I have fond memories of 2006. Mike, my older brother since I met him when we moved next door and I were with our friend Bobby Holland. We were in the process of working with Sar Amiel on an album he produced and wrote. Sar created a beautiful album for Shadayah, a singer from the African Hebrew Israelites, Kingdom of Yah. And boy did Shadayah sang it.
Her range is incredible, and her voice is an amazing mixture of Jazz, Rhythm and Blues, and Gospel. Still to this day there is no one I have heard live that I would rather listen to sing a cappella. Everyone I let hear her sing, agreed that she had something special, including Bobby who had spent over 40 years taking photos and producing video of some of the greatest artists who ever lived. Stevie, Aretha, Michael Jackson, Richard Pryor, you name ‘em. There’s a good chance, Bobby took their pics.
Mike and I met Bobby during our years shortly after we stopped working with Nelly. We teamed up with Big Paul Tu’vai (Rest in Peace), who worked for Universal Records, to manage artists. Big Paul introduced Bobby to Mike and I and we hit it off right away. We hung out and looked for projects to work on together.
One summer day Bobby took Mike and I to meet Skip Saylor, a longtime music producer who owned a studio in Larchmont Village located in Hollywood, CA. Skip has worked with hundreds of artists from Tom Petty to Alicia Keys. We brought the unpolished version of the Shadayah recording. Skip loved the musical composition and Shadayah’s ability to hit her notes and ride the beat. He taught me how he listens to music and it was on a level of technicality I was unaware existed when I hear songs.
A few songs in and Skip was hooked. He leaned in and wanted to know all about Shadayah. I talked about the community in Israel where she lived, and he ate it up. He asked about her look, age, and personality. As soon as I told him she was in her 50s, he immediately interrupted me and said, “We have to find a new artist. An attractive 21 year old to recreate this music.”
I was pissed! This is what I couldn’t stand about the music business. We see our artists before we hear them and if we do not like the look (for whatever reason) it can affect how we listen to the music. Especially when corporate interests get involved. It was no longer about the music, it was about the artist’s look and lifestyle.
I expressed my reasons for why I wanted to promote her because of her talent and ability at her age. She was an unknown gem to me and I was excited to promote her album. Then Skip told me something that rocked the way I saw the world around me. He said with an arrogant commanding voice, “Look! Jesus was a rock star! He wore his guitar down low.”
I thought what the F is he talking about? And what does that have to do with Shadayah’s music? Skip stood up and took the stance of a rock and roll guitarist as he continued, “Do you really think Christianity would have so many followers if they made Jesus look like a wise old man with a cane? No they painted him with long hair, beautiful facial structure, and made him cool. He wore is guitar down low.”
That’s when it hit me, they didn’t just paint the picture of Jesus white, they made him a young attractive looking man that you would want to follow along. Now the stories of how great he was were even more impactful. And to this day, we promote the model look as often as possible to persuade people to buy our products or follow our branding. There is no sales pitch that has had greater success than the rock star they call Jesus Christ.
After all is said and done, the message of Christ is very different then the practice of Christian Colonial leaders and their followers. The question I have is can we the people finally get the message? I guess my next question is do we need a more accurate picture to do so?
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