The Miseducation of Brian McKnight…and Other Sexual Type Things
Late last night I was on Twitter trying to combat my insomnia when this video came across my timeline. Initially, I was intrigued because I saw Brian McKnight’s name, a name I had not seen in a long while. As a big fan of ’90s r&b, McKnight has long been someone who I acknowlegded as making great music. Brian has one of those signature voices that you just never forget. Upon clicking on the video link I wasnt really sure what to expect after reading the words “Adult Mixtape” in the title. Im thinking, “Is Brian going to hook up with DJ Drama and do a Gangsta Grillz possibly?” More intrigued now, I began watching the video. The first thought that crossed my mind was “wow, Brian still can sing!” The second was, “did he just say ‘Let me show you how your pussy works’?” Wow. Mr. “Anytime” is singing about making a woman’s pussy squirt? Shocking. I guess this is what he meant by “adult”? Damn, ok.
After watching the full video, still stunned, I headed back over to twitter to see my timeline wrought with McKnight slander. RTs upon RTs of people outraged that the man who made “One” would defame his own character by uttering the word “pussy”! Admittedly, at first I thought the whole ordeal was pretty funny myself.
I even wrote a tweet to Mr. McKnight asking him to “start back at one.” Clever, right?
In all the hurrah and “lmao’s”, I never stopped to think why Brian would be attempting to complete an “adult” mixtape in the first place. Or why was everyone so shocked by a 42-year-old crooner saying the word pussy? Kellz says it all the time and I never heard anyone complain. Jay-Z is 40-something and he can say pussy all day if he wanted. Why when Brian McKnight says ”squirt” is it an issue? I realized that because he has been making sensual, sweet love songs for the past 25 years, the casual listener can’t accept Brian doing something out of the norm. It’s a classic case of “I met you that way, stay that way”. People fall victim to it all the time. It’s part of the reason its so difficult for people to lose weight, particularly when you have been overweight for many years. An individuals family and friends are USED to seeing them BIG. So much so that the thought of that person not being big anymore is a little unnerving to them. Hence, these individuals will offer them unhealthy foods or even chastise the dieter for dieting or exercising in a effort to keep them in the mode in which THEY are comfortable in seeing the individual. That is one of the main reasons most dieticians and health professionals tell you to keep it to yourself that you are on a diet. Cuz haters gon’ hate.
Now McKnight has less of a weight problem and more of a pussy problem. Had he been using the word in his music throughout his career, no one would flinch. He steps out of his realm, or the box people have placed him in, and you have this debacle taking place on Twitter. Make no mistake, the song is dope! The lyrics are a lil crass but thats the point. Its not a love song, it’s a sex song! This is like Plies with a soothing voice and a piano. The melody, the piano, the vocals…all of that is nice. If another artist made this same track it would be all over the blogs, trust. People have to get over the initial shock factor and take it for what it is. Which is an artist stepping outside of what they are traditionally known for doing and experimenting with something else. Are ya’ll going to let one song overshadown 25 years of work? Thats nonsensical. The song is a parody of sorts. It’s for a mixtape…an adult mixtape. The very fact that Brian titled it as an adult mixtape tells you he knew he was pigeonholed before you even judged him. The man is 42-years-old! What the hell else would it be but adult?! I would be more shocked if Diggy Simmons wanted to make a pussy squirt. But, Brian McKnight..nah fam, he’s out of pocket! Get over yourselves people!
The other issue here that I recognized is something that McKnight pointed out as well. His twitter account ( which is not even verified) has less than 50k followers. How many of his “fans” were even aware he had a Twitter account 2 days ago? The bigger issue here is that we, and by we I mean Black folks, don’t support our artists once their not getting spins on urban radio or making 106 and Park appearances. The Rolling Stones and U2 can tour until their 90. Steely Dan beat Eminem for Album of the Year at the Grammys the year MMLP dropped. White people support their artists until they are dead. Yall won’t go pick up a Musiq Soulchild album right now and he aint even 35! Brian McKnight shouldn’t have to be making mixtapes at all (adult or otherwise) because he should be getting airplay off of album cuts on urban radio. Fact of the matter is, if you’re not Trey Songz or Chris Brown you’re not getting any radio spins nowadays. The male r&b group has gone the way of the dinosaur because of lack of support (Jagged Edge, the streets need another one!). The whole soul music genre is nearly extinct and this hip/pop sound is the only viable genre in urban music today. Black folks have to do a better job of coming out to shows and going into Best Buy to support these artists.
I feel for Brian McKnight. He’s just a man that wants to make mature, adult, sexual music and the powers that be won’t let him. He even bogged down and deleted the video from his official youtube account (which he says he may re-up). I encourage Mr. McKnight to make the music he wants to make and present to the fans the ways he would want us to see it. Any new music from a great songwriter-artist is always appreciated.
-Brey the Gemini (back at 1)
