Patriarchy and the Music Industry: Women Casualties (1)
As a life-long music enthusiast, I have read about the demise of so many music artists. Once artists demand the money being owed them by the music label such as recouping unpaid royalties, or seek a reclamation of their masters, or attempt to exit their record labels, after exposing the evil machinations of the music industry, they end up dead, either through a plane crash, car accident, pneumonia, drug overdose, drowning, suicide, etc.
In most cases, these artists are usually depicted by the media as irresponsible, reckless and indisciplined beings who deserved such premature outcomes. They are usually to blame for the problem. It must be underscored that the patriarchal system thrives on highlighting the symptoms of a matter, rather than address the root cause. The media refrains from the investigation of the artistic work environments and pertinently questioning the music executives. The media abstains from the exposure of the music industry’s vampiric nature and the executive Draculas inherent within it.
Imagine, for one that you have a headache. Instead of diagnosing the cause, the doctor bombards the patient with a cocktail of medication. The cause requires much work and diligence to ascertain and is therefore avoided. How many times have you been judged based on a single story? No one cared to verify the authenticity of what they heard about you. Perhaps, they feared that by so doing, the truth would be unveiled and would show that you are not as corruptible, as they would wish you were. And so to justify their malicious feelings about you, they joined arms in your castigation. How many times have women received justice for rape? They are blamed for their dress, their demeanour, their existence, etc. Anything, but the rapist! I hope my point is understood. I digress!
For countless times, the assertion has repeatedly been made to our faces that artists are worth more dead than alive. The record labels benefit through the retainment of artists’ arrears, and the proceeds from the insurance policy taken out on them. This has been the tradition for donkey years. Currently, the 3 major music companies which include Warner Music Group, Sony Music, and Universal Music Group jointly generate approximately $2.9 million per hour. Consequently, the posture of victim-blaming and shaming which inundates the entirety of our currently lived patriarchal and life-threatening reality is preposterous. Clearly, the media is complicit in its refusal to pose pressing questions and embark on crucial investigations.
The premature demise of many artists apparently share some eerie commonalities. For instance, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix , Amy Winehouse and Kurt Kobain died at age 27, which led to the coinage of the “27 Club”. Aaliyah and Otis Redding died in plane crashes in the nascent phase of their respective careers. Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson were allegedly substance abusers who loved to overmedicate. But is that why they died?
It is no longer news that the Hip-Hop/Rap branch was hijacked by music executives in the 1990s. The purpose was the recreation of a genre that would infiltrate the black community and instigate violence, perpetuate hate crimes and gangsterism among the youth population. With the engagement of the Police and the justice system as manipulative agents, the goal was to feed the US prison- Industrial complex with as many incarcerated prisoners (innocent or guilty) as possible for the furtherance of the economic expansion and prosperity of global business corporations. Slavery was reinvented and redecorated.
The direct outcome of this evil was the murder of 2pac and Notorious BIG in the 1990s, based on the so-called East and West coast rivalries. The two men who died within a year of each other were shot in drive-by shootings. The affliction of artists knows no racial or sex boundaries. A greater majority of the musicians, whose music has nourished us through the years, have an ugly story to tell about the industry.
The following is by no means an exhaustible inventory of some women artists who have transited prematurely under questionable circumstances. The list of men casualties follow hereafter.
Aaliyah: Baby Girl died on August 21, 2001 alongside members of her entourage in a plane crash on her return from the Bahamas, where she had shot the video to the song “Rock the Boat” from her third album Aaliyah. The account of developments before the tragedy abound in the media. However, two theories have been propounded to rationalize her murder. The first was her music mogul uncle, Barry Hankerson’s constant facilitation of her movement to multiple record companies without a commitment to one for the purpose of profitability for music executives. Aaliyah’s three albums were produced in conjunction with three respective labels namely: Age Ain’t Nothin’ but a Number (Jive), One in a Million (Atlantic) and Aaliyah (Virgin). Strangely, it has been alleged that Hankerson took out a court order prior to Aaliyah's ill-fated trip which offered him and his record label Blackground records, immunity from any liability in the event of her death. He thereafter received a $90 million dollar life insurance payout after her death.
The second theory links her to a vindictive Jay Z, who has been pinpointed as the mastermind of her demise. It is said that she declined his romantic proposition, and instead chose Damon Dash, his friend. The plan was to make her the half of a power couple image and marketing project, endorsed by the Hollywood machine. Her declination of the offer led to her erasure and replacement by Beyonce Knowles.
2. Amy Winehouse: Winehouse was a fantastic soulful singer. I call her the “black woman in white skin”, reminiscent of the Motown singer, Teena Marie. Her sophomoric album Back to Black (2006) brought her to international limelight and fetched well-deserved accolades. Listening to her belt in her delightful contralto was an enthralling experience all by itself. However, the constant media imagery of a never-ending intoxication thereafter, after so many wins, sparked curiosity and questions.
It is an open secret that musicians are intentionally fed drugs as soon as their names are scrawled on the roster of a music label for two purposes namely: artistic control and energy maximization to keep them working round the clock. There exists to my knowledge no welfare department which caters to the physical and mental wellbeing of musicians. Furthermore, no talent scout gives a conspicuously drug addicted or intoxicated young talent a chance to blossom, as it could ruin business. The destruction of artists begin after their entry into the industry.
The hauntingly dark single “Rehab” was Winehouse’s literal disclosure of her personal challenges and a cry for help. Through a rawfully honest story-telling, the song mirrored her pain and battle with addiction and loneliness. Sadly, the toxic work environment prioritized money over artist management and a rescue plan to salvage the deteriorative state of the immensely talented Winehouse was never conceived because that was never the plan. She would pass in 2011, at age 27, from alcohol poisoning. Who poisoned the alcohol? or was it a case of the artist is more valuable when dead than alive?
(To be continued)
