Today I was on the train listening to my ipod as usual. On this particular day I decided that I was in the mood for a little old school Janet (Miss Jackson if you're Nasty). The trains sucked as usual so I had plenty of time to listen to plenty of songs. As I listened to hit after memorable hit a conversation that I have had many times with friends came to mind again. The conversation centers around a very basic question. The question is why do we spend sooooooooo much time and energy focusing on feeling bad, holding grudges and generally remembering bad emotions, but so very little time of being thankful for the good times and aware of pleasant feelings?

No where is this more clear to me than in our appreciation or lack thereof when it comes to great music and the artists who created it.

Janet Jackson is quite simply an icon. She is a living legend and hit machine. I can't take an accurate count of how many top ten hits she's had because they are so plentiful. I can't count how many pleasant memories I have of her dazzling myself and the world with her dance moves and innovative videos, but there are tons of such moments and memories. However, for some reason we tend to focus on the negative (the Superbowl fiasco) and the (admittedly) mediocre songs on some of her recent releases. There is another conversation that my friends and I have privately, but I am going to make public...I wonder if African-Americans fully appreciate the history and sacrifices that have been made by stars from bygone eras?

it is not at all rare to see 20 year old white kids at Rolling Stones or U2 concerts with and without their parents. Some how some respect for history and passion for culture gets passed down. This may not be the case across the board, but it is certainly prominent. On the other hand I have a difficult time finding 20 year old kids of color or hip hop heads who'd even know who Earth, Wind and Fire or Prince are (except for a skit on the Chappelle Show). Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin and a handful of others are familiar because they get carted out at every awards show like set pieces, but rappers and their fans rarely have any idea who any of the other iconic artists are who they have sampled to death.

Part of the reason I started this blog is to share visual art with all of you. Another huge motivation is to shine a light on all the talented artists who did so much so that today's artists would have the abiltity to do their own thing today. Until Michael Jackson there were basically no black artists on MTV. Black artists literally invented Rock and Roll. Disco music and it's descendants house and electronica are other creations of African-American artists. of course the greatest example of an artform we created and abandoned completely is Jazz.

This week I plan to spotlight Janet Jackson. She's an incredible artist who has brought each of us great moments, memories and music over the years and I for one am grateful for her contribution to Urban Pop culture and African-American history. I acknowledge that there have been moments recently where even I have to question her commitment to greatness and willingness to continue to innovate, but now and then instead of judging or jumping on to a bandwagon..maybe..just maybe..you should listen to the music for yourself. I am not a fan of the Feedback video and I really think that Rock Wit U was a terrible choice for a second single. However, when you get past those mistakes the CD was actually quite decent. Luv is perhaps her best song in years and there are a handful of other cuts that were well crafted soulful pop pleasures.

We all like what we like and there's nothing wrong with that, but it sure would be nice if every now and then you took a second and thought about the hard work that artists put into making art to make us happy.