Can’t seem to come up with that hit record like you used to? No major label willing to sign you to an astronomical deal anymore? Don’t worry about it — just do a reality show.
A reality show is the latest way for singers to catapult their flat-lining singing careers back to a place of relevance. Or so it seems.
The latest suspects are sultry singers Toni Braxton and Fatih Evans, who are continuing the steadily growing parade of past-their-prime, major label cast-offs who use the grand platform TV provides to try to reintroduce themselves to their fans — and perhaps gain a few new ones, in addition to another major record deal.
The recently separated Braxton, who came to fame in the mid-’90s with hits like “Unbreak My Heart,” will detail the challenges of restarting with a new record company, Atlantic Records, in “Braxton Family Values.” It will also touch upon Braxton’s well-documented drama at Blackground, her health issues, financial failings and her successful singing stint at Las Vegas’ Flamingo Casino and Resort.
Evans, the widow of legendary rapper Notorious “Biggie Smalls” B.I.G. and the mother of his child, is announcing her return to the studio and her road to entrepreneurship as the head of her own Prolific Music Group in “It’s All About Faith.” The “Can’t Believe” chanteuse is still shopping for a network to buy her concept but she is eternally optimistic.
“2010 is shaping up to be an amazing year for me! To be in a place where I have grown from an entertainer to an entrepreneur is truly a blessing,” Evans said in a statement. She is working on her sixth studio output. “I am excited to share this incredible experience with my fans and the world.”
Evans’ docu-drama will certainly draw viewers who yearn to learn her side of her relationship with the late, legendary Tupac Shakur (which exacerbated the deadly 2pac-Biggie feud) and her interactions with another reality star, rapper Lil Kim.
Reality shows may be the way to go. Only a few acts in modern music have been able to revive their careers the old-fashioned way after falling from grace, most notably the Bee Gees through their then-record-breaking Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, and Tina Turner. –terry shropshire
