From Soul-Patrol:

Over the past few weeks, in the wake of the large number of iconic artists who have passed away, I have gotten a whole bunch of email regarding the Black music of the past vs. the Black music of the present.

Many folks have written in and suggested to me that there isn’t any “great music” being made anymore and that they wish that things could be “the way they used to be.”

I completely disagree with that line of thinking. Time does move forward. And we have to move forward with it, else we can cease to exist.

Right now there is probably more great music available, than at any point in my lifetime. And for that I am happy.

Is that music more difficult to find, because it is no longer “filtered” by the great Black radio stations of 30 years ago and by TV shows like Soul Train? (yup)

But that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist or that we shouldn’t support the great artists who are creating it.

It’s a funny thing about “nostalgia.” People always get “nostalgic” about the past. However, few of us would actually want the world we are living in today to return to the world we grew up in. To do so would mean giving up all of the progress we have made not only as a society and as individuals.

The real challenge for all of us isn’t to go backwards. The real challenge is to take what we have and mold it in a manner so that the future is better than the past. I like to think that I am up to that challenge…

I listen to anywhere between 200 – 300 new songs every week. Of that number I hear 20-30 great records. Bout 10 percent. Do the math, that’s 1520 great songs that I personally listen to every year.

But let’s say I am wrong. Lets say that I am too easy (which I am not.) Lets say that instead of the number being 10%…..that it’s really 1%. That would mean that the number of great songs each year would be 152 instead of 1520. Could you handle 152 BRAND NEW and COMPELLING songs in your life each year?

I “discover” 100% of this music via the internet. It is all right here at your fingertips.

Some people don’t want to hear this, however that is the reality.

God didn’t stop handing out talent in 1979.

The problem is that many people are stuck on their “comfort food,”{and for some reason can’t get out of that bag when it comes to music. IMHO that is a sad commentary on a generation of people who when they were younger quite literally were willing to “experiment” with everything under the sun.

They are even in fact willing to give up the “freedom” available today to discover new music in exchange for the “slavery” of having the music discovery process dictated to them by powerful/corrupt media interests who do not have their best interests in mind.

Hell in today’s world, not only do you have the freedom to listen to all of this music for free, but you also have the ability to provide DIRECT FEEDBACK to the artist (good or bad) at the click of a button, and thereby as a fan become a part of the creative process in a manner that was totally impossible back in the “slave” days. Who here wouldn’t have liked to have been able to tell an artist like Kool & the Gang, that they “were losing their way,” back in 1979? (I would)

Or to be able to listen to the Commodores “Machine Gun” album back in 1974 and then decide to ONLY purchase “I Feel Sanctified” and “Machine Gun,” without having to also purchase the other crappy songs on that album? (I would)

See some people don’t really like “freedom.” That’s cuz…

FREEDOM AIN’T FREE

They don’t want to accept the responsibility that comes along with freedom!

As a music fan, I love being able to discover vast quantities of outstanding music, without being dictated to by radio, tv, magazines or any other media, that I want to listen to over and over again. As a music fan I love being able to discover artists I have never heard of before, doing live performances that make me want to see them perform live again.

In fact, I think that having the ability to do all of the above, is the very definition of what a “music fan,” is supposed to be…