The Brit Awards 2005 have taken place. I have never been a fan of the Brit Awards. It is just a chance for people with little talent and huge egos and ageing rock stars to show off. In order to sell the show to as many people as they possibly can, they hand out random nominations to a range of artists.
There is always a bit of commercialised hip hop/R n B for the yoof of today, a lifetime award is granted to some artist from the 70s or 80s thereby ensuring that the older viewer shall watch the show. If your thing is cheesy pop, there is always one pop idol contender/winner on the show. True lads and ladettes are guaranteed some plastic eye-candy (usually Caprice for the men and some random man from Hollyoaks for the girls – something for every one.
They now have a category for British Urban act. I don’t care what anyone says about the word urban, to me it is merely a PC euphemism for black/ ghetto /working class ( *delete as appropriate ). If you don’t believe me look at
(a) who gets to vote for the winner of this category – viewers of MTV Base – the MTV channel dedicated to all things black and ghetto urban; and
(b)the nominees – Dizzy Rascal, Jamelia, Lemar, The Streets and Joss Stone.
Joss Stone?!!!? Did I miss something??!!?
Joss Stone is not black so I imagine she got nominated because of her urban background. Well, Miss Stone is from a pictureseque village called Cullompton, near Devon. I have never been there but it sounds like a place I would love to visit:
Cullompton has remained unspoilt, retaining its individual charm and only now gradually waking up to its potential as a rural retreat.
How much more non-urban can you get?
Aaah…but I forgot one thing, Miss Stone’s style of music. Her second album is called ‘Body Mind and Soul’. How could I have missed the obvious clue in the title? She is according to some the new soul sensation. Ha!!! I don’t dispute that that Joss is extremely talented. She has an amazing voice and deserves recognition. As for being an urban act; Joss Stone is to soul/urban music what Vanilla Ice was to Hip-Hop/Rap music.
The fact that Joss Stone was nominated for and WON the British Urban act award shows the current state of the British music industry.
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p.s Mshairi...we spoke about this yesterday, I am still waiting to read your take on this but aiiii mama…I had to rant kidogo.
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Mshairi says
You have said it all Kui. Let me add that I cannot honestly say I have heard any of Joss Stone’s songs from start to finish – I think I may have heard her at the hairdressers the other day and of course, I have heard and seen the 30 or so second ads on TV. She may or may not sing well but it is hard to distinguish her voice from the countless wannabe soul singers currently plaguing the airwaves. She says that people think she is some 50-year-old black woman and that she and her manager like to play tricks on people where they will put on her CD, hide her in another room, and then bring her in just to see the shock on people’s faces. Replicating the voice of a 50-year-old woman who has lived the experiences she is singing about doesn’t necessarily make a 16-year old like Joss Stone engage or understand the background or content of the soul and blues genre. She has no clue know why the ‘caged bird sings’. In my opinion, could be this century’s Elvis Presley.
She was on TV this morning talking about the Brits Awards and she said something about not understanding how and why she could have won the awards because all she does is just sing ‘la la la’. My point exactly.
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Margaret from Germany says
Thanks for your comment at my site.
I think that Joss Stone got the nomination because of her sound and not her looks. I also think the nominees should represent the category, and the ‘look’ should count for extra votes.
Kui Says: I hear you Margaret. How would you describe Joss Stone’s sound and do you feel it qualifies as urban?