3121

So, U knew it was only a matter of time b4 I wrote about the NUMBER ONE ALBUM IN THE COUNTRY, right? U GO, BOY!

Prince has debuted at #1 on the album charts for the very first time in his 28 year career. And I must say, I have been jammin' 2 it ALL WEEK!

It's hard 2 believe he's only had 4 number 1 albums and that his last number one album was the soundtrack for Batman waaaay back in 1989!

Somebody said 2 me last week when I brought up 3121 that they had heard the single Black Sweat and was not impressed because it sounded like something they'd heard b4 from him. I had to think about this ... and they were right, it sounds just like Prince. But is that a bad thing? No matter how many genres he fuses together or what detours he takes along his vast musical landscape, he has developed a sound that is all his own and it is unmistakable. I remember when I first heard Tevin Campbell's Ssssh on the radio thinking 2 myself, "damn, that sounds like a Prince song!" And it was! In fact, he released his own version of it the following year on The Gold Experience (one of his best albums EVER, period!) So, I say yes, it sounds just like everything he's done before and when you're one of the most lauded musicians of the last century, how could that possibly be a bad thing?

So, onto my review of 3121. It does sound like something he could have released in the mid-90s, but from beginning to end it ROCKS. I've listened to it repeatedly now and while I don't agree with a lot of critics who know nothing about this man's music (some of them say it's his best work since Sign 'o' the Times? What R they smoking?) I do agree that it is solid all the way through. It's his most enjoyable commercially driven record since Emancipation.

So, here's how I rank the songs from my favorite on down:

1. The Word - FANFUCKINGTASTIC! If anything on this album sounds like a departure for Prince, this is it. It's cool, it's sleek, it's mysterious, it's catchy as hell, and I haven't read one complaint (well maybe one) about it's content seeing as it's religious in nature. And that guitar and those drums at the end ... LAWDHAMERCY! He worked it out. This is hands down my favorite track.

2. 3121 - FUNK ... FUNK ... FUNKAYYY! This was just too much when i first heard. When he came in with that Camille voice I just knew I was in vintage Prince heaven. My only complaint with this song is that it's too short! He should have made this title track a ten minute opus like other ten minute title tracks he's done including Crystal Ball, The Rainbow Children, Come and Purple Rain! I just can't get enough (and I can't get that hook out of my head!).

3. The Dance - Ok. I knew I loved this song before I heard it because it was my favorite song on The Chocolate Invasion that he released through his music club just a few years ago. I had no idea he had reworked it and made it even better! The screaming and pleading at the end brought back memories of The Beautiful Ones - one of my fave Prince songs ever. While it's not as good as The Beautiful Ones, it's a haunting, stirring, lush and beautiful ballad.

4. Black Sweat - this shit is just TOO hot. I didn't really appreciate until I heard it full blast on my stereo. Sparse, funky and perfect that deep drum bass is enough 2 make u sizzle on a cold day. It's the perfect mix of "Kiss" and "Hot Thing".

5. Fury - my favorite thing about Prince is his guitar prowess. This old school Prince rock song kicks ass. Nuff said. And if U missed this song on Saturday Night Live, look it and up and watch it. Now!

6. Te Amo Corazon - everybody (including me) scratched their head when he released this song as his first single. It's just not for the masses, BUT it is quite simply beautiful and elegant. The music is perfection, it melody clings 2 U and the lyrics are so romantic it just makes U wanna ... well, U know! Love it ... I played it again and again and again and it got better each time.

7. Incense and Candles - 90's style R&B. When it's this good and catchy, how could you resist? A lot of people on some message boards dismiss this song, but it's very commercial sounding to me. It's smooth, produced to be slick and polished and he even raps without making me smirk. It's hawt.

8. Beautiful, Loved and Blessed - this song was a grower. I thought it was ok upon first listen, but after hearing for over a week now I must admit it's wonderful. Everything about it, the passion, the message, that kick ass end part with the guitar licks ... and U know what? Prince and Tamar sound damn good together!

9. Love - This song might rank higher if it weren't for that Atari sounding space bubble noise he inserts near the end of the song. It sounds like something that came off my 1989 Casio. It also reminds me of The Max 4 some reason. But since I liked the Max, that's fine with me! My fave part of this groove is the chant at the end ... "awwww shake that thang, come on!"

10. Lolita - this is cool, catchy pop, nothing special though.

11. Get on the Boat - Nobody knows how to put together a jam session like this man! This sounds like it might have come from The Rainbow Children. Very jazzy and jammy.

12. Satisfied - classic slow jam. Sounds like On the Couch part II, but I like On the Couch better. I wish he had extended it and put in some more guitar, but it's a cool, wispy little ditty as is.

Ok, Prince. 3121 is da bomb. Just don't make me wait another 2 years for your next album!

"This is where the purple party people B!" - Prince, 3121

Shit or Get Off the Pot

I don't know what 2 do. I have 2 admit it's nice 2 b wanted, but I wish someone else could make decisions 4 me in cases like this. I had two appointments today and basically had 2 offers. Great, right? Well, I would have to work double the hours that I work now, but they would both put me at almost triple what I'm making right now, and that's just in the first year! Again, great right? Well, if I do that, there is no way I'll have any time 4 my music. What would I be sacrificing?

Music makes me unbelievably happy ... but it just doesn't pay the bills. And if I'm honest with myself, what have I even done in the last 6 months?

I'm going 2 B 30 this year. It's high time I either take a shit or get off the pot, so to speak. If I'm going to really and truly pursue a career in music, that should be all I do. I've said it time and time again ... yet I just don't or can't see any economic promise to taking that route. A 30 year old black gay man making urban pop almost rock music has a chance of making millions of dollars ... but only a slim chance. It has a much greater chance of leaving me balls ass broke. Or, I could go this other route, work really hard for 5 years, invest right and have enough money to then work when I want 2, if I want 2 and do whatever I want 2. When I think about it, 5 years isn't all that long in the grand scheme of things. I've been at my current company for over 5 years now ... and what do I have to show for it? I'm still in debt, still struggling with my music and no early retirement plan in sight. So, basically, not a damn thing!

I think it is indeed time 2 get off the pot and be realistic about my future. It's just that it almost feels like I'd be burying a part of me ... even though I know that wouldn't be the case. I know that whatever I choose, I'll ALWAYS do music when I can, only if it's just for me. It's what makes me feel alive.

"Oh, I.. I..., I'm still alive!" - Pearl Jam, Alive

Things I've Learned (in the past 7days)

1. Never make fun of a could-be-psychotic-serial-killer who can't stand the fact that he's in your office twice 2 fix your dinosaur copy machine WHILE he's still in the building ... not unless U want the Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2 going down in Middle River.

2. U must embrace chaos b4 U can conquer it. Fighting against it will only have the opposite effect and further chaos will ensue. It's very much like that quicksand pit in those old cheesy B-films. Hmmm, my life as a
B-film ... interesting.

3. I'm black. I'm gay. People will not like me because of one or the other ... or both. Or maybe it's just cuz I'm so damn good-looking. :-)

4. I should be giving back 10 percent to the universe. Lawd knows I ain't got no moolah, so perhaps it should be in the form of service or time donated or actually smiling at the homeless hobos who have the balls 2 ask me on a date while I'm sitting in my car at a stop light. Only in downtown Baltimore!

5. There are PLENTY of jobs out there ... I just don't want any of them.

6. Any choices I make in the next 3 months will have a PROFOUND impact on the rest of my life.

7. Money may not buy happiness, but it will sure as hell afford it!

8. In the words of Prince, I am Beautiful, Loved and Blessed.

"You've got 2 get yourself 2gether, U got stuck in a moment and U can't get out of it." - U2, Stuck in a Moment

A New Muse

While finishing vocals on my last 2 songs last night in the studio, I made a comment that one day I'd have so much money that when I record I'll pay hot guys to come into the studio and be nude for inspiration. I was half joking but it might not be such a bad idea. It would definitely get my blood pumping, that's 4 sure. In fact, just thinking about it has my blood pumping. Sex in the studio. And then ... maybe I could make a documentary of it. Hey, I'm just saying!

Anyhoo, all vocals are done. Just a few more guitar tracks and then we're onto mixing. And then what? Still working on that ... in between finding a new job, working my marketing business, finding new digs, making major life choices and squeezing some time in for my beautiful bf, Mr. Adorable.

Hmmm, naked boys in the studio. It makes me smile. :-)

"The more I come 2 understand the touch of my hand." - Britney Spears, The Touch of My Hand

A Change is Gonna Come

And no, I ain't talkin' bout that Leela James record. I mean change in my life. Yesterday my boss announced officially that he is leaving. This makes me sad. He's a cool dude and all but the reason this really makes me sad is that it means I have somehow got to move up my timetable. I don't think I can make it here until July with him gone. (Especially with the crazy red head getting crazier everyday. I'm thinking she either needs 2 b medicated or committed. But I digress!)

But if I leave earlier than planned, that also means I have 2 (cringe) find a new job. I don't know what 2 do. I don't make bad money, it's an easy job, but I feel like I'm wasting away. Or maybe I'm the crazy one here.

And do you know that my bank account had zero dollars in it this morning? That's right. ZERO! That's never happened to me before in the history of my life. So, um, yeah, change is mos def coming.

Add to all that, I now have 2 find a new place 2 live. Long story, but I have a couple of months 2 find some new digs.

Now that my life is completely unraveling, I'm wondering if this wouldn't be the prime time to pack up and get the hell out of Baltimore.

Only ... where in the world would I go?

"Cause the whole, world, loves it when you don't get down .(Bah bah-da, bah bah bah-da da)" - OutKast, The Whole World

Irritate Me, Please

This morning on my way to my pay-the-bills-stuck-in-a-rut-of-a-daily-routine-dead-end-job, after listening 2 a few Prince songs 2 make up 4 the lack thereof last night (I watched my Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire DVD instead), I put in a tape in which it was said that sometimes people have 2 get irritated and fed up b4 they will acquire that necessary "GET OUT OF MY WAY cuz I'm making it" attitude they need. Well, Amen brother! I got it! So, now I'm not going 2 look at being "urrtated" as a bad thing, but as a motivational factor. As much as I've been urrtated lately, boy, I tell ya, somethin' big must be gon happen, I say!

Speaking of being "urrtated", the folks over at one of my fave websites After Elton R certainly urrtated (and with good reason) about Brokeback Mountain's Oscar loss. I read it daily (and I luv it) and while I mostly agree with everything they say, I just can't really get upset about an award. In the grand scheme of things awards don't really mean much. Plus, as they point out, Brokeback has won just about every other major movie award there is. It's broken barriers. It's got people talking. AND it's a brilliant and heartbreaking movie. Job well done. And yes, I still have vivid fantasies of being sandwiched naked in between Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger ... among other positions. But then again, I am a Deviant. hee hee

"I do believe I've been touched by an angel of loooo..ooo.uu..oo..uuuuve." - Celine Dion, A New Day

The Struggle 4 Success

Today I had 1 of those days when all I wanna do is pour me a few glasses of Crown & Ginger (or better yet have a few Saturn Cocktails ... oh wait, or some French Martinis), light a few candles, play some Prince records and sing my little ass off. I wish I had a friend that could relate, I could invite over and we could just chill like that. Unfortunately, I don't. My bf doesn't think much of Prince or drinking 4 that matter, and it's no fun 2 wallow by oneself. Anyhoo, it's not really wallowing if it makes U feel better, right? See, that's just why I luv music the way I do.

The Business: I don't know what's going on but it seems like I have the biggest Diamond in the world and I can't even give it away, know what I mean? People cancel their commitments with me all the time, don't want to hear what I have 2 say, run from me, don't return my calls, it's like they'd rather stay in their little rut than learn about a way 2 live the kind of life they truly wanna live. I just wanna SHAKE em' like a holy roller sometimes! Meanwhile everyone else in the group I'm working with is seeing success which is WONDERFUL because I share and prosper in their success, too. But still, I'm left scratching my head sayin' "what the hell am I doing wrong here?" I felt a little rejected and dejected ... but then I got over it, cuz it's not me. It's certainly not the business. It IS the greatest opportunity I've ever seen, the greatest opportunity out there PERIOD, and I have 100 % belief that I WILL be extremely successful with it. It's the people I'm talking to. It's just like my previous post, I've got 2 surround myself with forward thinking, ambitious people. That's my problem. I'm like the producers of Crash ... they had this highly successful and profitable Oscar winning movie (we won't even get into that because Brokeback should have won, no doubt), but they had to hear NO and PASS how many times before Lions Gate gave em a shot? The same is true 4 anything really. Movies, ideas, music ... getting through all the unfounded no's, crashing through people's misconceptions and getting them 2 see the fucking DIAMOND that's staring them in the face. Which leads me to part 2 of this rant.

The Music - my music is also a diamond. Right now it's in a cave and I'm trying 2 mine it out, but damnit I need some help! Another book I was reading said surround yourself with mentors and have a dream team. So, I'm gonna work on that ... I've already started in fact. Positive things R happening. I still don't think I'm in the right place ... place meaning Baltimore. Where should I go, what should I do? oh expert lover let me look in2 your Crystal Ball (<-- Prince reference 4 the uninitiated). I really feel like 2 be working at my full potential I should be firing all cylinders at once, I should be acting, writing (novels and screenplays like I used to) and doing my music. BUT there are just not enough hours in the day right now. Speaking of which ...

I only have 141 days left. Still scared shitless and not a clue what I'm gonna do 4 money yet.

"Somebody pray 4 me!" - Destiny's Child, Through with Love