2009/08/09

Death. Fame.........and Sheep.

Death......Fame......and Sheep.

Why is it that one's life achievements are magnified upon an untimely death? Jay Dee, Baatin...While I'm glad that their work is being recognized, and glorified, why is it that we only appreciate their art upon their passing? Why couldn't they have been the recipient of fame while they were still with us?

"No one gets the roses while they can still smell'em..."

Honestly, look deep inside of yourself and ask this question...When did you discover J Dilla? His popularity is at an all-time high today, and I've never seen so many J Dilla t-shirts in my life! He was always magnificient, but I saw very few, if any t-shirts when he was alive. Who was a fan back when JD was part of The Ummah? The who? exactly...1st down? J-88? The Fantastic volumes?.... I remember bumping Get Dis Money off of vol. 2 every Friday when I got spare change for my allowance. Who shares these memories? Back in the day if you brought up Dilla's name a lot of people were like...hmmm? oh yeah JD? the guy from SoSoDef? Nope! Why is his afterlife success dwarfing the recognition he received when he walked amongst us. Wait, hear that coming?....it's the sheep. These are the mindless drones that bought up all his records, wikipedi-uhd his career : D, and celebrate him as the greatest producer ever, but never knew he existed before his death. The sheep move when society moves...you market to them, they buy it.

The sheep love trends.

Sometimes, I don't even know if they genuinely like Dilla, or, if it's just culturally cool to like him...? Or maybe, out of a sense of guilt, it's human nature to feel an obligation to research his work.... simply because we didn't appreciate, or celebrate it sufficiently while he was still here? Either way, Dilla is well-deserving of praise...I'm just saying, we coulda delivered the roses a little sooner...

Not even Michael Jackson could escape the allure Death and Fame provides the sheep. I was shopping in Amoeba the other day and two girls next to me came across an old Michael Jackson record..."We have got to buy this!" one of'em yelled....Why? Why have you got to buy this? This Michael Jackson record...Two months ago I doubt they would have looked at it twice! But ya know...so goes the story of death and fame. A week before his death, roughly 48,000 Michael Jackson songs were downloaded....One week after his death...an estimated 2.6 million Michael Jackson songs were downloaded....Damn, did I miss something? Did his music get THAT GOOD upon his passing into the eternal? No, it didn't. But now, the sheep seem to love him. I can't walk down the street without hearing someone bumping thriller now.... : D I can't help but laugh at the thought of it! As far as album sales, Michael Jackson had a reported increase of almost 3,500(wait I have to spell that out) Three Thousand, Five hundred percent! ....after his death. Shame on you, Sheep.

Ahem. Can we deliver the roses sooner please? There's so many other artists, humanitarians, musicians I could mention....but you get the point. Let's cherish the talents, individuality, that each person brings to this planet, both during, and after life...I agree, we should do things in remembrance of these people when they're gone, but lets celebrate them equally while they are here.............Well, that's a nice thought, but as for now...

I'll just kick back and wait for the numerous Baatin t-shirts every streetwear brand is gonna be producing out the ass pretty soon.

Wake up, People.

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