I shared on Twitter, but I also had to share on my blog. I love Sam Smith’s tone on “Stay with Me,” but the Pentatonix’s Scott Hoying and Mitch Grassi give him a run for his money. Love, love, love them.
Author: ayminor
J Thoughts: A Look at Angela Simmon’s Failed Kickstarter Campaign
Last month, Angela Simmons turned to Kickstarter to raise $25,000 to fund AngelaIAM TV, a visual platform for fashion, music, art, and entertainment.
As a creative, I truly believe in Kickstarter, and other crowdfunding platforms, that make it possible for the average Joe to bring a brilliant idea to life. I am very, very selective in how I spend my money (largely because as a recent college grad I don’t have any), but when I see a project I truly believe in, I can’t help but support.
Of course, with the good comes the bad. Like everything else, I hate that these platforms have attracted more than a few projects that have caused me to raise an eyebrow (most notably Spike Lee’s “Newest Hottest Spike Lee Joint” campaign).
On one hand, it seems like a no-brainer for celebs and prominent artists to turn to crowdfunding — seemingly, they have the soapbox and fan base to do a little promotion and easily get their projects funding. On the other hand, it feels as if they are intruding on a space not meant for established figures, but for those without access to big-name sponsors and prominent backers.
Although AngelaIAM TV is meant to promote aspiring international artists, which I appreciate, it was unclear how the whopping $25,000 would be used to drastically improve upon the videos she had already begun to create, and why she couldn’t use her resources and contacts to fund it herself. There were many others who felt the same; her comments on Instagram where spattered with negative reactions.
Despite my skepticism I never doubted it would raise the necessary funds, especially with the success of several other celebrity-endorsed projects.
Although Angela heavily promoted the campaign on Instagram, which is connected to her Twitter, both with over 1 million followers, had promotional videos, featured rewards, and a press release sent out to media outlets, she only received 11% of her goal — $2,766 of $25,000.
What went wrong?
Emmanuel Mensah, the producer of AngelaIAM TV, addressed the pitfalls of the campaign in an interview with Soo Detroit:
When we first launched our Kickstarter we got a lot of backlash for it. What people don’t know is that we’ve been funding AngelaIAM TV on our own long before we launched the Kickstarter. This is something we’ve been funding but we’re trying to take it on a wider scale and what better way to try to take it on a wider scale than to have people that want to see something like this happen, help us do it. This is all about the people, but it has been hard and difficult because people automatically assume: ‘Why is a celebrity asking for money?’ That’s not the case at all. We want it to be about the people and not have one investor be responsible. We want the people to be responsible as a unit for making something like this happen. (soodetroit.com)
Did the proverbial “people” take a stand? Was the project description not strong enough to gain support? Is it possible she didn’t have enough promotion?
It makes an interesting case study.
J Thoughts: If I Had to Hear a Song 100x…
Every day, I drive an hour and a half to work. And when the work day ends, I drive an hour and a half home.
And every day, I hear the same 10-15 songs on the radio. Over. And over. And over, again.
It’s unclear how radio expects to maintain an audience with such rigid playlist parameters, but I’ll save my top 5 questions I’ve always wanted to ask a program director for another day.
The three songs I never want to hear again, and the ones I would replace them with:
The Worst – Jhené Aiko
Initially I was happy to hear an R&B song in heavy rotation, even if it’s one of my least favorite by Jhené Aiko. After replay 2,567 though, I’ve had enough. #theworst
Na Na – Trey Songz
It was tolerable at first. Catchy. Yet and still, so basic. And intolerable after 7 months. Next.
Loyal – Chris Brown Ft. Lil’ Wayne
Who didn’t love “Loyal” when it was first released? Questionable lyrics aside, it’s uptempo, has an infectious beat and (what feels like) fun wordplay. Even with Chris behind bars during the promotion period (-___-), the song took on a life of its own. But now that I’ve had AMPLE opportunity to learn and relearn all the words, I mostly cringe when I hear it. *raises hand* Not loyal.
New Flame – Chris Brown Ft. Usher, Rick Ross
While we wait on the new Chris Brown x Drake, “New Flame” can certainly hold us over. Yes, Chris can rap and “sing-talk,” but I love the songs where he is full-out crooning, he has such a wholesome sound, sighs. (Don’t ask me what he’s really saying though.)
The track gets a huge boost from the original heartbreak, Usher. I could do without Rick Ross, but you can’t win ’em all.
Dumb – Jazmine Sullivan Ft. Meek Mill
Jazmine Sullivan fans have been waiting 3 years for new music, so when I woke up to the world premiere of “Dumb” on the Breakfast Club last month, I was too hype. It has a nice groove, the obligatory rap feature — play my girl Jazzy!!
Love Never Felt So Good – Michael Jackson, Justin Timberlake
I don’t care what genre the song falls into by industry standards, it makes you feel good, plain and simple. Everyone should be playing it. (Not that I agree with the decision to release posthumous projects, but that’s neither here nor there…)
Honorable Mentions *Drake voice*
Good Kisser – Usher
Maybe – Teyana Taylor Ft. Yo Gotti, Pusha T
My Girl – Diggy Ft. Trevor Jackson
J Events: On the Run with Bey and Jay at MetLife Stadium
I love live music.
Attending a concert for me is the ultimate high and low. It’s a testament to the kind of influence that’s possible, and yet also the reminder that there’s work to be done if I want to get from the nosebleeds to the main stage.
A great show is more than just the artist and a pre-recorded track — it’s a live band, background vocalists, trained dancers* and most importantly: the special connection a great artist has with their fans.
The combination of these things keeps me coming back; my sixth time seeing Queen Bey did not disappoint.
We have come to expect excellence from music’s power couple, and that’s exactly what you get with the On The Run Tour.
Last Saturday, over 40,000 people came out to see Bey and Jay at MetLife Stadium. For almost two and a half hours, they had the crowd entranced as they traded off sets, occasionally coming together for brilliant mash-ups of their greatest hits from the last two decades.
Of course it was amazing; but my post-show thoughts are layered. As the self-titled “objective Beyonce stan,” here’s the real:
While it feels special to gain entry, the show itself seems removed, like it’s happening somewhere else on a separate stage, produced by Hollywood men in front of Hollywood cameras. It’s almost as if the whole thing had been filmed and edited ahead of time.
– An excerpt from Jeff Rosenthal’s article for noisey.vice.com
Although I think Jeff’s article was part troll, part truth, he at least grazed the surface of some of my small qualms with the show; in short, it’s damn near perfect.
To be clear, a large part of the concert’s storyline is told through visual elements that were filmed prior to the show, but even the live shots were perfectly-angled and peppered with special effects.
At times, I preferred the view from my binoculars to give me a dose of reality.
If you’ve attended any of Bey’s last 2 tours, you were probably doing most of the choreo and concert-ad libs in your seat, as I was, and are familiar with the “blips of sincere yet programmed PDA ” that Jay and Bey scatter throughout their performances.
Before the show I realized I had never seen a husband and wife headline a concert together — what would be different? The answer was, almost nothing. It felt like an extended performance of any collab they’ve done in the past –it was all business.
I had expected her performance of “Resentment” to be the highlight of my night as it had been one of the most emotionally-charged and talked about moments of the show; but it wasn’t. Although she again changed the lyrics to the song, it didn’t have that “rough around the edges, but straight from the heart” quality that tugs at your heart strings, it just felt like another strategic move by her camp to feign intimacy for the crowd — something extra they threw in post-Miami. Don’t get me wrong, she bodied the song, but it didn’t move me to tears like her 2009 Wynn Last Vegas rendition did, twice.
To my surprise, my favorite, heartfelt performances of the night were her cover of Lauryn Hill’s “Ex-Factor” — The Mamas always amplify anything and everything — and “Pretty Hurts,” which felt like her most vulnerable, and least-methodical performance.
The most moving visual element came at the end of the show, when they share their “real life,” during the “Young Forever/Halo” finale. To see what’s possible in one lifetime — love, marriage, children, sold-out stadiums, significant influence — I couldn’t help but leave brimming over with possibilities.
The number of artists and celebs in attendance, on both nights, just goes to show howmuch respect and admiration the power couple have from their peers.Bey and Jay are the standard.
J Video: Bridget Kelly’s “Road To Independence” Trailer
I have been looking for a new webseries to watch….
I was hesitant to give Bridget Kelly, “Alicia Keys’s stand-in,” a chance, but it was her live performance and EP Every Girl that won me over. Still, I had a hard time trying to figure out what Bridget is all about.
In recent years, she has been known more for her appearances at parties than her music, and the buzz she was able to build around singles “Street Dreamin’” and “Special Delivery” quickly dissipated. As much as I would love to party with Bey and Jay on a regular basis, as a musician I’m sure there is nothing worse than sitting on the shelf for the better half of your 20s.
After 6 years with no release date, Bridget has decided to part ways with Roc Nation management and release her debut album as an independent artist in September. In the new docu-series Bridget takes us along for the ride on “The Road to Independence.”
I wouldn’t call myself a fan just yet, but I’m hoping the intimate look at her life and career will change that.
The first episode will be available soon can be found here.
Bonus: Check out Bridget’s latest release “I Won’t Cry,” — she has some ground to cover in terms of promotion, but I love rooting for the underdog.
J Video: Behind The Scenes of Hot 97’s Summer Jam XX
I’ve had a love/hate relationship with Ebro Darden since starting my struggle hour and a half commute to work in 2012. This was right around the time Ebro began making guest appearances on Hot 97’s morning show, then just the program director trying to save the show’s ratings.
I have always appreciated his fluid on-air personality and the respect he has in the industry, which makes for better interviews; it’s his lack of tact surrounding some highly-sensitive issues that’s left me feeling some type of way more than once (the U.O.E.N.O. Rick Ross controversy comes to mind).
In the video you see the good and the bad, as Hot 97 gives you a behind-the-scenes look at last year’s Summer Jam through the eyes of “the old man.”
I was hoping to learn something new about the concert production process, which didn’t really happen, but having watched the show via live stream, it was interesting to see what was really going on backstage with the artists. (You have to peep Mariah showing up in the middle of the song she is supposed to perform with a champagne glass in hand (7:42). -__-) Check it out!