Slang Editorial: Immediate thoughts upon learning of the passing of Whitney Houston...

[b-gyrl]

I'm not known for biting my tongue, actually I'm known for shooting off the cuff, writing with pure raw emotion about whatever I'm feeling, the written version of wearing my emotions on my sleeve and hearing the news of the tragic and unexpected death of Whitney Houston seemed to make it so even more as evidence by this 2 day social networking tirade that could possibly stretch to 3.

I was already reeling when I heard the news of Whitney's death, I can remember watching CNN waiting for Clive Davis to make a statement, growing more angry by the moment as I waited and waited and waited, then posted the following when it became apparent he wasn't going to...

CNN is still waiting for Clive to make a statement. Granted he has some serious decisions to make , but this is Whitney FUKIN Houston. Cancel the party and make a statement.

Then even more so the next morning when I found out not only did he not release a statement, he continued the party...

Regardless of the spin they try to put on this, "the show must go on" bullshit, this was the most disrespectful shit I've ever seen, fuck the industry... Whitney deserved better.

People only see one side of the industry... a finished product or the polished version of their favorite entertainer... they have no idea about the smoke and mirrors, the manipulation or how the industry consumes people and spits them out. Open your eyes people, if fame and fortune was what it's cracked up to be why do you think so many celebs battle addiction problems?

Look at the record number of celebs we have dying, going to jail or going in and out of rehab. Look, no really ---> LOOK!!! Nothing is being done, this shit isn't even being acknowledged other than telling the masses the show must go on.

Michael and Whitney brought joy into millions of people's lives. At one point they were on top of the world: sold hundreds of millions of albums and made companies billions of dollars.... all while battling addiction. Look at what happened once the music stopped: the media ripped them to shreds (until they died), they get a bs memorial, the industry moves on and people profit off their legacy.

............. and they want us to believe people like Lauryn Hill and Dave Chapelle are crazy for walking away.

What irks me the most on this 12th day of Black History Month is knowing how hard we fought to get into the industry... then looking at what cost: We're stereotyped. How many talented lives have been lost or destroyed? How many fell victim to addiction? How many were swindled out of their works? How many are broke? Fell victim to crime??? Were discarded??? Dang near every black entertainer/creator story ends the same way. This couldn't be what those who came before me were fighting for.

That was yesterday. At that time I really felt I got everything out of my system until... I read not even 24 hours after Whitney's passing "Sony to set plans for Whitney Houston catalog",to which my reply was the following quote from the article:

Unlike Michael Jackson, who controlled much of his music, Houston did not enjoy a very large share of the revenues from her work. Sony's Legacy Records owns the catalog of her albums, and pays Houston, or her estate, royalties for her singing. Houston did not write her hit songs, and doesn't share in the revenues for publishing rights.

And then got into a back and forth with Prettyboy Orlando who tried to soothe me and address my concerns.

Which he did somewhat, until I read....

Sony Music under fire after cost of greatest hits set on iTunes ris...

Was I surpised? No. The one one thing that ultimately calmed my nerves was an article about Chaka Kahn cancelling her Whitney Houston performance on the Grammys.

"As I grieve the loss of my friend and 'little sister,' I don't feel it appropriate to perform at this time," the singer tweeted. "Continue to pray for the family" <---- Chaka felt awkward about "a memorial performance the day after Houston’s death".

Finally somebody got it...

b-

Slang Editorial
"I'm outspoken, my language is broken into a slang,
but that's just a dialect that I select when I hang"
- Special Ed, I got It Made

[b-gyrl]

My stat from yesterday...

Something's not right about Whitney's death... too many conflicting reports and inconsistencies: What media sources are reporting as the cause of death is very different from initial reports. The narrative is very predictable and the timeline couldn't be more salacious if someone planned it... What sticks out to me the most is Clive Davis continuing his pre-Grammy party (while Whitney's dead body was four floors up) instead of helping the police, Sony upping the price of her music less that 24 hours after her death and the fact that there is already a new resident in Room 434. The show definitely went on. #justice4whitney

That's the most recent, I've been goin in since I heard the news.

[b-gyrl]

SMH. Unbelievable.

I agree with you both... what pains me is how people are so quick to write Whitney's death off so quickly. Ummmm HELLO!? We've seen this play out before..... time and time and time again. All artists should be concerned about an industry that sees more value in you dead than alive.

[Ruk Ahs]

Her death seemed so planned starting from the February 9th. The elements dat lead up to her death is Waaaaay too suspicious. NO INVESTIGATION??? BullS*it...Are we this naive to believe that that Satanic Industry datz loosing billions of dollars wouldnt take Whitney,MJ,Sam Cooke,Tupac,Bob Marley and countless others ???? We need to take a look at who REALLY will profit off their death and REALLY take a look at prescription drugs and the doctor thats working with this sick industry. What does this really say bout the state of the BLACK ARTIST in the music industry??? FED UP! All artist should be concerned out their own life. Especially Living Legends

[the one woman apollo!]

i have so much to say on this, and more... i wrote about it, and plan to write some more. i've been crying. her transcendence pains me almost as much as michael's transcendence.

i'll say this though, in response to what you had to say- like quincy jones, like david geffen, like berry gordy, like sumner redstone- clive davis is a pimp. if you in any way critique those folks, you are faced with an angry mob of defenders. they care about the outcome of how many dollars their businesses receive, not the health of their 'employees'.

people like michael, sister whitney, and even mariah carey, marvin gaye and mike tyson are very sensitive people. they got used up by svengalis and corporate heads. michael DID survive the bulk of the control, but then they entrapped him. they knew his weaknesses and used it against him. people like berry gordy didn't appear concerned about the well-being of people like mary wells, florence ballard, tammi terrell, marvin gaye, the jackson 5... he saw them all as lucrative; so as long as they didn't mess with his money the abuse could continue. and of course, some of the folks who were abused ended up abusing.

another issue we can discuss is the lack of health care available for many people in this country, even artists. sister whitney most likely was able to afford proper health care; but addiction counselling is much different than a regular check-up. as long as she shows up on time and isn't wasting money, she can do whatever she wants. because she doesn't really own the rights to her music, if she croaks it's not too much of a hassle for sony, since they own everything.

it would be interesting to see what gil scott-heron thinks about all of this... is he shaking his head from the spirit world? remember, he was the first artist signed to arista; he and brian jackson, with the midnight band. davis let them go, because they weren't 'commercial enough' i guess. davis also gave phyllis hyman the shaft, because she didn't want to 'go pop'. angela bofill was there too. davis put all of his energy into creating a whitney houston. however, whitney proved that she wasn't a mere robot. she put a lot of herself into what she did. so davis saw that as a winning formula, and left it alone.

they took advantage of her, like they took advantage of michael. when i learned of her transcendence, this is the first thing i thought of:

"there are some extremely gifted and talented young women and young men out there, who don’t have to really put on halloween costumes. just be themselves… a little extravagance, a little flair, a little sexiness or sultriness is cool. but some of them are very dark. and days when we are going through so much… tragedies and earthquakes and things of… disasters and new orleans and the whole thing; it’s time to, i believe, to sing about love and what has been here since the beginning of time. and that’s been love."

i think she knew she would leave soon... i think her mother knew as well. the joy she brought to people will never be replaced. she really was full of joy, and she brought that out in her art. the industry doesn't honour that side of her, and they don't want that presented in other artists.

in terms of michael controlling his art- that is ALMOST the case... his mijac publishing was administered by warner tamerlane. when WMG ended up being sold, it got reverted back to sony/AEG, as per the contract. when michael made a deal to end his contract with sony, part of the deal was that he would not get the full masters to his music reverted back to him until he fulfilled the contract- which was two full albums, and NOT all the greatest hits packages. of course, john branca, john mc clain and howard weitzman decided to keep michael indebted to sony by keeping him on as a sony artist until 2017. which means, it's sony/ATV which holds the rights, and not just the estate.

sony is