A Road Less Travelled...

     The music industry is rough and even more so if you're female and a minority.  Not everyone is built for this game as they say.  It takes strength: in one's convictions, of will, and of emotions to resist the constant pressure to conform to a particular sound & appearance and endure the mysogistic feedback of "listeners."  Today I want to highlight 4 women who stood their ground and metaphorically yelled, "THIS IS SPARTA!"  They forged their own path and make the music they wanted.  And because it's good, the people came to them.

1.  Janelle Monae:  Even though Ms. Monae is signed to a major label, she is a free spirit.  Her unique aesthetic style sets her apart.  You can tell music and performing are her passions.  Her album sells don't do her justice(this is true for all the women I'll be mentioning).  At least she is keeping her face and name in the minds of our ADD world through commericals(CoverGirl, Sonos).

2.  Alexis Brown:  The oh so friendly, inconspicuous frontwoman for Straight Line Stitch, becomes larger than life when she performs on stage(reminds me of Rapsody).  The petite scream queen of metal has the lungs of Paul Bunyan.  She'll headbang with her band 1 minute and serenade a kid the next(2 dads brought their daughters to the Straight Line Stitch show in Raleigh 2 weeks ago. Both little girls rocked out; it was adorable).  

3.  Jean Grae:  It's tough being ahead of the curve.  If somehow the abstract concept of a grading curve can be magically applied to every woman's real world intelligence and lyrical skill, Jean definitely would set the curve.  You are sure to dismiss my statement, but here's someone that can explain her genius: http://composerscorner1.blogspot.com/2011/11/rap-music-analysis-7-jeanius-of-ms-jean.html

4.  Rapsody:  If she wasn't showing people the beauty of hip hop through her music, I can see Rapsody directly teaching young kids about hip hop...or any other subject.  That type of positive connection between the older generation and younger generation of hip hop is what we need more of right now.

     

Wow, I'm proud of myself for not digressing during this entry, and I was prepared to rant.  

Until next time,

Stay TUT