Response to What Happened to the Kings?
Hello all,
The question, made in reference to the Original Kings of Comedy tour, and why the four didn’t come together for a second tour:
Do you feel that prominent black entertainers should have a vested interest in their own community? Should prominent black entertainers disregard responsibilities to their own communities for the pursuit of commercial gain?
As I said yesterday, the significant gain of the tour wasn’t so much about monetary success; rather, it was about the issues brought up and the collective interest of a community inspired by the unprecedented endeavor.
Well, let’s look at the four and life after the Kings. Harvey and Hughley. have had moderate success: Harvey finished up his self-titled sitcom in 2002, followed by a career laden with BET MC work, while Hughley’s TV show fizzled out after a few seasons. D.L.’s starting up a new show on Comedy Central, Weekends at the D.L., that’s supposed to compete with Jon Stewart’s the Daily Show. Don’t think that’s happening folks…at any rate…
The Kings’ tour served as a launchpad for Cedric and Bernie Mac. Cedric’s rise seemed logical, being the most family-friendly of the four, Cedric’s antics seemed destined for TV and movie fame. The brash Bernie Mac’s success, however, was surprising for a guy who was most known for Def Comedy Jam acts, being Moesha’s uncle and playing Dollar Bill in “The Players Club”. Mac enjoyed a sitcom, as well as a number of movie roles, most recently playing alongside Punk’d star Ashton Kutcher in “Guess Who”, and Ced’s “Eddie” role in the Barbershop movies set him in a new echelon of actors.
The heart of the matter, however, is the attitudes of black entertainers. What happens to a lot of entertainers is that they become what we call ‘commercial’, meaning that their pursuit of money makes them 21st century editions of Steppin’ Fetchit, or makes them irresponsible primadonnas. I tend to use the term in reference to those who associate upward mobility with suburban life, looking to entertain the TRL group as opposed to the 106th and Park group, under the pretense that there is more money in those circles. That may be true, but it doesn't take away from the disappointment of seeing the BET Awards look like it's run by 5-year olds in comparison to MTV award shows, or seeing Cedric perform at venues like Florida State but not want to go to neighboring Florida A&M.
This is what hurts so much about the Kings not coming back for a second tour, what hurts when Mos Def and Talib Kweli don’t combine wonder twin powers and become Black Star again. It’s a flagrant disrespect to those who don’t respect the power of the Black dollar, those who don’t understand that, for better or for worse, we spend FAR MORE than any other race group. When the Kings don’t come back for a second tour, it’s invariably more painful then when Bill O’Reilly can make enough negative comments about hip-hop to make Pepsi cut Ludacris from their advertisement endeavors.
Well, in closing, I’d like to say there’s one person who didn’t forsake community, or the collective interest. It’s producer Spike Lee, (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000490/), whose work has had ‘the collective interest’ in mind for almost two decades now. So everybody do the right thing out there. Love you all,
The Good Doctor
The question, made in reference to the Original Kings of Comedy tour, and why the four didn’t come together for a second tour:
Do you feel that prominent black entertainers should have a vested interest in their own community? Should prominent black entertainers disregard responsibilities to their own communities for the pursuit of commercial gain?
As I said yesterday, the significant gain of the tour wasn’t so much about monetary success; rather, it was about the issues brought up and the collective interest of a community inspired by the unprecedented endeavor.
Well, let’s look at the four and life after the Kings. Harvey and Hughley. have had moderate success: Harvey finished up his self-titled sitcom in 2002, followed by a career laden with BET MC work, while Hughley’s TV show fizzled out after a few seasons. D.L.’s starting up a new show on Comedy Central, Weekends at the D.L., that’s supposed to compete with Jon Stewart’s the Daily Show. Don’t think that’s happening folks…at any rate…
The Kings’ tour served as a launchpad for Cedric and Bernie Mac. Cedric’s rise seemed logical, being the most family-friendly of the four, Cedric’s antics seemed destined for TV and movie fame. The brash Bernie Mac’s success, however, was surprising for a guy who was most known for Def Comedy Jam acts, being Moesha’s uncle and playing Dollar Bill in “The Players Club”. Mac enjoyed a sitcom, as well as a number of movie roles, most recently playing alongside Punk’d star Ashton Kutcher in “Guess Who”, and Ced’s “Eddie” role in the Barbershop movies set him in a new echelon of actors.
The heart of the matter, however, is the attitudes of black entertainers. What happens to a lot of entertainers is that they become what we call ‘commercial’, meaning that their pursuit of money makes them 21st century editions of Steppin’ Fetchit, or makes them irresponsible primadonnas. I tend to use the term in reference to those who associate upward mobility with suburban life, looking to entertain the TRL group as opposed to the 106th and Park group, under the pretense that there is more money in those circles. That may be true, but it doesn't take away from the disappointment of seeing the BET Awards look like it's run by 5-year olds in comparison to MTV award shows, or seeing Cedric perform at venues like Florida State but not want to go to neighboring Florida A&M.
This is what hurts so much about the Kings not coming back for a second tour, what hurts when Mos Def and Talib Kweli don’t combine wonder twin powers and become Black Star again. It’s a flagrant disrespect to those who don’t respect the power of the Black dollar, those who don’t understand that, for better or for worse, we spend FAR MORE than any other race group. When the Kings don’t come back for a second tour, it’s invariably more painful then when Bill O’Reilly can make enough negative comments about hip-hop to make Pepsi cut Ludacris from their advertisement endeavors.
Well, in closing, I’d like to say there’s one person who didn’t forsake community, or the collective interest. It’s producer Spike Lee, (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000490/), whose work has had ‘the collective interest’ in mind for almost two decades now. So everybody do the right thing out there. Love you all,
The Good Doctor
posted by The Good Doctor at 11:29 AM
1 Comments:
So, on a change of subject, something's come to my attention in this great city of New York that made me want to address this blog. My question: How do you prefer your racism? Covert, under-the-table, cutting-the-eyes, clutching-the-purse when you walk by discrimination...or in-your-face, what-you-doing-here, blatant racism?
I thought living in the South would be the biggest challenge for a black person. But no, that's where we get the first kind of racism that I mentioned. I never had to look racism in the face...just kinda glimpsed it out the corner of my eye. Then, not only did I move north, to a big city (the biggest in the states?), but I also moved into the professional world, and the difference is as plain as paint on the walls. And not just from whites or against blacks. A few exhibits, if I may:
Exhibit A - Saturday night, mixer for professional students in the neighborhood of my ivy league university. Black bouncer. A group of 3 whites walk up, he asks, "Oh, are you with the law school? Go right in, party's in the back." Then a group of 3 blacks and a mexican walk up, directly followed by another group of 4 whites. The bouncers tells the group of blacks, "hold on a sec" and asks the whites behind them "oh, hey, you're with the law school right? Go right in, party's in the back." Did I mention that the 3 blacks and the mexican are enrolled in law school?
Exhibit B: young mexican woman (mentioned in A) enters the law school bldg of said school wearing a jersey and basketball shorts around same time as some members of the majority race. White Doorman swiftly approaches her -walks past any other students - and asks "do you have any business in the LAW SCHOOL"??
Exhibit C: young well-dressed black male is walking toward residence hall of said law school. Doorman is standing a bit down the street, outside. doorman promptly begins following man down the street and then into the building to demand what business he had at the building (sound familiar).
What is a young black person trying to make it supposed to do? How do we deal with the the discrimination around us? How would you deal? And how do you prefer your racism?
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