Dr. Dre's Return

I am bold enough to embrace the Super Bowl half time show, touted before it premiered as "The greatest half time show ever!"  Those are strong words, but how could we know if they are true?  As a nation we have been listening to strong words from past President Donald Trump for four years, and most were lies.  He set the example for untruth in America.  The Republicans eagerly embraced lying as a kind of sensationalism, because before his supporters knew they were lies, they believed them and voted for him. Two years and a many felonies later, we realize this.  It is difficult to digest, a recent President pulling the wool over our eyes.  It is called, "Eating humble pie."  For those who bit on his hook, this is challenging.  Lying and misinformation have become commonplace in America.  It is everywhere, mostly on the internet and now television.  Television is a soiled medium, and there is not much to believe.  Take caution!  It was announced this would be the greatest half time show ever.  Okay.  That is good Afro-centric marketing; I am not being racist.  I am being realistic.  Think back to the Apollo Theater in Harlem, and the artists who played there.  James Brown decided his people should collect the door and keep the money rather than forfeiting it to a mob boss.  He had the strong arms to enforce this idea.  Black culture is different than white culture, and black music proved throughout our history many American whites were more comfortable with it.  Black music is the history of America, and yet we fail to recognize and apprciate jazz.  Emotional expression isn't racially universal.  There are those  emotionally stunted not possessing the genes necessary to experience deep emotionality.  We used to call them "tight ass."  With
"Political Correctness" things in America which were accurate became inappropriate.  No longer could you call a Jew a Jew.  No more ethnic jokes.  We became sensitive and entitled, and now this particular generation won't make it, because their skin is too thin.  Life never has been easy, and the quicker you grow that tough skin the more likely you will succeed and be happy.  America does not give it away.  No one gives it away.  You must work for it.  Dr. Dre has worked for it, but at one particular point those controlling America decided it was over.  Hip Hop and black popular culture came to a screeching halt.  MTV, VH-1, and BET stopped playing music, and the music video died.  Pop Country came in, and we have not been the same since.  I did not follow Hip Hop music personally, but its influence was everywhere in my job.  I was a ship pianist from 2003 until 2013, and the music we played could not escape the influence of Rap and Hip Hop.  I am not be a fan of Gangsta Rap or  its misogynist content.  I don't abuse women, smoke dope, or shoot up the neighborhood.  What I did like was the musical integrity and groove of Hip Hop, because it picks up where jazz left off.  Hip Hop swings like jazz, and before we knew it this music became its modern equivalent.  Before I left for ships I became well-versed in funk and Hip Hop, because I played in a band.  I spent hours trying to understand these styles of music and how to execute them on keyboards.  There are a myriad of nuances and concepts in this music, and I made sense of them with my analytical mind.  This is when I discovered Hip Hop swings, and it became second nature to me.  "Shuffle Funk."  I didn't pay attention to the profane lyric content; I just enjoyed the rhythmic feel and the sonic satisfaction it provided.  As I continued on ships this music was the underlying fabric that held things together.  There was music in the shows, the white man's interpretation of life, and there was music played in the crew bar late at night.  Hip Hop was the predominant style, because it was the music which if you allowed it, fulfilled your soul.  That is a deep concept, and I am too tired to discuss it now.  Suffice it to say, Dr. Dre.  Poet and don't know it.  I feel it was the appropriate choice for this half time.  First the recent history of these shows is controversial, not musical.  Like Trump's lies we have lost sight of the reality of music.  Musical artist.  They lip sync to prerecorded tracks.  That's all.  That is not the case with Dr. Dre, the first American musician and producer to become a billionaire.  It wasn't Elvis.  It wasn't Hendrix.  It wasn't Madonna.  It was Dr. Dre, and that is because he is an accomplished producer and visionary with very large and musical ears.  I have been listening to "What's My Name, Part 2" for a long time, and still it is artistic.  Dr. Dre's appearance at the Super Bowl was like an appropriate protest of the Civil Rights Movement.  He has worked his ass off producing in the music industry (and has made a lot of money), but he as a black man has been denied national recognition.  With going on three years of Covid and a disgraced white President, Dr. Dre's appearance was, "Why don't we try this on for size again?  It was working before, and it will work now."  Not everyone is a tight ass hillbilly extremist.  There are the rest of us who are able to understand the groove of the music and enjoy it.  Comparatively it was a well-produced show.  They were  having fun doing what they do best.  There was no jive.  There was no scandal.  There was no Trump.  It was just, "We are going to have a good time and enjoy this music."  Fully I understand those not embracing a street dressed white boy with a hoody.  If you have seen any of Eminem's Dr. Dre produced videos, you have a different opinion.  Those videos were the pinnacle of protest, anger, sexuality, art, and expression in America.  The bar had risen so high there was no where else to go, so the white men just wiped the slate clean.  We have not recovered.  Dr. Dre said, "We are still here doing what we always have done."  Still it has power, love, and spirituality, and still it entertains.  Watch the Eve and Gwen Stefani video, " I Wanna Blow Your Mind," and you will see integration at its best.  America knows how to live together in peace and harmony, but that doesn't make money for Donald Trump.