How many times have we seen artists struggle with their public image? Many big artists go through a slow transition process to gain more control over their look and sound. Just think of Mariah Carey or Kylie Minogue. Others act out, in order to find better ways. Think Britney Spears or Justin Bieber. But most artists suffer in silence. Years ago, through a friend, I got to hang out with her and Montell Jordan, and some of his friends, backstage at an R&B event. In the dressing room, he was telling us about his love for Gospel music and how he had become deeply religious in recent years. It was a stark contrast to some other R&B stars, who were partying with substances in the dressing rooms next to us. Shortly after he returned to the States, he posted his planned retirement from R&B music on Facebook to preach at his church instead. Even though I guess I saw it coming, this move was something that intrigued me.
I only had half the story at that time, because pretty soon some promos appeared for a show about him. He and his wife would talk about their lives in the music game. I recently found it on YouTube and the whole thing started to make more sense. Montell got caught up in the making of a super star. Image has always been something important in music. I recently saw a reporter say that a pop star is good at taking your dream and selling it back to you. For instance, if you want to rebel a little against the establishment, you're most likely to buy records from someone who represents that. It give you the feeling you are rebelling yourself. I think this is pretty well put.
As music fans, we do seek out the music and artists we can identify with. So, the music industry has decided that we don’t really like to see an artist as a storyteller, who’s video will portray the song, but the artist doesn’t necessarily have to live it in real life. Kind of like an actor. At minimum, the artist has to pretend to be what they represent.
And so, Montell Jordan got caught in his image. He was singing about partying and women, while in reality, he was married with kids all along and he, as a person, wasn't at all what he represented. And everyone, including his wife, was ok with this, when they thought it was to last a minute, but the longer his career went on, the more strain they all felt.
I know exactly what it’s like when you get to be known for something that turned out not to be you. Turning that around is such a difficult thing to do. It takes guts, because it's kind of like an actress getting plastic surgery done on her most characteristic facial feature, and hoping that she'll still get work after. I actually have no idea how he's doing right now, but I boldly assume he's feeling much better. I too stopped doing the career people knew me and am still working on building my new life. From the outside, it was considered a radical move, but for me, it was returning to myself. What they knew me for, was not who I was and being true to yourself is so much better. I have such respect for Montell Jordan and his family to turn it around and can so relate to it. This is how we do it.
