P Diddy Ugly, City of Angels, and a Wholesome Revolution
A better culture has been a long time coming
I am not remotely happy to see my various social media feeds full of the ugliness of the P Diddy abuse story and the now-obvious string to pull on the abusive norms of the entertainment industry.
But I am happy to not have to look and sound like a crazy person anymore when I hint at how dark it all is, and how this has contributed to my becoming a self-proclaimed “exile” of the music industry.
In the end, sticking to my principles and losing many opportunities as a result has been one of the most protective things I could have done, even though I didn’t know it.
I don’t want to focus on that, however.
What I do want to focus on is how the world and society, as they see the level of scandal and perversion normative within entertainment, is going to be ever more ready for a wholesome revolution whose time has come - ready for much better alternatives in music and arts and entertainment.
It’s a huge reason why I have bothered with an electro-pop project when I’d happily just record acoustic songs on my guitar for the rest of my life. People need and crave alternatives: fun pop songs that don’t undermine their dignity and principles, and especially those of their children.
Pop music is currently done mostly by people whose hearts have become incredibly dark and twisted. The end result is obvious, although I’ve been sad to see it isn’t that obvious to many people. I’m hopeful that is changing.
What we see come out in lyrics and videos and on stage is, almost by definition, just the tip of the iceberg of the ugliness within these people’s psyches and behind-the-scenes behavior.
We shouldn’t put up with it anymore.
We shouldn’t allow, for example, Christina Aguilera’s attempted comeback after she has sexually abused generations with her grotesque, pornified visuals.
She herself, as an 18-year-old singer, was likely subjected to a lot of things we won’t ever know. Whether technically criminal is beyond my pay grade, but there is so much in the power dynamics that is worth spotlighting. Her major first hit, the risqué “Genie in a Bottle,” was written by a few late 40s writers. Imagine: two money-hungry older dudes writing about a young girl’s desire for sex, complete with sick double entendres, intended for a young teenage audience.
Gross. This is a good summation of the music industry.
But she herself then becomes what she had done to her. Ugly heart, ugly performances and songs and corrupting generations. The songs and visuals only got worse from there.
No more of this.
I wrote this song about LA and its dark underbelly, calling her back to hope and to be who she was always supposed to be: a bright light:
Little pueblo, I know who you are
The heartbeat pumping under all these wounded stars
Think of all the ones who went before
And all the ones to come
City of Angels: angels, come back..
And I and many others are creating real alternatives to what is currently on offer, signaling the beginning of a long-needed wholesome revolution.
The public square, way more than needing to be “right-wing” needs to be clean and wholesome again. The world should exist for the innocent, rather than the innocent being used for gain - both in the entertainment acts themselves, and in the naive listeners soaking in every word and watching degradation.
Let me note here, too, that clean and wholesome doesn’t equate with lame and low-quality. Neither does sophistication mean dark and perverse. These are the twisting of an entertainment that grooms its audiences through the Disney years then flips the switch into near-histrionic sexuality once the young starlets turn 18.
We used to know this: one need not sacrifice moral convictions and public appropriateness to create good art.
The public sphere can be a place of human nobility again. The world’s greatest talent can be at the service of true human good rather than its enemy.
Together, we can re-build from the ashes of this collapsing industry. I will be fighting that fight, and I hope you will join me.
"We used to know this: one need not sacrifice moral convictions and public appropriateness to create good art."
Yes! Yes! Yes!
I have been so grieved by so many artists in the "Christian" sphere who seem to be loosening from their mooring too easily, and it seems they all have something in common. They seem to feel that art necessitates some kind of autonomy from boundaries, as if being an artist somehow gives a person a license to be free of all responsibility to established truth, or to others, as long as you're being "true to yourself". Recently I heard someone who I used to deeply respect say that he tries on-purpose to make art that is not Christian, whatever that means. In the context it seemed that he didn't want to associate with the uncool factor of Christianity. Does he want to separate the fruit from the tree? Is that even possible?
I understand the backlash agains much art that is truly not very good, and unskilled, and un-nuanced. But in protest, let us keep making good art and putting it out there where art is!
Keep up the awesome work and telling it like it is.