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It's been 5 years in the making, but this is QuickBlurb's 300th post! A bittersweet moment today, considering music is a huge part of this blog, and the music world lost a major contributor today when it was announced that Prince passed away at his home today at the young age of 57.
Prince has a huge connection with this blog. A minor post celebrating his birthday in 2013 is somehow the fifth most viewed post in QuickBlurb's history.
The last time this blog was updated was in September of last year. The last time I personally provided content for an update was in June of last year. Why the lapse in content you ask? I don't know. Writer's block...wife and kids...adulting too hard...maybe all of the above.
The most glaring reason I stopped writing for the blog because I developed a raging case of Whothefuckcares-itis.
I started this blog in 2011 with the intent to give all who cared to read, a little piece of me with each post. That's what it started as, but as time moved on, and I noticed that the blog was garnering a little bit of an audience, I became caught up in statistics. How many people were clicking? Are people sharing this on social media? Are there any new comments?
With all those superficial numbers now becoming my focus, I unintentionally stripped the blog of any personality it had, and began to post subject matter you might find on sites like Buzzfeed or Deadspin. Not to knock those sites, because I am a fan of both, but those two websites are what others try to emulate, and often times those sites relinquish all their originality to become mere copycats.
QuickBlurb went that route and it worked for a little bit. I got access to some cool events and gained some beneficial working relationships, but, as the age old adage goes, content is king. If you aren't pumping out content at a consistent rate and pumping out identical content as the top sites in the field, it's easy to get lost in the shuffle. Once I got lost in the shuffle, I lost my audience. Once I lost my audience, I lost my inspiration (or so I thought). Once I lost my inspiration, I figured "who the fuck cares anyway?"...and I quit.
I was fine with my decision to quit. I never really brought up the blog unless I was at a job interview and I thought it would be a good example of my versatility as a writer and a self-marketer (sidebar: this strategy has only worked once, and I hated the job it got me). I was never motivated to make another post...that is until today.
As stated earlier, Prince passed away. In my world of musical fandom, Prince fights it out with Stevie Wonder on a daily basis for the title of the greatest modern musician. 1A and 1B. Prince is more likely to be my 1A since I was alive for the mass majority of his releases, unlike Mr. Wonder.
Growing up in the 80s, there were two names. Michael Jackson and Prince. I loved MJ's music, but there was something about Prince's music that, in my mind, put him ahead of Michael. Being only a youngster when the Purple Rain soundtrack was released, I wasn't quite the music connoisseur I am now, but I still felt the experimentation in his music.
He wasn't pandering to the masses by making fun songs about monsters and illegitimate children. He wasn't backed by legendary producers. He didn't need to fill gaps with glittery accessories and dance moves. His music was guided by a pure artistic vision that was backed by heart and fortified with passion.
I have a somewhat fond memory of being four or five years old and getting pissed off at my parents for dropping me off at my grandma's house one night to sleepover. Not a fun sleepover, but a "walk in the door and take my ass to sleep because it's damn there 9 o'clock at night and grandma has to work in morning" sleepover. Why, because my parents wanted to go see Purple Rain at the movie theater. I was confused as fuck. "You mean to tell me they made a movie out of the song I kept hearing on the radio? Why can't I go? I like that song." When I snuck and saw that shit on cable a few years later, I understood why. One word...APOLLONIA. That was a bad woman in her prime (see photo).
Around that time, I also discovered the Purple Rain soundtrack, which, to me, is the greatest motion picture soundtrack of all time. There are certain songs, artists, and albums that I can look back to and say they changed the way I listened to music at the time. Purple Rain was the first album of this nature. It was only nine songs. Each song independent of one another and told a different story, but they all melded together perfectly to form the bigger picture.
The raw sexuality of Darling Nikki. The riot inciting sermon that is Let's Go Crazy. The pure genius of the title track. My hands down favorite from that album has to be The Beautiful Ones. That song just beautifully builds from calm simple piano chords in the beginning to a frantic climax at its conclusion. You are not a human being if you don't get the chills when Prince belts out "DO YOU WANT HIM...OR DO YOU WANT ME...'CAUSE I WANT YOU!" Go to the video below and skip to 3:25 and hear for yourself if you haven't already. How do you not feel that in your soul? That was just pure raw emotion that really hasn't been matched in a song since. Every time I hear that part, even thought I anticipate it, it hits me like the it's the first time I heard it.
Pure raw emotion. That is why Prince refused to be a slave to the system and fought tooth and nail to control the rights to all his music, and won that battle. He did not want to pour his heart and soul into is art only to let some media conglomerate decide what could be done with it. He could have rolled over and said "who the fuck cares" and collected checks, but his craft meant more to him than that. He fought for the right to control how and when he made music, not only for his fans, but most importantly, for himself. The art inspired him to create, and that notion has inspired me today.
The death of someone you admire can stir up many different emotions. Most tend to cope with sadness. While I am sad that Prince Rogers Nelson is no longer here with us in the physical form, I am happy that recalling my love for his musical masterpieces has inspired me to not only work on my craft again, but to return to the pure state of writing for myself and not for "likes," and for that I am greatly appreciative. That is the greatest gift any icon can give their fans as they leave this Earth.
This is usually where I end the post with my "you're welcome" tagline, but this time I would like to end by saying thanks. If you're listening, I would like to say thank you for sharing your gift with us and encouraging others to stay true to their art.
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