Artists Use the Power of Music Videos to Spread Awareness

By J9 of J9's MusicLife


Most artists nowadays, display the glamorous life in their music videos. . you know the fancy cars, money, mansions, beautiful women, extravagant vacations and parties.  Rarely do you see artists depicting the reality that we common folk experience everyday or are at least exposed to more than what what is in the videos.  I guess some can argue maybe that's the point, to take us out of reality for a second.

However, sometimes we need that harsh reality check and it seems like artists are just the person to give it to us now that their views and opinions hold more clout than ever before.  With that said, more artists are now using their music videos as a platform to bring awareness to real issues that are affecting the community, especially the black community.  Maybe through their words and creative vision, people will start to become more aware.

Below are just a few artists who have used their videos to shed light on serious issues:


Breast Cancer

Did you know that breast cancer is the most common cancer diagnosis among African American women, and among women nationwide?  If you haven't been directly or indirectly related to the disease, you might not show too much concern.  You might think it will never happened to you or someone close to you.  You might go as far as not taking the proper precautionary actions.

Last year, Eric Roberson used his video Still to spread awareness about the disease and just recently, Musiq followed suit and released his video for Yes, which he dedicated to breast cancer fighters.  Musiq was also named the ambassador for Susan G. Komen for the Cure® Circle of Promise.  Watch both videos below as Roberson and Musiq take a different approach in depicting the seriousness of the disease.

Still by Eric Roberson

Yes - Musiq

Homosexuality/Bullying

Homosexuality, especially among black men, is a sore subject in the black community.  Recently, the topic of bullying has become a household term as a result of so many people committing suicide because of being bullied. 

To shed light on this sensitive topic, Marsha does amazing job of walking us through the life of a homosexual black man as he is ostracized.  It also serves as a personal testimony of Marsha's which shows how willing she is to make herself vulnerable by telling this story in hopes of spreading awareness of the negative effects of bullying.

Far Away - Marsha Ambrosius

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'The Game' Says There are 'Several' Closeted Rappers, Tells them to 'Be Gay and Proud': VIDEO

Rapper The Game spoke with VLAD TV about closeted rappers in the hip-hop industry

ARE YOU A MAN FAN?

Says the rapper:

"I don’t have a problem with gay people. Like, Beyoncé should’ve said, ‘Who run the world? Gays,’ because they’re everywhere and rightfully so. Do you. It’s a free country. Be gay, you can do that...Game don’t have a problem with gay people. Game has problem with people who are pretending not to be gay...The number one issue with that is that you could be fooling somebody and you could give them AIDS and they can die and so that in the closet shit is real scary. So, we’ve got to get into the real seriousness of it and it’s just not fair to other people..."

Adds The Game:

"It's not cool to be in the closet. If you gay, just say you gay. Be gay and be proud.”

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

In 2006, The Game was criticized for remarks he made on DJ Jo Whiley's radio show when he referred to gay men as "faggots" and "not real men".

At the time the BBC decided not to take action against Whiley because she made a 'sincere, full and swift' apology and distanced herself and the network from The Game's comments, according to WENN. The BBC also said that it would not deny The Game future interviews: "The BBC does not ban artists, but we do have editorial guidelines making clear that we do not condone homophobic comments or bad language, which all artists are expected to follow when they are on air during a live interview."

Nicki Minaj: A Love/Hate Relationship

By ChinaBabe of J9's MusicLife

As you all may already know I have a love/hate relationship with Nicki Minaj.  Actually it’s more like HATE/Love/Hate (lower case like)... my point is… she’s growing on me…

**looks down at keyboard**

In fact, I believe that most women, over the age of 25, have the same issue that I have with Nicki… I just don’t get it.  If you are talented and smart then playing dumb is not received well by women.  In all honesty, I want to love Nicki… I think women, the adult women who adore hip hop would love to embrace her, but we do not understand her.  We don’t play with dolls nor do we need the whole host of characters (voices) that are Nicki Minaj.  We like our female rappers (femcees) strong, sassy and independent.  We can see a little bit of ourselves in each of them...I am Missy, I am Eve, I am Lil Kim (at night, in my mind) and I want to be Lauryn when I grow up (pre-mental breakdown).  When I hear Nicki Minaj, Nicki Lewinski, Harajuku Barbie, and Roman Zolanski they all seem like a cast of characters that are NOTHING like me.

Well, since I just mentioned it...let's discuss the multiple personalities of Ms. Nicki Minaj....

1. Nicki Minaj, the sassy alter ego of Onika Tanya Maraj (Nicki's real name)
2. Nicki Lewinsky, the sexified mistress to President Carter (A wink to former President Bill Clinton and his mistress Monica Lewinsky)
3. Harajuku Barbie, the dumb blonde with the baby voice (A little nod to Paris Hilton…the baby voiced prostitute)
4. Roman Zolanski, the best character…and according to Nicki, Roman is the gay boy inside of her.  Roman’s rap style is what I wish Nicki (whoever) would be all the time!!! (Okay, the Roman Zolanski character loosely based on Roman Polansky a director from the 70's who was charged with rape of a 13 year old girl, but pleaded guilty to unlawful sex with a minor and fled the country to avoid prosecution.  I'm not really sure where Nicki is going with this one.

Someone once said that the mark of a great femcee is women want to be her and men want to be with her.  Most girls want to be Nicki, women not so much.  Young girls see Nicki as accessible and fun, visually.  She's a pretty girl, she looks like a doll.  I don't know about you, but when I was a little girl I use to pull the heads and arms off the Barbies and throw them out the project window… well, at least that’s what I did with Barbies...

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