The Wale cover story by rolling out colleague Amir Shaw is inspiring and irritating at the same time. In this era of wholesale whore-dom where all you have to do is lie on your back and flash your unmentionables (cough, cough, Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton) for mass public consumption to obtain fame, folks who grind to the beat of artistic truth like Wale remain on the periphery of fame’s radar when the cameras should already be trained on them like laser beams.
How Wale can sell out venues nationwide and be armed with a million Twitter followers and the respect of industry superstars, yet not be a household name, defies logic. Unfortunately — or maybe fortunately — he is not alone. Because they are not yet where they should and hopefully, will be, they are not yet contaminated by the poisonous elements that pollute true artistry. Michael Jackson was never the same after Thriller, despite Bad and Dangerous being big hits. Something unidentifiable was lost after his historic flight to the intergalactic realms of music. Nicki Minaj recently said that, since she has become a worldwide star, she no longer knows whom to trust anymore. You have to believe that the paranoia invading her soul has to, on some level, intercept her artistic output — and perhaps contribute to her frequent off-stage hiccups, particularly with hotel maids.
In a preceding generation, every one of the following artists named would most likely be superstars in the R&B and rap game — much like Jodeci, Boyz II Men, SWV, Xscape and Sisqo-Dru Hill were for a spell in the 90s — if not outright pop stars. But they are unwilling to affix the clear glass heels to their feet and take to the concrete corners of the musical landscape to prostitute their principles for a few trinkets and doodads. We have to continue to believe that their talents will eventually make more room for them. Hopefully, they will as well.
–terry shropshire
