Eli Jabbe
Little Brother's latest album The Minstrel Show was one of the most anticipated releases of 2005. I personally purchased the album and it is definitely great -- right up there with Kanye West's Late Registration.
The expectation and hype for this album was everywhere, so I know for a fact that other fans bought the album -- all 5 of us. The commercial success has been nonexistent as The Minstrel Show is currently certified somewhere around "double-wood" status. Several factors came into play -- mainly the lack of marketing and the fact that, apparently, most of the fans who listened to the leak of the album on the Internet didn't buy it when it was released. The dearth of marketing for Minstrel Show has been so drastic that, when informed of the album, friends of mine incredulously asked, "They sell this album in stores? I thought it was only available on the Internet." That's says a lot about the poor promotion for this great album.
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Little Brother recently had their video for their single "Lovin It" banned from BET allegedly because the program directors thought it was too intelligent for their targeted audience, 12 to 19-year-old black females.
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Photo courtesy of Atlantic Records
The promotion, or lack thereof, for this album is perplexing when you consider that Little Brother is on a major label, Atlantic Records, home of stars like TI and Fat Joe. However, unlike many other artists on major labels like Atlantic, Little Brother has a slight problem. Their music video for the single "Lovin It" will not be aired on BET. Of course, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that it's hard to sell an album when your music video can't even get played on television.
The fact that BET is boycotting a harmless music video is surprising enough, but the network's reasons are even more infuriating. BET said that they refuse to play the video because it's too intelligent for the BET audience. That's right, BET decided not to play the video because they think their audience is too stupid to understand it. It's bad enough that BET program directors are even labeling their audience, but it's even more disturbing and insulting when you consider that most of the executives at the Black Entertainment Television station aren't even black.
Apparently, Little Brother isn't the only group who is being boycotted by BET. Recently, a memo to the BET video department containing banned artists surfaced on the Internet. While the validity of this list hasn't been confirmed, I wouldn't be surprised at all if it was accurate. Great rappers like Mos Def and AZ, among many others, are on this list. Even Dante Dogg, a singer known for his perennially great guest hooks, got the cold shoulder from BET.
What's the reason for the boycott of these artists? Their music is apparently not "relevant" to BET's target audience (which, for the record, is 12 to 19-year-old black females). Ray Charles could have seen the blatant racism in this.
This whole BET situation sheds some light on something every one has known for years. Everybody knows that BET, MTV and radio stations only play the same handful of artists. Unfortunately, record labels and mainstream entertainment channels rarely reward creativity. Labels are constantly searching for formulaic artists that imitate the newest popular artist. The music industry is a business just like any other. As Kayne West stated on "We Major," "Why do you think rappers write rhymes, just to blow up?" Everybody knows that money is obviously one of the main motives for any entertainer -- it's just sad how good artists can't sell records or, in this case, even receive airplay if they don't make formulaic music.
I understand that there's a time and place for all kinds of music. Nobody wants to hear Little Brother if they're at a club, but there has to be balance. Why is it that every time you turn on the radio or BET or MTV, you're forced to listen to somebody like Yin Yang Twins or 50 Cent?
Phonte from Little Brother seems to predict the group's plight when he asked on "Not Enough," "Dope beats and dope rhymes, what else do you want?"
Apparently that's not enough; they need a gimmick like rapping about getting shot numerous times to sell records in today's music world. It's really sad to see a great artist work hard on a great, critically acclaimed product and end up being rewarded with next to nothing. This also happened to Common earlier this year; his album BE barely reached gold status. At the rate they are going, Little Brother will have to settle for "triple-plastic" status for Minstrel Show.
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