Kanye West’s Mother Passes Away

Posted in News, Singers on Jan 10th, 2008 | Comments Off

Like many of you, I’ve just read the reports that Kanye West’s mom, Dr. Donda West, passed away Saturday night in Los Angeles. While there is speculation as to the cause of death, what prompted the 58-year-old woman’s sudden passing has not been confirmed.

I have joked a lot about Kanye, mainly referring to him as a guilty pleasure because I love his music but struggle with accepting his boisterous personality. Despite this, I admit the excitement I felt when he recently topped 50 Cent in their September 11 record sales battle to see which MC would come out on top with the best first week sales numbers. Kanye did it in a big way, besting 50 by 260,000 album sales. Kanye almost sold a million copies in one week.

I think we can all agree that our connection with Kanye’s music has a great deal to do with his message. Whether it was him blurting out “President Bush doesn’t care about Black people” just days after the Hurricane Katrina devastation, his brutal honesty in his debut single “Through The Wire” that chronicled his near death experience or his own admittance that he sometimes “acts more stupidly” as he raps in “Can’t Tell Me Nothing,” he has represented one of hip hop’s most significant voices.

Kanye is not Tupac, but he delivers the same type of honesty that people either love or hate.

Without a doubt, Kanye’s upbringing has everything to do with who he is today. So we can not celebrate his successes without also acknowledging his mother. We owe Dr. West thanks for giving us a son whose contribution to hip hop would forever impact the genre. It has been great during his reign to see that hip hop’s influence transcends just gangsta rap.

In May, Dr. West published the book Raising Kanye: Life Lessons From The Mother Of A Hip-Hop Star. Since 2004, she has been working with her son, including serving as chief executive of West Brands LLC, as well as the chairwoman of his Kanye West Foundation educational nonprofit program.

Donda West worked as a professor at Brown College and Chicago State University. At the latter, she was a former chairwoman of the English department.

On Kanye’s Late Registration album he dedicated the song “Hey Mama” to her.

In one verse he rapped about her support of his pursuit of his hip hop career:

“Forrest Gump mama said, life is like a box of chocolates,
My mama told me go to school, get your doctorate,
Somethin to fall back on, you could profit with,
But still supported me when I did the opposite”

Thank you Dr. Donda West. May you rest in peace. ~ Billy Johnson, Jr.

Janet Jackson: “Feedback” Is In

Posted in Celebrities, News on Jan 10th, 2008 | Comments Off

Things have been rough for Janet Jackson since she flashed Super Bowl XXXVIII viewers in 2004.

Let me rephrase that . . . .

Things have been rough for Janet since Justin Timberlake helped her flash Super Bowl…

Unfortunately for Janet, the wardrobe malfunction happened at the wrong time. Tabloid media, internet gossip and E! True Hollywood Stories had already desensitized the public to ridiculous celebrity woes.

It’s kind of hard to feel sorry for someone who was born into one of entertainment’s most noted families, yet managed to expose one of her nipples during the halftime performance of one of the country’s biggest annual family events.

The incident and the FCC backlash put the pressure on Janet’s Damita Jo album. But Damita Jo couldn’t handle it. And neither could 2006’s 20 Y.O. While I personally liked both albums, neither delivered the impact necessary to shut down the haters.

When R. Kelly’s sex abuse scandal hit, his infectious “Step In The Name Of Love” refocused the fans on his music. Mariah Carey recovered from her public mental meltdown and Glitter flop in 2005 with “We Belong Together” which set a record as the most played song in radio history.

Janet’s forthcoming Discipline album needs to deliver her the same type of career blessing.

Janet’s brand new single “Feedback” is the only track I’ve heard so far. Produced by leading R&B hitmaker Rodney Jerkins, it is a safe, pop-leaning dance track that reintroduces her on familiar territory. But more importantly, it sets her up for the video, the medium she owns.

Janet wannabes Ciara, Britney and Rihanna wished they looked this good in their twenties, much less in their early 40s. Janet proves that she is still an exceptional dancer, bouncing around in space and in a computer generated pond of milk in one of her trademark cat suits.

It’s got me hoping that I’ll get a bit more of the old Janet this time around.

Seeing Beyonce on tour last year, dressed up like Janet in the “Rhythm Nation” video, and emulating the militaristic dances, reminded me of how groundbreaking Janet was when she made that video nearly 20 years ago.

Watching Ciara freestyle in the mirror in her “1, 2 Step” video reminded me that Janet’s 1987 “Pleasure Principle” was that much better.

And every time I see Britney on stage wearing the cordless microphone headset that Janet popularized in her “Control” video, I want to run up on the stage and snatch it off of her head. She’s not using it anyway…

Janet’s written the hip hop pop blueprint. She just needs to reclaim it. I’m crossing my fingers that she’s gonna do it.  ~ Billy Johnson, Jr.

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