Whenever television gets too repetitive and lack luster for my taste, I navigate the realm of Comcast On Demand to remind myself why television is a useful invention. In plainer words, I search for content that can stimulate and renew my mind as I consider thoughts that I have never entertained before. This is why I usually watch documentaries. After I searched through the VH1 heading, I found an interesting subheading titled "Unsung." After I tuned into the show's introduction, I knew that this would be the right show for me as the words "uncompromised, unparalleled and unrecognized" unraveled from an authoritative voice.
Today I am going to reveal what I learned from the profiles of Al B. Sure! and Rick James. After watching the VH1 series "Unsung," I could not help wondering why there isn't the equivalent of a Hall of Fame for these black artists to be inducted into. Maybe the lead singer of Whodini was right when he said that the black community does not recognize their artists enough. After black artists are no longer trendy, they fade into derision. These are two artists that I gained a newfound respect for after watching their two different episodes.
1. Rick James
Okay, when I watched that infamous award show in which Rick James says, "I'm Rick James bitch" at the 2004 BET awards, I wrote off that mysterious figure in black sunglasses as another old washed up kook. I was not interested to find out who he was after someone in the audience rudely questioned his presence. However, after I watched VH1's "Unsung," I learned how complex and wordly Rick James was. Rick James mattered in the world and empowered women to show off their sexuality, as evident in his song "Super Freak". He traveled the world and sported his braids to acknowledge his African ancestry. He treated the members of his Stone City band to lunch and lived with them because he internalized the hippie philosophy of living as a family. Overall, he was attracted to the Hippie movement because it reflected his free spirit. Moreover, he openly embraced cultures which added to his universal and cross-cultural appeal .He was also embedded into the rock world because he was friends with Neil Young. Altogether, his music was a fusion of funk, rock and psychedelics-- the results of his broad cultural influences.
One of the most interesting things that I learned is that Rick James purposely adopted the accent of a Caucasian man in his song "Super Freak" to add a sense of a parody to the song. He obviously knew his audience and wanted to play with their minds. Maybe the drunk sounding shriek of his voice was just added for effect . I began to respect this man for his artistry. He was, as one of the guests on the episode said, "the freest black man."
Check out this free black man's response to a doubter at the 2004 BET Awards below:
2. Al B. Sure!
The first time I saw an Al B. Sure! video, it was during one of those late night video specials in which sexually themed videos are played. I was not impressed. I wondered why this caramel colored man was making an overly dramatic snarl at the camera. Furthermore, I found Al B. Sure!'s stocky build, denim suit and curly hair were to be equally cheesy. I did not appreciate his theatrics--I thought he was trying too hard to be sexy to attract desperate female viewers. However, after I watched this profile, I respected his artistry after I learned that he was one of the major players of the up-tempo New Jack swing era of music-- an era that was defined by hip hop beats and lyrics that were incorporated into jazzy R&B music.
Despite the prominent historical period in music that he is known for, Sure also wrote timeless and emotionally complex ballads. For example, he wrote a song entitled "Off on Your Own Girl" in which he encourages a former high school crush to move on with her life after he witnessed her kissing another girl in his high school hallway. Talk about a deep and mature way of handling a tough situation!
In addition to the notion that Al B. Sure! was a sensual song writer who wrote songs for artists like Whitney Houston, he was one of the major pushers of a late eighties style that was characterized by black church shoes paired with a light denim jacket over a tee shirt with light wash jeans. Al B. Sure! was innovative when it came to branding himself as an artist.
Check out this video below of the New Jack Swing sound that Al. B. Sure! helped to popularize:
In all, "Unsung" illuminates why these artists should be famous and why they should be considered special. Even though they had short lived fame due to respective drug and sex scandals and the ever-changing landscape of music, these artists stood out from the rest of the pack and deserve to be honored.
