Brian McKnight's "New" Song - Any Thoughts?

[juicefree20]

Was just thinking about the furor over Brian McKnight's relatively tame, but graphic snippet of his ''adult mixtape" song "Ready To Learn".

Personally, I've never been one against parodies such as this, especially once I discovered Blowfly at age 16 & spent the rest of that bi-centennial year absolutely destroying all kinds of songs with my own rewrites.

It would appear as though a lot of his fans don't share my sense of bawdy sense of humor & have let him know rather strongly, so much so that he removed it from his website. He says that he's going to release a full version of the song, but somehow, I rather doubt it.Perhaps the interview with Harvey & The TMZ crew wasn't such a great idea & for many I believe it gives off the scent that he only did it for publicity.

Though I know that many here won't share my viewpoint, the truth is that I'm no more upset with Brian, than I am with Gerald or Blue for making an x-rated version of "Kiss & Say Goodbye".

Either way, it'll be interesting to see how his fans embrace his next CD & I believe that he just may have lost a lot of them forever. especially the ones who liked his Gospel leanings.

[reese]

I wasn't offended by his song, but I didn't find it necessary for him to go there. Understand, I'm not a prude. I have Blowfly albums, as well as some by Doug Clark and the Hot Nuts, and many others. I even find Jackie Wilson and Lavern Baker's Version X of THINK TWICE funny. But for some reason, Brian's song struck me as too much, and I don't know why.

One of my best friends is a HUGE fan of his, and I was interested in her viewpoint. She was very dismayed by the song, thinking he was too talented to do this. But she said she is still going to support him.

[nysister]

If he did it for publicity, it worked...lol!

[juicefree20]

Reese:

I understand perfectly. He runs the risk of alienating a lot of his long-time fans & judging from most of the comments made by young ladies on youtube, he's certainly not making their heart go all a-flutter.

NYSister:

Yes it did. The only problem here is whether that publicity leads to positive vibes & a new audience, or scorn & ridicule coming from his core fans.

So far, it appears as though the publicity is leading to just about everyone clowning him on youtube, ESPECIALLY the younger folks who were quick to embrace Ron Isley' "Mr. Biggs" character.

Perhaps he should've gotten R. to hook him up with a storyline & a couple of videos intead of shooting the video while wearing his shorts, which according to a lot of the young ladies who weighed in about this, wasn't a good move. And I think that a video where a young lady asked to see all of these requests that he got to make a video like this was kinda funny. I don't know what's funnier, the actual song or the 20,000 parodies & comment videos which have been made in response to it.

Personally, I think that it's funny & I have no problem with it. But considering his known persona & image, perhaps this should've remained an inside joke.

[paladin]

Thanks Juice for the heads up, although it will alienate some folks, you just don't associate this descriptive terminology with Brian McKnight. Sure he could have used this terminology at a live stage show and gotten true response, in fact it would probably go over very well because of the unique situation. However most of us like our artists to sing metaphorically even though we know exactly what they are talking about. One of Marvin Gayes last records was Santified Pu***y remember ? And although we've been inundated with the song Sexual Healing to brain numbing effect, you never hear SP ! just saying......lol.....

[marv2]

I think Brian did a good job.

[juicefree20]

Paladin,

Anytime at all good brother.

I think that the problem for most of our specific generation isss exactly what you've said. Whereas we grew up with the ALLUSIONS of things to come, one of the biggest complaints of our generation about today's music is the "in-your-face'' nature of it & the "wham-bam, thank you maam'' mentality that seems to breed it.

No finesse, no velvet glove...just a sledgehammer, a few sticks of dynamite & visions of John Witherspoon yelling "BAMM!! BAMM!!! BAMM!!!" in some poor girl's ear.

I'm all for a good joke & am by no means a prude. With that said, I think that it takes a bit more creativity & is somewhat an art form to find words which say so much without giving too much away. And I remember when they posthumously released Sanctified err...LADY the year following Marvin's death. And while we thought that it had a funky beat & you could dance to it, a lot of us also thought that he must've been losing his mind if he was really planning to release it in its original form. I'm glad that that never came to pass because I believe that he certainly would've suffered severe backlash from a lot of his lady fans.

Even if there are women who [[to reference yet another song from his "Dream Of A Lifetime" lp) want a man who's "Savage In The Sack", they still want to hear sweet, tender words & feel as those they're being romanced & not just some piece of meat from the street or a pick-up from a bar due to Saturday night fever.

With that said, the song still sounds pretty smooth & if he had been able to set it up in a less disingenuous way [[I mean seriously...TMZ for cripes sake!!!), he might've been able to pull it off with much less backlash & maybe even a few giggles from those whom are upset about it.

But seriously, if he was going for the under 40 demogrphic, he's gotta know that most of the young ladies under 35 view us 50-somethings as "old", like around their father's age.

And most of them aren't even trying to think about their mom & dad going at it. From what I see them write about most men over the age of 40, there's a definite "yuk" factor involved with many of them, who seem to believe that sex is simply something that 50 year-olds have no business doing anymore.

I wonder how they're going to think about that when they reach 49 1/2?

Seriously, if I could sing & thought that I could've gotten away it without embarrassing my family, I'd have gone the Blowfly route YEARS ago, simply because I have that kind of sick sense of humor.

Which I guess makes the world all the more better! But I really wish that I could sing.

On the other hand, there's always Autotune, so maybe it's not too late for me.

I'll keep you posted

[uptight]

Remember when Wayne Brady appeared on The Dave Chappelle Show? I think he played a pimp or something. Done to show his versatility, it was out of character for him and done likely for the publicity at the same time. I think it was effective.

Even Jaleel White [[from Family Matters) had a comedy skit series on Hulu dot com where he played the exact opposite of his nerdy "Steve Irkel" character.

Brian McKnight is certainly versatile. If it is too controversial for women, the song and its video blog will go away quickly.

[paladin]

No finesse, no velvet glove...just a sledgehammer, a few sticks of dynamite & visions of John Witherspoon yelling "BAMM!! BAMM!!! BAMM!!!" in some poor girl's ear.

Yeah Juice, the imagery in that sentence is funny as hell.........

Its also funny that I remembered the MPG song as Sanctified P when in actuality it was Sanctified Lady........

Savage in the Sack was another perfect example......."Its getting bigger"....ahem.........

I am not prudish either .........but I've seen many an artist change words and infer some down right nasty things in person that could never be played on radio, but it made the concert and performance special....... it probably instigated the overused term grown folks music.

Our comments about perceived expectations is no more evident than buying a ticket to see Dick Gregory or Richard Pryor, you know what you're getting up front and that's exactly what you expect. We knew what we were getting with Blowfly and a lot of us loved it...........

I wonder how they're going to think about that when they reach 49 1/2?

I can hear them now Juice....

Man :.........c'mon baby put on one of them Lil Jeezy or Drake records and lets freak like we did back in the day ! They just don't make good music like this anymore.......Waaaaaaa, waaaaa, waaaaa...........yeah buddy !

Woman: baby not tonight can't we just listen to this new dude I heard, calls himself Marvin Gaye..............I mean my back hurts and I was hoping you could rub my feet and whisper sweet nothings in my ear............

Man : Marvin who ? You mean that old dude who was called the Love Man, we got any of that old folks music on the computer ? Maybe you right, my back is killing me and we need to take it slow........hey baby I got a new dude to hip you too as well, ever heard of Barry White ? No ? ....well come here baby.........

[stephanie]

Well Brian has to make money too.

[marv2]

I just heard the song. He just being filthy on purpose, kinda like Cee-Lo and the "F-U" song from last year. In the words of Aretha....."it's a cheap shot for publicity". I am not getting that old, but I do not see how this song does any positive for our young people today.

I am not being a hypocrite even if I did buy and party to Marvin Gayes "Sanctified Lady" back in the day......

Marv

[juicefree20]

Uptight,

I remember that skit & it was one of the funniest things I've seen. And indeed, it was surprising because due to his image, most people I know didn't think that Wayne had that in him. Personally, I'm not mad at him because I can easily imagine doing something equally outlandish just for a goof.

I don't know it it was done out of desperation, but as I recall his last CD didn't sell very well, so I don't know if this will hurt him all that much.

I guess that future turnout for live shows would be a better gauge.

[juicefree20]

Paladin,

I bought those posthumous LPs & from what David Ritz wrote in "Divided Soul", it seems as though Marvin had a WHOLE lot on his mind back then. You mentioned "Savage In The Sack" & I'm sure that you remember the 2 words which proceeded that title...

What you said about Richard, Dick & Blowfly is true, just as any fan of Millie Jackson knows exactly what they're getting, in Millie's case, it's expected & her fans would be quite upset if she didn't deliver.

That's why I believe that this situation is pretty much ado over nothing.

Had he got up in front of a full house then broke into this song out of the clear blue sky, then I could understand a hue & cry. But as he posted it on his own website, I don't know that it's as horrible as some of his fans seem to find it to be.

As for this generation & their reminiscing about what we're hearing today, all that I can say is that it might be wise to invest in so viagra & cialis stock because these guys are going to need it. But I hope that they don't forget to get their workout on because I don't care what miracles either medicines work, they're crazy as hell if they really believe that they're going to be swing from chandeliers & whatnot if they're not in shape.

Indeed, I lament the days of clever lyrics as penned by Mssrs. Smokey, Whitehead, Ms. Creed & so many others.

"Slap it up, flip it, rub it down...OHHHH NOOOOOOOO..."

INDEED!

[juicefree20]

Hi Stephanie,

Good to see you!

Indeed he must & I hope that he continues to do so

But this reaction is why Clarence wore that mask until the cover was blown.

[marv2]

Yeah Juice, the imagery in that sentence is funny as hell.........

Its also funny that I remembered the MPG song as Sanctified P when in actuality it was Sanctified Lady........

Savage in the Sack was another perfect example......."Its getting bigger"....ahem.........

I am not prudish either .........but I've seen many an artist change words and infer some down right nasty things in person that could never be played on radio, but it made the concert and performance special....... it probably instigated the overused term grown folks music.

Our comments about perceived expectations is no more evident than buying a ticket to see Dick Gregory or Richard Pryor, you know what you're getting up front and that's exactly what you expect. We knew what we were getting with Blowfly and a lot of us loved it...........




I can hear them now Juice....

Man :.........c'mon baby put on one of them Lil Jeezy or Drake records and lets freak like we did back in the day ! They just don't make good music like this anymore.......Waaaaaaa, waaaaa, waaaaa...........yeah buddy !

Woman: baby not tonight can't we just listen to this new dude I heard, calls himself Marvin Gaye..............I mean my back hurts and I was hoping you could rub my feet and whisper sweet nothings in my ear............

Man : Marvin who ? You mean that old dude who was called the Love Man, we got any of that old folks music on the computer ? Maybe you right, my back is killing me and we need to take it slow........hey baby I got a new dude to hip you too as well, ever heard of Barry White ? No ? ....well come here baby.........

Paladin, did you know that Drake is Larry Graham's nephew? I've been waiting to tell someone. That's his nephew out of Toronto!