basis of the urban scene and introduced an array of amazing solo, duo and group singers. Whereas a large majority enjoyed R’n’B, the minimum record sales from capable artists in the 90’s meant that recognition was minimal amongst and against the influx of Rock, Country and Pop album sales.

Corporate strategy was therefore introduced by music labels in which they would produce R’n’B superstars; controlling their image and distribution of a certain type of R’n’B I like to call Urban pop. This would allow music sales to rise and is now seen as the forefront of contemporary R’n’B. Although this fills the pockets of CEOs, executives and artists alike, the strategy has somewhat stifled the identity that was and should be R’n’B. We are now accustomed to hearing artists sing popular songs rather than the rhythmic sounds of true R’n’B.

What is R’n’B?

Rhythm and Blues is the definition and representation of this sound often blending funk, dance and/or soul. There is a certain “limited but just right” level of exuberance shown in R’n’B music which makes it enjoyable to listen to as a genre. The combination of Poetry, Feeling, Flow and soul of the artist (hence where the sub genre “soul” came from) enabled listeners to have an emotional attachment to the content and meaning of an R’n’B song. However it seems in this era that these components of R’n’B have disappeared and the overall essence of the genre has left. The content is still the same, with the words portraying soulful stories however the substance has gone….Blues with no Rhythm.

One of the major reasons for this decline is the lack of true Rhythm and Blues artists in both the UK and the US. The 90’s (and partly noughties) had an abundance of talent filling our Discmans and stereos with R’n’B music.


Do you remember…

UK: Lynden David Hall, Beverley Knight, Omar, Eternal, Floetry, Terri Walker
US: Blackstreet, Jodeci, H-Town, Shai, Boyz II Men, SWV, Keith Sweat, 702, TLC, Brownstone, Montell Jordan, Next, Monica, Tamia, Lauryn Hill (etc etc etc)

UK have tried to bring in R’n’B influenced artists but their time has been short lived leaving it an almost non-existent genre in the UK. This wont surprise many as there has never been a sole year where a flood of UK R’n’B artists are on the scene at once even though there have been a number of them spread over the years. What makes the US list interesting is the number of groups involved in the generation of soul and swing. Today’s industry shows a decrease in melodic groups representing the genre. The solo artists are scattered around in different sub genre’s however the so called forefront of R’n’B has artists involved in Urban Pop and judging by the success it may be this way forever.

Contemporary R’n’B is dominated by the likes of Chris Brown, Ne-Yo, Rihanna, T-Pain and Akon. All are talented, creative and entertaining artists, but they have been moulded by their labels into Urban Pop Figures. This wades well to the popularity of R’n’B but doesn’t truly represent the genre’s art form. Some may argue the case, as all of the named artists have produced songs that rival or emulate the sound of the 90’s; however the difference between the sound of today and the 90’s is that at least 90% of songs on an album in the soul/swing period had production representing R’n’B whereas today’s albums have at least 30-40% (often much more) urban pop tunes (club bangers). The search for sales rather than sound has reached even the legends in R’n’B with the King, Queen, Prince and Princess (R.Kelly, Mary J Blige, Usher and Beyonce) of the genre having to accommodate their styles and sounds to the up-tempo expectations of their labels and ultimately fans of popular music.

R’n’B artists such as Bobby Valentino are dropped by their labels due to record sales. This is no coincidence as Bobby V is known for producing tracks with more soul orientated content and flow. It seems as though the more records an R’n’B artist sells; the less soulful influence is involved.
LOWER RECORD SALES: NEO SOUL/SOUL - Musiq, India Arie, Dwele, Jill Scott, Anthony Hamilton, Erykah Badu
R&B - Trey Songz, Brian Mcknight, Donell Jones, Tank, Tyrese, Faith Evans

HIGHER RECORD SALES: URBAN POP - Chris Brown, Ne-Yo, Rihanna, Akon, T-Pain, Ciara

With the gap between Urban Pop and R’n’B record sales increasing it seems more and more likely that the genre as we know it will never be the same again. Could we be heading into a change of name for the genre? Is R’n’B dead? Well put it this way, if it isn’t dead it’s gone beyond a life support machine and is on its very last breath.

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OFFICIAL VIDEO: Maxwell - Bad Habits

Probably my favourite track off the Black Summers Night album. Enjoy!

Quote Of The Month

"The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good" - Ann Landers

Is A Title Needed?

It's been relatively long since I've been taken aback by someone's theory that wasn't on the same wavelength as mine. Lo and behold it wasn't a new found discovery or an epiphany, just an examination of current affairs. It started off with a question..

The Theorist: Do you see yourself getting married?
Broadband: Yeah
The Theorist: Hmmm
Broadband: Hmmm ok or Hmmm I dont believe you?
The Theorist: Just Hmmm
Broadband: Yeah good luck with that. How about you?
The Theorist: No!
Broadband: Why?

"Marriage is merely a glamorous ceremony followed by a generic contract, I dont need it to consumate or define the bond between me and my partner" - The Theorist

Followed by three abrupt and interchanging diagonal finger clicks she sat down proud of herself. I laughed for a few minutes but she made a valid point. Indeed it's the opinion of more than one of my friends that marriage is not an option; whereas some have yet to experience love and could possibly be deemed naive to pass judgement, there are those that have been there and made their reasons justifiable. Thirty minutes after The Theorist sprung her analogy it got me thinking.

Is Marriage a manufactured tradition made for social structure?

It's arguable yet intriguing that we are more or less geared and guided towards one direction in life. Although our journeys are different and some refuse to follow the concepts, it's still the majority that view this direction as the path of happiness and contentment. And that is:

Academia --> Job --> Relationship --> Marriage --> Family

The path is almost a birthright that most feel fine with but can appear like a forced structure built by societies' standards. There are no rules that say you have to follow this tradition and the rebels in alot of us dont but this seems like the general jist of life's journey and Marriage is fittingly the breaker of the middle ground between one side of contenment/happiness and the other.

Does love need a title via contract? Are relationships bound by wedlock? Or is The Theorist seeing past the initial or overall values of marriage and even religion?
If it is indeed part of the system then kudos to the inventor because this is one artificial battery thats gonna forever be caught up in the matrix.

What do you think?

"Love: a temporary insanity, curable by marriage"

WQST Radio Presents Melanie Fiona Meets The Illadeplphonics

Questlove & Melanie Fiona

What do you get when you mix one of the greatest drummers and musically educated minds with one of the best and sexiest modern voices of my time???....A mixtape. Im looking forward to hearing what these two have to offer on "The Bridge". I just downloaded it via Melanie Fiona's twitter. Im expecting good results after seeing this video. Click on the link below to download the mixtape.

DOWNLOAD HERE

"A painter paints a picture on a canvas but a musician paints their picture on silence"

"I Just Wanna Be, I Just Wanna Be Successful"

Thought I had an idea of what my house would look like until I saw this. Just when humility had taken over Im now back in the black hole of cliched ideologies. Success is a defying definition.

Ok let me paint the picture....

16,400 square feet, Eight bedrooms suites, Nine bathrooms, Six reception rooms, A cinema, Beauty salon. Gym with pool, Elevator service and underground parking.

... Cue this amazing London home designed by Anil and Marisa Varma.

I've seen a few mansions in London but nothing quite like this, give me a couple years.

"The home is the bottom line of life, the anvil upon which attitudes and convictions are hammered. It is the single most influential force in our earthly existence. No price tag can adequately reflect uts value. No gauge can measure its unltimate influence for good or ill. It is at home, among family members that we come to terms with circumstances. It is here life makes up its mind."

Quote Of The Month

"Don't bother to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself" - William Faulkner

Spreading The Love

I've got a lot of scriptwork to master today plus an impromptu birthday event to plan for tomorrow (Guess how old Im gonna be) so here's a few posts from some of my favourite blogs. .

Very Smart Brothers - I'm So Grown (Extended)

Christina Rants - I'm Back

Complex Simplicity - Friends 1: Etiquette & Friends 2: Rules of Engagement

It's Not The Way It Has To Go, Just What I Prefer - Girl I Don't Care About How Good You Look, Impress Me, Show Me A Pay Stub

"Blogs are whatever we make them, defining 'blog' is a fool's errand"

Hey!! Where did all the black sitcoms go?....Revisited

Last year at this exact same time I wrote an article about the decrease in black sitcoms (right here) and spoke about how they were hanging on to a thread with only The Game and Everybody Hates Chris as the portioned genre's sole representatives. A year on and as of today US & UK have NO black sitcoms left. Stateside, The CW Channel announced that The Game would not be renewed for a fourth season nor will Everybody Hates Chris for a fifth one leaving the country with only re-runs and the occasional reality shows. How did it get to this?



What happened to the plethora of writers/creators that made such great shows as Girlfriends, My Wife & Kids or One on One.....nothing. So why no shows? The networks will tell you lack of viewers which would be true in the result of any cancellation of any sitcom but it's a little bit deeper than that. I'm gonna try and steer clear from the racism route but you have to pay attention to how TV execs minds work when it comes to ethnic representation. In the US there are 5 networks that gather the most viewers of sitcoms...CBS, ABC, NBC, Fox and CW. The first four I would class as primary networks as people watch everything on those channels where as CW would be a secondary network. When shows such as the Fresh Prince were at their peak they were being shown in the primary networks, which solidified more viewers and a bigger fan base. Fast forward to now and all the "ethnic" related comedies are being put on secondary networks; CW is a great network but with it's programming only marketed towards a certain target group it will always fall short especially if airing sitcoms up against other sitcom competitors on other channels.


Hilarious sitcoms such as Two & a Half Men & Scrubs are given even more chances to flourish because they're on primary networks. Its time for TV execs to stop putting black sitcoms in a box and actually air them to a wide range of viewers. UK's situation is even worse with Trouble (the only channel that showed more than two black sitcoms, re-runs or not) being taken off Sky leaving us with ANTM all day. We haven't seen a UK sitcom in 6 years and that was The Crouches (nothing to be proud of). I cant help but think the failure of The Crouches has made TV networks in the UK cautious and unwilling to risk another one.

So is this the last we've seen of a black sitcom anywhere period?

Click on the seasons to see The Game - Season 2 | Season 3

"All television is educational television. The question is, what is it teaching?"

Gear Grinders (As Inspired By VSB & Greggie)

Since I didnt join the "25 things you dont know about me" hype I thought I'd follow in the footsteps of VSB and Greggie and might aswell let you know what pretty much annoys me or Grinds My Gears.


What Grinds My Gears, Part 1, Take 1, Marker....Action!

1. When people say "Life is short", come on now what exactly is longer? Life moves at a fast pace but it aint short. It aint short when you're waiting for your payslip and you're only in the first week of the month is it?..thats what I thought

2. Skinny Jeans on dudes...yeah that aint remotely cool, I dont wanna see the outline of a guy's crotch. I know that stuff must be cutting blood circulation everywhere below the waist

3. Bluetooth Headsets: I didnt know people still rocked these until last week when I saw a cool guy, doing a cool guy walk, in his cool guy clothes, wearing a cool guy hat and talking the cool guy talk. By cool I mean moron

4. Girls who dont eat, why? thats like part of the trinity of human lifestyle..you eat, you Number 2 and you sleep!

5. The Train person: There's always that one person on the train on your way to work who either smells, talks too loud, plays stupid ass music on their phone or coughs and sneezes outward...no mouth/tissue cover up or nothing....The Swine Flu extortionist

6. I cant stand girls who whore themselves in the entertainment circuit. We all want success but earn it respectfully and with hard work, if you havent got the talent go on Big Brother

7. When girls say they'll pay as a test!! Why do that? Get a guy all curious until he says "no Im paying" and she's like "good"......Say you'll pay for me again and see what happens; I'll have your wallet crying

8. People that talk the talk but neeeever walk the walk this ranges from those "2000 and mine" peeps to people like Arsene Wenger and Ricky Hatton

9. Over-Twitterers: This doesn't refer to people who put up alot of twitter updates, it refers to people who put up alot of twitter updates about random crap. "just woke up, morning twitterers" "just put butter on my bread because I like butter" "my bread tasted good, because of the butter I like" "Have you ever wondered why butter is yellow?".........KILL YOURSELF!

10. Summers coming so expect muscle bound dudes with really tight tops. Listen we all like to look big but for the love of eyes please recognise that size "small" is for small people

11. Middle-aged people in clubs is not working for me Im sorry. I understand that they like to feel young and enjoy the music but I dont think Im ready to share a floor with one of Jesus' classmates

12. I dont like people with bad breath and they dont know it. Im a really nice person and used to hint at whether someone wanted a chewing gum but sometimes you just gotta throw it in their mouth, works wonders

13. Polo shirts should never be worn with the collar up! I've noticed that it's a common style...it's also poorthetic.

14. The stanky leg, I do not endorse this dance move in any way. It is ridiculous, where do they get this stuff from seriously!?

15. Dry Music Video concepts are beginning to annoy me. Alot of work goes into making a video but you wouldnt guess from some of the stuff on TV. Directors need to be more creative or innovative. If not how about this for a crazy idea, follow the story the song depicts!

16. White cars: There's nothing wrong with these actually, my friend's gotta nice white car. But lets be honest if you're gonna be driving a white car on a regular basis it aint gonna stay crispy clean very long. Why buy it?

17. Follow Fashion is slyly annoying especially when it's pandemic fashion. Ed Hardy and Lyle & Scott must die

18. Im in a train station making my way home, I hear echoes of great music wave across the tiled walls, as I get to the escalator I see a man playing an instrument for money. I hold change in my hand look at him but carry on walking, why? because homeless people aren't meant to have such instruments and be well dressed and this dude is. Nonsense!

19. If I havent offered you my food, that means I dont want you to have ANY of my food. "Can I have some fo...NO!

20. UK Television. Has anyone in the history of life stared at a car for 5 seconds knowing it's going to knock them over even though they have time to move out the way? Yes...in Eastenders

"What annoyances are more painful than those of which we cannot complain?"