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Thanks to great blessings and great people in my life, I made it on to National Public Radio’s program “All Things Considered”.

If you’ve never heard All Things Considered, I really advise it.  Listen to NPR at any rate because they have very informative news.  They also play some great music on there.   In LA it’s KCRW.   Please be sure to catch the homie Anthony Valadez on that station.  If you’re ever looking for something new and thought provoking, NPR’s got it.  That’s the kinda radio I’m talkin about! I’m also really happy that the lady said my name correctly

Anyway, today is national “Drake Album Release Day”.  Everyone has an opinion on him and the album.  As my good friend put it, Drake has been hailed by all and put up for the Coronation.

Here’s my review of the album on KCRW, that you can hear and download, or check it out here.  Transcript below…

Aubrey Drake Graham has been hailed as Hip Hop’s newest Golden Child.

YOU may know him as Jimmy Brooks, the basketball star from Degrassi High: The Next Generation — a popular Canadian teen drama.

Goodbye Jimmy hello DRAKE  — the actor turned rapper.

It usually works the other way, think Will Smith, Mos Def, 50 Cent — but, Drake’s a different breed of emcee.

He’s half Jewish, half Black and grew up in an upper-middle class Toronto neighborhood.

If you listen to top 40 radio, you most definitely heard his blow out hit last year  ”Best I Ever Had” — off the mixtape, So Far Gone.

So Far Gone was re-released as an EP and became the fifth best selling album of 2009, unheard of for a mixtape.

Drake instantly garnered a huge fan base and was signed to Lil Wayne’s label — Young Money Entertainment.

His debut album — Thank Me Later — has been highly anticipated by hip-hop heads world wide.

So when it was leaked on the internet a couple of weeks ago, there was a mad rush to download it.

The album starts with Fireworks featuring Alicia Keys, a bittersweet toast to Drake’s rapid climb to fame.

The whole album has a lot of dreamy melodies and electric synths and its down tempo pace keeps up until the 4th track, and current radio single, Over –

A bragadocious rap about living life without a care and makin’ money, with a few witty punch-lines to boot.

Drake rhymes with Jay Z on Light Up — the two address the stresses of the music industry, haters, and yes, the hard knock life of being famous…

And the album ends with Thank Me Now produced by Timbaland — Drake’s most insightful and lyrically consistent song.

He raps about his musical idols being rivals, the harsh reality that fame can go at any time, saying — “In case another chance never comes around, you can thank me now.”

Drake’s — Thank Me LATER –  is a simple Pop/Hip Hop album.

For an emcee who’s buzz was so powerful for the last year and a half — the overall product is… well — pretty weak.

Everything is redundant musically and lyrically.

Drake’s not a risk taker –  but at least he doesn’t pretend to be someone he’s not.

Drake raps about what he knows — the pressures of celebrity life — but not convincingly enough for us to feel him or feel FOR him.

Briana.

Aka Miss Jack Davey

Aka The front woman for J*Davey.

Aka That girl with the crazy haircut that people bit off of.

It was around ’06 when I heard her rap on Jay Love Japan on the track Red Light.  Right when she said “My name is Miss Jack Davey…” I was like “Hmm…what’s going on here?”.  She tore up the track like a sharp blade with smooth, deliberate slices.  I said “This girl got it.” (She doesn’t like that song by the way.)

Her voice in unlike anyone’s I’ve ever heard.  Her presence is seductive without being gratuitous.  She takes you in the zone.  That’s the mark of a true artist.  As soon as they have your attention, you belong to them until they say it’s over.

Soon after I heard the Red Light track I started hearing the name J*Davey in a few places.  I went on YouTube and found the video for Mr. Mister.  I asked my friend if they were signed to a label yet.

They said no.

I said “WHY NOT?!”

You can’t ask for anything else.  Unique voice.  Sex appeal.  Edge.  Great lyrics.  Unique production.  It’s all in the bag.  I went to their show at The Viper Room around ’07 or so and that confirmed it for me.  I’ve been a fan of J*Davey ever since.  Soon afterward someone must have wised up because they got signed to Warner Bros.

When she says in this interview that I heard their “finished” album “December of last year”,  she actually means December of 2008.  This was recorded around the end of 2009; but, from what I understand, the real end is very near!

Miss Jack Davey is a woman who is no stranger to the music industry.  She’s been doing this since she was 8 years old.   All of her endeavors show through her music and when she performs live.  Off stage she’s the homegirl from around the way.  She has the true spirit of an artist and the fiery Leo/lioness energy that the airwaves have been needing for some time.

Part 1

Where’s the album!?

Fans as critics/the new paradigm

Her story

BONUS- New FREE track for download…

My 28th birthday is in almost a week.  And what I’m finding as I get older is how much more I understand songs I heard when I was younger.  We all may have heard a parent or elder say “You’re not gonna understand this until you get older.” or we hear stuff “old people” listen to, or what they call ‘grown folks” music.  We think we understand everything until we find ourselves in the position of the character we saw in a movie, or what the singer said in a song.  Then we get it, and it means something even deeper to us.  I feel lucky to say that when I was younger I had the grown folks music I could hear and see on television, as well as my own generation’s voice.  And yes, the young drew from the old, but it was still something different.  And it was good.  You couldn’t tell me Aaliyah, Wu-Tang,  the Roots or anyone else of the time wasn’t good.  And if you thought so, then you just “didn’t get it.”  You were too old to get it.

Here we are in 2010, and I’m seeing more and more young people listening to the music I grew up on and admiring artists that are older than them by 20 years or more.  For teens to still tell me they love Tupac has to mean something.  Just last night I heard Eminem’s new album (yes, it leaked) and he was rhyming harder than anyone else out.  He’s now about 36 years old. Everyone refers to Jay-Z and his age.  He’s 40 now.  Him and Eminem aren’t that far apart in age.  Em looks a little younger that’s all.  But here we have Hip Hop, a music that was meant to be the voice of a young generation, being lead by artists who are all 30 and up.

When that whole beef between Soulja Boy and Ice-T occurred it became the sign to me of Hip Hop’s first clear generation gap.  Hip Hop has always had a changing of the guard of the younger, newer kid on the block taking the crown.  But this wasn’t even a question of battling for the title, it was an issue of what was Hip Hop and what wasn’t.  It was a paradigm shift.  Yes Soulja Boy was rapping, but it was sing-songy.  When most people heard it they thought it was joke.  No one actually rapped like that without making any sense or hardly pronouncing their words.  When Special Ed hit the scene in the 80s, he was only 16 years old but wasn’t nearly rhyming as simply as Soulja Boy was.

I’m kinda young, but my tongue speaks maturity/

I’m not a child, I don’t need nothing for security.

“Maturity” and “security” are more complex words than what has ever been in a Soulja Boy track.  But still, many young people ran to Soulja Boys corner to defend him and his music.  It wasn’t surprising, because he spoke to the younger generation.  He represented the young, free spirit that just wants to have fun, and doesn’t need to get extra complex lyrically.  Eventually though, as what happens to many young stars, his fans got older, and changed.  Some have stuck with him.  But in all, it was interesting to see the first generation gap within the genre.

Sean Combs is 40.  Russel Simmons is 52 and his brother Joseph, aka Rev Run, is 45.  While Run was still in his 40s he put out an album called Distortion, which was actually pretty good!  Krs-One is still rocking and he’s 45.  For some reason, we still have this idea that to be a rapper, you have to be young.  I saw this video the other day that made me feel a bit strange.  Havoc, 36, from Mobb Deep says basically those 30 and up should reconsider pursuing a rap career.

Well here’s the question…what difference would it make if a person was over 30 and came out?  This is really a marketing question.  Would it matter if the song is good?  It takes years, especially now through the clutter, to break through as an artist.  But who says it can’t happen?  In any case I’ve had a few people older than me who still love Hip Hop, but they feel left out because they are being told they have no place…even though they laid the foundation.

The quest to stay young is also happening in R&B.  The singers try to look younger and hipper. Using autotune.  Singing about being in the club even though they are married and have kids.  Sade recently dropped an album and she’s 51; but, she sounds great.  How is it that Susan Boyle was able to capture the world at 49 years old and have everyone rushing to buy her album?  She’s sold millions and is neither young or all that attractive.

There is a great essay written by Macy Gray where she details being a single mother, at the age of 40, and is basically unmarketable to most record labels.  She said that a record exec refused to sign her for her fifth album because she’s considered to be too old.  As she states,

With very few exceptions, the gatekeepers send these three messages:
1. The younger generation has little substance
2. The music needs of the older crowd don’t matter…
3. Once a female artist turns 40, she should go away – maybe learn how to knit.
The truth is that as a mother of three teenagers, I can tell you that the music industry drastically underestimates the souls of the young. And that there are over 40 million women, in the United States alone, in their 30s, 40s and beyond, that are starving to be musically inspired and lyrically represented.

Do we have a society that is systematically silencing older voices?  Does experience not count anymore?  There was lots of music I listened to based off the older songs that were sampled.  It gives a whole new respect.  I’m actually finding myself reaching further and further back for better entertainment than what is out today.  It’s also a shame to tell someone that the talent they were born with has an expiration date while they’re still alive.  And really I see this happening more in Hip Hop, R&B, and Pop music, not Jazz, Country, Rock, or many other genres.

Besides, a lot of these entertainers are lying about their age anyhow.   Bout time we keep it real.

Here’s a great video I found a while ago of some older folks doing music reviews.  They review T.I.’s (or as they say “Ties”) song WhateverYou Like.

As we round off this interview Brook gives more passionate insight into the love of his art.

I saw an amazing presentation on what makes great leaders.  As the person shortly put it,

“People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.”

There’s no question that when you buy a J*Davey album it’s not because you just want the music, but because you believe in their love for what they do and the passion behind the sounds and lyrics.  Any music can be good entertainment; but, the stuff that stirs your soul is what keeps the industry alive.  As Brook goes on to state, the music industry thinks they have found the formula and right way to present “reality” to the marketplace, when really, they have no clue.  Listen to him speak.

Part 3

-The Music Manifesto

-Dealing with record labels

-Shout-outs!

-Words of advice

Be sure to get in the know-

Brook’s blog- http://brookdleau.tumblr.com/

Twitter: @WeareJdavey

And!  www.jdaveybaby.com

BONUS- Brook answers the question- “What is J*Davey?”

P.S. Miss Jack, next week

Sometime earlier this year, I was at a bar with some friends.  I met a guy who’s an A&R for Justin Timberlake’s label.  We exchanged emails.  A few days later he sent me an invitation to a performance by one of the label’s artists, a singer by the name of Matt Morris.  I figured he was a brand new artist, just got signed.  Someone fresh on the roster making his rotations, and setting himself on the map.

About a week later, I was talking to the homegirl @Bellametaphor.  She asked me, “Have you heard of this guy Matt Morris?  He’s a singer on Justin Timberlake’s label…” and she sent a YouTube link to his videos.  I asked her how she heard of him?  She replied “Oh, I saw him on Ellen today.”

Then last week I see that both Ellen and Letterman have started their own record labels!

I started wondering: is TV the new radio?

We can trace this all through American Idol, America’s Got Talent, America’s Best Dance Crew.  All that.  I’ve looked at commercials on YouTube and see people ask “What song is that playing in the background? Where can I find it?”  It’s as if people are lookin at television for quality music.

A while ago when I did my R&B Stock posts, I talked about Janelle Monae, asking “Why hasn’t she made any television appearances?”  Well soon after that, within a week she was on just about every late night television program performing, including this knockout performance on Letterman.  Maybe this is how she got to be #17 on the Billboard charts with little other promo and just her fan base.  21,000 copies sold in a week.  Not bad at all for an indie artist.   I can’t tell if the numbers would have been higher if she had been performing on shows before the album dropped, but it could surely have sparked more discussions around the water coolers and school grounds for anticipation

“Yo did you see that girl Janelle Monae last night?  When is her album coming out!?  I want it!”

But still, why would anyone like Letterman, a man who’s been a staple of late night television for about 28 years, want to have a record label?  How is it that people like Jimmy Fallon are so regarded because of the music acts they choose to have on?  Are they better filters than radio?

There was a point where being on the radio meant that you were either the next hot thing that the label’s discovered, or that the American public was going to decide on what the next hot thing was going to be.  Of course labels got their tie in, pay for play and all that.  So now, we have a situation where just about every station plays what’s “hot”, which is really whatever the label gives them.  And whether the listener likes it or not, it will be in heavy rotation throughout the day, everyday.  This pretty much seems to be a national issue.  All my friends across the US have complained about hearing the same songs over and over.  And for every song that gets heavy rotation on radio, you see heavy music video rotation, and then the clubs play it ad-nauseam.  Within a month you can get sick of a song and you want something new again.

Well of course the public somewhat supports the cycle, partly because they don’t really know what their other options are, or don’t have the time or patience to go searching.  So what’s the next best filter?  Television.  You have American Idol where people can vote on the next star (which usually ends up being a dud after the show), and you have your late night television programs.  They almost have to be sure to get good performing acts because if the person is bad, then you end up switching the channel.  Now I’m sure there’s politics involved in being on television, but for an indie artist like Janelle Monae to break through and capture such a wide audience at once!?  That’s HUGE!  Imagine if some of the other great indie groups could work their way in like that?  But of course, Janelle does have the brand of Bad Boy backing her, so there’s no doubt that politics and credibility have to be established.  But who else is going to filter that?

Just a few weeks ago I was at the post office and saw Ellen’s face on a poster for stamps that donate to PeTA.  Then when I get home she’s on a huge billboard for VitaminWater.  She has a hit daytime show that may only rival Oprah.  Letterman really doesn’t do anything else besides his show, but he makes over $30 million a year.  How could either of them be successful in an industry that is losing sales every year!?

Well it’s pretty simple…they’re the few people that the American public trusts.  And even if the music industry isn’t doing well right now, their television shows are doing great.  They will hardly have to invest much to get a return.  And their hold of trust ensures that they will be more successful at selling music than a faceless record company.

Ellen is the new host on American Idol.  How much easier is it for her to filter in acts!?  And her first artist, Greyson Chance.  A 6th grader from Edmon, Oklahoma.  He can play piano.  He can sing.  He has stage presence.  He could pretty much trump Justin Bieber.  He already has nearly 25million views on YouTube.   That’s pretty much certified platinum the week of release.  He’s gonna hit the studio, appear on Ellen with new songs (hopefully they’ll be good), he’ll tour, do more shows, and sell out the gate.  He’s good.  I can’t be mad at that investment!

As for Letterman, he’s signed a Pop-Punk band called Runner Runner.  Basically it’s a boy band.  I see them doin well with teens, and probably overseas.  But with Letterman’s backing, I’m sure they will sell well also.  They sound pretty polished up.  Not my type, but I can easily see them on a lot of soundtracks, like the Twilight films.  If they have a few hits under their belt, they could be the next version of Maroon 5 of sorts…ohh well what do you know!  Here they are doin “She Will be Loved” by Maroon 5!

But let’s not fool ourselves too much here.  These labels aren’t completely the sole ventures of Ellen and Letterman, they are partnerships with big labels.  Ellen with Warner Bros, and Letterman with Capitol Records.  I wonder who approached whom first?  The hosts to start a new venture that they felt was an untapped resource, or the labels who knew they needed faces people trusted?

In any case, radio is on the brink of disaster.  The Internet and technology really has nothing to do with it.  It’s because they have failed at doin their job at securing the public’s trust and giving variety.  It’s easy to see that they only care about advertising and getting money.  Payola has been clearly exposed repeatedly to the point where the public now knows that being on the radio really doesn’t mean anything anymore.  As it is, television has become very redundant with reality shows. I only hope it doesn’t become the same cycle as radio, where every show runs the same music act to secure viewers.  I wouldn’t put it past them though.