Wednesday, May 09, 2007

Where Are They? And Other Things.......

En Vogue, SWV, En Vogue, Xscape, Total, Ex Girlfriend, Kut Klose, Shanice and Zhane. This is just a short list of the great female talent we used to see on the R n B scene of whose ilk we don't see anymore. Yes there are still some old timers like Mary J Blige who are representing but let's be honest there very little female talent nowadays. What is even more noticeable is how the numbers really thin when you start looking at age, look at songstresses like Jojo and Rihanna who are barely out of their teens but there is very little talent out there that is past the age of 30. I honestly think that the music industry has taken this whole "sex sells" spiel a bit too far; give us talent over looks any day!

Can anyone who is abroad tell me why relationships outside Kenya are so dysfunctional? Whenever I talk to people no-one really has anything to say about the opposite gender, plus the drama that goes on in most of those relationships is so interesting, inexplicable and intricate that at times I wish I could get a camera into peoples' lives and watch all day. I'm not saying that relationships in Kenya were perfect, we all know that isn't the case but the state of affairs out here makes Kenya look like some sort of relationship haven or paradise. Anyway views and opinions on this issue are more than welcome! Now it's back to the grind, this everyday grind business is boring, I need to win the lottery!

Quote Of The Day -"When life gets a hold of you, there's no Vaseline. It simply bends you over. And it's very painful" - Mo'nique

17 comments:

Archer said...

FIRST! Off to read!

Juju said...

2nd!! off to read :)

Juju said...

Sex sells is just not in music. You should read this book, "The Beauty Myth," by Naomi Wolf.

On relationships-- there is too many layers of issues. When folks go overseas there are so many other issues that they are dealing with, and until a couple gets grounded in these, then its domes like you say.

Someone was just telling me the other day that folks who come from home already married have the highest divorce rates.

Anonymous said...

Thirdsies! As you say, sex sells it seems music will not sell without some skimpily dressed mamaa struts her assets, not of the vocal style, on the cover and in the videos of the songs, i think the society has become more visual oriented thus they favour looks over talent.

On relationships, even here in Nairobi, cheating and all manner of things are now perpetrated by males as well as females and makes a very good case for not being in one, but till you do find that one person that will give you what you want i am happy to stay stress free on my own.

That quote - how true! Hehehehehehe [i see it Aco]

Acolyte said...

@ archer
Congrats!
@ majonzi
I will try and get hold of that book, it sounds like a good read. I do agree that there are lots more issues that get thrown into the mix when you get here.
I do believe that divorce statistic, once gender roles get challenged and states issues come up no African marriage is going to last very long.
@ aegeus
Yes you are right, we have become way to sexual over time.
I do think over time in Kenya women too have been making up for lost time when it comes to being players.

CiikuMrsBabes said...

I hear relationships in Kenya aint the bed of roses either..........


Also... Im doing a post on this sex selling shit... I need to chuck it from draft status and actually post it.....


I love - Sending my love - Zhane
*sigh*
good times

Anonymous said...

I've been wondering about it too, the whole rships thing out here is totally diff. (i think)from back home, i think both parties just mea pembes when they get here and suddenly its beyond them both.ok, that doesn't make sense! moving on...

Karyn white i love.

egm said...

You know it's become bad when you start seeing signs of skimpily clad women appearing in trade publications. I am talking of magazines geared towards engineering professionals displaying what you would find in regular magazines. While not as brazen as that in regular print, it is still a shocker. That sex sells has been sold very well it appears!

Ditto on the Monique quote being hilarious!

mama shady said...

hmmm,i agree totally. Music is sorely lacking nowdays.i also need to win a lottery,to buy or not buy the ticket?!
anyway, ebu let me ask (apart from what sales figures say), and from a kenyan male(s) perspective, does sex actually sell?i mean yeah, guys will look at the video/cd cover/magazine, but will they go and buy it?and if you think about the rihannas and such are their fan bases predominantly female or male.
on relationship drama,im not sure.from what ive heard, methinks drama is the same here and back home, altogether too much.people enter them without purpose or to use the other person or dont gitch that they have to be worked at.i guess...

Spidey/Tato said...

1. that monique funny as hell...i can just see her chubby self unleashing that line

2.dont forget Salt N pepa

damn u remember total and kut close ill tell u where they all are
in my home collection on VHS with jam a delic and rythmiz logos plastered all over

id heard en vogue is doin an albu so look out...

damn i missed on utr graduation thing happy graduation u lucky sod!

jm said...

You wouldn't blive it!! But I swear to mungu one the issue of relationships out of Kenya was a post i was thinking of doing ... now you have given me motivation ... al' b sure 2 unleash due credit ... :)

Anonymous said...

You forgot Jade of ‘Don’t walk away’..they were the mbest.

I was reading about one of the SWV’s chicks and how she used to sell her body to both men and women so she could get a place to crash or money for drugs. Sad. The rest seem to be leading normal lives.

Lol @ talent over looks. That’s like saying lets bomb for peace.

Dysfunctional relationships in Diaspora? I wont even touch that one. I simply don’t have that kind of time lol.

Oh, do you know who else I was musing to myself ‘ I wonder what happened to them’, the cast of that show the Wonder years. God bless Wikipedia, I don’t have to wonder any more (gerrit? Wonder? Thank you, ill be here all week)

I note that you have just graduated and tiyari you are complaining. Suck it up! Lol. I leave you with this quote, maybe itll cheer you up. But if it doesn’t, why wait to win the lotto when you can date a sugardaddie www.sugardaddie.com (mwehehe)..a youngblood like you..ngutness.


Growing up happens in a heartbeat. One day you're in diapers, the next day you're gone. But the memories of childhood stay with you for the long haul. I remember a place, a town, a house like a lot of houses, a yard like a lot of other yards, on a street like a lot of other streets. And the thing is, after all these years, I still look back, with wonder. ”
— Daniel Stern as the narrator, The Wonder Years (ABC TV)

Supaflyshi said...

All i wanna know is what the hell happend to total?? I loved their music.They just freaking dissappeared..
On the relationship thing..I think people just change too much when they get here. It's like these folk are always trying to be "cool" or whatever. I call it the akata-complex. I guess that's when everything goes down hill and the drama checks in.

On another note,you have been tagged.You have to post seven things that people don't know about you and then tag seven people to do the same.

jm said...

@ supaflyshi .... daaamn ... my thoughts xactly!!

Anonymous said...

@ movie buff
Yes I do know Kenya is no walk in the park when it comes to dating too.
I will be eagerly awaiting that post and zhane is on my playlist too!
@ betty
I do feel you on the growing horns issue coz I see both groups acting the fool out here.
Karyn White rocked!
@ egm
Oh my! Are things that narrow! Pole sana.
@ mama shady
I do think that sex sells but only to a certain extent, surely with all the material out there the appeal is going to plummet and so will sales.
I disagree with you, drama abroad is far more prevalant, one night at a Kenyan club abroad will show you.
@ nick
I dont even have a video so I cant borrow that tape from you! I will keep my ears open about the En Vogue album.
Thanks for the graduation wishes!
@ mwangi
I am waiting for you and movie buff to do your posts! I'm sure you both have so much more to offer.
@ dshy
I did read about the En Vogue chic who was/is having it hard, one of the other chics has a good gospel career while the other is married to a baller; dunno what Dawn is upto though.
Jade didnt do too much for me, them with their thick ropes I mean braids.
Yes my student days are over, I guess nostalgia is kicking in I guess.
@ supaflyshi
I too wonder what happened to them, here one day gone the next!
I do feel you on the akataa complex thing, peeps act like they walk on air and are super hard.
I will work on the tag now........

Milonare said...

Jade, Davina, Gabrielle, Changing Faces also were the bomb!!!

Hrrrrmmmph on relationships. The ones back home are really going down the drain!!!! The world is ending!!!

Archer said...

My comment got dished up twice so I gave up on trying to comment on this post.

I also am not jazzed at the direction in which R n B is taking these days. Its becoming increasingly monotonous, shallow, and looks and sex appeal far outweigh any talent that these so called "artistes." These days it's all about the bling, shady ass lyrics....the same reason that drove me to quit listening to hip hop many years ago.

About relationships while out of the Jamhuri. I don't know about y'all in the States and U.K and elsewhere, but during my time in SA, Kenyans tended to stick to each other, because we could never fit in with the locals (plus their mamas shadiness is on another level altogether) and the whites wouldn't look at you twice. In three years I only saw ONE black-white couple on campus. And they used to get lots of stares from all quarters. So we were stuck to dating other Kenyans or probably mamas from Malawi (that joint got some seriously fwyne women) or Zambia or elsewhere. But the drama was definitely there regardless of whether one was dating a fellow Kenyan or someone from another country. So I don't think its a purely Kenyan affair. Anyway, lemme sit out this one (perhaps I missed the gist of the question) and see what others think.

Dude, that quote!