Gang, the year is 2010, and the economy is bad, real bad. However, we do have the first man of color as the President of the United States of America, and a strong sister as his first lady. Nevertheless, black culture is in baaaddd shape. And I do mean bad, as bad as an uneducated black man trying to find a job these days.
The main culprit we fight against right now is money. Simply speaking, black people still don’t have any. Or at least not enough of it to create products and services that we could market, produce, and sell within our own community, enough of which to make a living from. You don’t believe me, just ask a black man or woman to invest in a new business. And they’ll ask you, “With what? Microwave popcorn and Ramin noodles?” We can afford plenty of that. But real hard cash these days is tough to find in the hood.
But white America . . . oh, don’t be fooled by the economy. White Americans still have money, and they still find ways to spend it on the things that are most important to them, like; cell phones, computer games, technology gadgets, televisions, movies, sports, groceries, celebrity gossip. You name it, they are still breaking records to spend for it.
So intelligent black people - God bless their survivalist hearts - have recognized as much. And before they allow pure American capitalism to leave them behind in the hood again, intelligent and culturally astute black people have remembered the first and oldest American law of economics . . . cross-over to wealthier, more numerous and generous white Americans in order to make a good living.
Oh yeah! You better believe it! Blacks in professional sports still, and will always, make good money. Mainly because white Americans still and will always spend good money to see super professional athletes do their thing. Black comedians, mainly if white folks can follow their humor, are still able to demand a rock solid 5 figures A NIGHT for a comedy show. Black actors, mainly named Smith, Washington, Murphy, Lawrence and now Foxx, can crossover and make 7 to 8 figured per film. Provided, that role is mixed in with a majority of white actor characters, where a cross-over audience can relate.
And now let’s talk about black music, who have used the word “cross-over” more than anyone. Well . . . do we still even have black music anymore? I can’t tell with all of the so-called “pop” hits that have increasingly moved into the “urban” market these days. The strong and individualized soul of black artists has been transformed into a generic bubble gum flavor that white kids can chew. Even hip hop has softened into a kind of “hip pop” or “pop hop,” if you will.
Why, because white kids still have money to spend and will spend it if they like it. But black kids . . . Well, they’re broke. So they don’t get any music anymore, unless it’s the new urban dance craze song, where they can strut their stuff on YouTube like the old days of popping, locking and break dancing from the 80s. But did anyone really make any money off of that? Unless of course, you got a break dancing or tap-dancing show on Broadway where, ummm, adventurous, thrill-seeking white folks would pay to see these amazingly talented inner-city black kids and Hispanics, who could dance like nobodies business.
So here we are again. No matter how much times have changed, black folks still end up singing, dancing, running, jumping, shooting, swinging, punching, and clowning for Mr. Charlie to make a good living. Otherwise, you’re just another nameless and faceless black person out in the cotton field.
And you better not go against the “pop culture” (meaning more white people) grain unless you name is Jay Z, performing a bold and bad No Autotune song. Then again, No Autotune, and a hood-based song with Young Jeezy, a non-crossover artist, who has recently been left behind, were the only 2 songs on Jay Z lasted Blueprint 3 album that were not “hip hop pop” songs shared with Rihanna, Alicia Keys, Kanye West, Timbaland and several other crossover artists. So even Jay Z knew where to get his latest pay-check from, including a mega millions deal with Live Nation, and international touring company, while marrying Beyonce (no last name needed), the supreme, crossover diva.
But who am I to talk? I used a crossover move myself, by signing with the powerful publishing house of Simon & Schuster some fifteen years ago to get my increased hustle on within the African-American book game. And although my supportive audience was 95% black, it was still the big white bucks of Simon & Schuster that helps me to do it, when black publishers were not interested or financed well enough to back me.
However, the black readership and media outlets who supported us book writers in the past, have now gotten bored with us and moved on up to a bigger, badder, fatter and 20X more visual promotion of Tyler Perry stageplays, television and film. So I now work desperately to crossover into those arenas of film, television and stageplays myself to make a living in 2010. This isn’t 1999 anymore. As Will.I.Am, the crossover front man, producer and performer of the Black Eyed Peas sang on Oprah’s Show after Barack Obama’s election to the presidency, “It’s a new daaaay . . .” And he was very happy to sing so. But is it really a new day . . . ?
Black people have been hit by Americas present economic recession more than anyone, with less jobs, less income, more home foreclosures, and less culture now to uplift them. Outside of Barack, Michelle, Malia, Sasha and Bo sitting pretty in the White House, of course. The Black First Family seem to keep many in our community optimistic that a new day is still right around the corner for us.
Nevertheless, Tyler Perry - God bless his hardworking soul - is one of the very few black men these days who can still earn a good living from black support without crossing-over. That’s why white Hollywood is continually confused about how he is able to win at the box office with his films, which they don’t consider to be . . . good enough, or ummm, universal enough (meaning more white characters and subjects that white people can relate to) to succeed economically.
Of course, Tyler Perry, still gets his film distribution muscle from Lionsgate, a very strong independent white studio, and he has also made excellent friends now with Oprah Winfrey, the crossover queen of the FREE WORLD to help promote his creative products and services to his audience.
And don’t get it twisted here, I’m not hating on any of these guys. On the contrary, I am very happy for them. ALL of them! I’m only stating a 21st Century fact of white and black America in year 2010, that’s all. Despite Barack Obama as president, we are catching a very cold winter right now, just like always. Unless we can, like Obama did, prove that we are worthy enough to somehow show white folks with money that it’s okay for us to make a good living up in the big house. Even for me now.
Unless I can find a way to crossover to bigger, longer, generous and supportive money from a white company again myself, I may no longer be of any good to you guys. As Jay Z rapped uncompromisingly on his first album, Reasonable Doubt, before he crossed over into “pop culture”, “N---a you broke, f--- you gone tell me.” In other words, your opinions and advice only have value when your bank account does as well. And if not, then don’t even speak. So maybe I need to find myself a major radio show deal like Michael Baisden, Tom Joyner, Steve Harvey, Tavis Smiley, and Wendy Williams. But oops . . . wait a minute. Those guys have all been able to crossover too, if not with their audience, then with the radio station conglomerates who control the airwaves, including sister Cathy Hughes’ Comcast-invested company of Radio and TV-1.
There’s just no way around the crossover to live well in America. And I hate to say it, but not even black drug dealers are producing the ingredients of their products locally. It’s still all imported. So if you want to find a way out of the hell that we have recently found ourselves in, once again, then please practice your crossover dribble for forever ready ESPN crowd of overexcited white students, alumni, staff, and parents, who will wildly cheer you on and wear your team colors and jerseys with painted bodies and faces, happy as ever to line up early and all night and pay handsomely for another opportunity to watch you succeed at entertaining them.
Wow! As much as things have changed . . . You get the point. Now go practice. I’m already at the gym.
Omar Tyree, a New York Times best-selling author, a 2001 NAACP Image Award recipient for Outstanding Literature in Fiction, and a 2006 Phillis Wheatley Literary Award winner for Body of Work in Urban Fiction, has been cited in 2009 by the City Council of Philadelphia for his work in Urban Literacy, and has published 19 books with 2 million copies sold worldwide that has generated more than $30 million. With a degree in Print Journalism from Howard University in 1991, Tyree has been recognized as one of the most renown contemporary writers in the African-American community. He is also an informed and passionate speaker on various community-related and intellectual topics. Now entering the world of business seminars, urban children’s books, feature films and songwriting, Tyree is a tireless creator and visionary of few limitations. For more information on his work and titles, please view his web site @ (www.OmarTyree.com).
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Broke & Sexy The truth about contemporary American dating . . .
A Conversation With Writer Omar Tyree
Q: After more than a decade of writing popular and successful novels, why did you now decide to write a stageplay?
A: Well, I've also written several screenplays for feature film production at this point, but that process is tremendously long, expensive and taxing, particularly on your first big project. So while my partners and I continue to move along in the film production stages, I asked myself, "Why not write a stageplay that you can produce and stay active with in the meantime?" And the decision was helped along when I read a marketing e-mail that announced Tyler Perry going back out on the road with a new "Madea" play.
Q: And that information influenced your decision?
A: Oh, definitely. I mean, here's a man who took the black stageplays to another level, and it's obvious that there is an audience out there for the medium. You just have to come up with an idea to execute that will bring outa steady crowd of supporters. And since I'm no longer writing 400-page books, I figured that writing an 85-page stageplay would be a breeze.
Q: And was it?
A: Oh yeah. I wrote it over the 2-week Christmas and New Year's holiday break and took it to the Library of Congress to secure the copyrightalready. That was the easy part. But now the hard part begins; casting, producing, directing, finding promotional partners, and taking the play out there onthe road.
Q: Now the subject of your play - Broke & Sexy - seems to be extremely timely.
A: If you know about my career as a novel writer, I've always been one to write timely material about our community. And for my final novel Pecking Order, published in September 2008, I wrote about the state of American entrepreneurship because we all need to think about creating new economicsfor ourselves. I followed that up with The Equation, a non-fiction book onbusiness. So, for my first stageplay, while we are still in hard economic times, I wanted to speak about the difficulties of dating in this depressed economy.I see that as a very valid and serious topic that you can make fun of and learn from at the same time.
Q: But will people want to watch a stageplay about those economic truths, or find something that allows them to get away?
A: Well, I've never been the "get-away-from-my-problems" kind of writer. I've always written about the hard truths in my work. However, with a stageplay, I'm able to be more humorous with those truths. So it's a veryfunny play that couples will indeed have a ball with. Then you have actors whowill have a ball depicting the well-rounded characters that I came up with. So, have no fear, the entertainment element is all there. I just base the playon a subject that is definitely valuable to us right now.
Q: What is your target audience?
A: You know, I have always had a pause when it comes to target audiences for my work, because you never really know who will eventually come out to support you. You always hope for the largest audience possible, but realistically, you have to review the content and the delivery of yourmaterial, as well as the audience who have been a part of the natural marketplace thatyou fall into with your project. And with that being said, I would expect to attract the African-American working class who typically support stageplays.At the same time, I would also hope to attract a few college-aged supporters, and possibly crossover to non-blacks, who may be interested in the contemporary economic content that is involved.
Q: In light of the economic issues highlighted within the play, how do we as African Americans prepare our youth in college, so that they are better prepared for corporate America?
A: You can prepare all college students for corporate America by telling them, or demanding them, to do internships in their freshman, sophomore, junior and senior years. The best way to learn is to be there. And corporateAmerica is always open to free young labor, especially now. So when thoselazy college students wait until the last minute to intern in their field ofwork, or don't make the sacrifices that are needed to do so, then they hurt themselves by not providing their own early opportunity to learn before graduation. I even bring up internships and putting in your dues within theplay. So there are no excuses for not starting early.
Q: What is success for our community? How do we define it as individuals, so we are not compelled to keep up with the Joneses?
A: I'm sorry to tell you the truth and keep it real here, but keeping up with the Joneses is a part of the American way. And the only way you can maintain your focus is by choosing to live in economic arenas that fit whereyou are financially. In other words, don't choose to live around people who you feel you can't compete with. It's a battle that many of us Americans end up punishing ourselves and our loved ones to be involved with. Nevertheless, as long as we can dream the American dream and go after what we want, wewill all find ourselves in competition with the next man and woman and family, whether we like it or not.
Q: How do we get educated, 30-somethings to date and enjoy the moment, without making it a job interview or audition for a potential husband orwife?
A: Now, that all depends on the person. If you're into casual dating, then you will find a way to do it. But if not, and you're ready to get serious about what you're doing, then you start to take the people around you more seriously. But in these economic times, dating can get to be frivolous and expensive, which again, I allude to within the stageplay. But ultimately,it's all up to you and what you're after. So folks who want more fun find ways toplace themselves around the fun people, who may be younger than them, or older people who are just looking for fun themselves.
Q: Are "Alvin Williams" and those people out there who share his way of thinking, male gold diggers, or are they simply trying to beat women attheir own game?
A: Alvin is a creative character that I wrote to make a point and to make sure we get to all of the issues at hand dramatically as well as comically. So even though guys who prey on women economically exist, I realistically don't hang out or know too many if those guys. So I would have to havepeople who are closer to the "Alvin Williams" types to explain what's going on there. I was always raised on men that took care of their own business andhad enough left over to take care of their women and families when needed. So although I can write about a guy like "Alvin", trying to explain that dudeis something totally out of my league. So you just have to enjoy his role and come up with your own ideas to explain him.
Stay tuned for more information regarding the Broke & Sexy stageplay coming soon @ www.OmarTyree.com
Q: After more than a decade of writing popular and successful novels, why did you now decide to write a stageplay?
A: Well, I've also written several screenplays for feature film production at this point, but that process is tremendously long, expensive and taxing, particularly on your first big project. So while my partners and I continue to move along in the film production stages, I asked myself, "Why not write a stageplay that you can produce and stay active with in the meantime?" And the decision was helped along when I read a marketing e-mail that announced Tyler Perry going back out on the road with a new "Madea" play.
Q: And that information influenced your decision?
A: Oh, definitely. I mean, here's a man who took the black stageplays to another level, and it's obvious that there is an audience out there for the medium. You just have to come up with an idea to execute that will bring outa steady crowd of supporters. And since I'm no longer writing 400-page books, I figured that writing an 85-page stageplay would be a breeze.
Q: And was it?
A: Oh yeah. I wrote it over the 2-week Christmas and New Year's holiday break and took it to the Library of Congress to secure the copyrightalready. That was the easy part. But now the hard part begins; casting, producing, directing, finding promotional partners, and taking the play out there onthe road.
Q: Now the subject of your play - Broke & Sexy - seems to be extremely timely.
A: If you know about my career as a novel writer, I've always been one to write timely material about our community. And for my final novel Pecking Order, published in September 2008, I wrote about the state of American entrepreneurship because we all need to think about creating new economicsfor ourselves. I followed that up with The Equation, a non-fiction book onbusiness. So, for my first stageplay, while we are still in hard economic times, I wanted to speak about the difficulties of dating in this depressed economy.I see that as a very valid and serious topic that you can make fun of and learn from at the same time.
Q: But will people want to watch a stageplay about those economic truths, or find something that allows them to get away?
A: Well, I've never been the "get-away-from-my-problems" kind of writer. I've always written about the hard truths in my work. However, with a stageplay, I'm able to be more humorous with those truths. So it's a veryfunny play that couples will indeed have a ball with. Then you have actors whowill have a ball depicting the well-rounded characters that I came up with. So, have no fear, the entertainment element is all there. I just base the playon a subject that is definitely valuable to us right now.
Q: What is your target audience?
A: You know, I have always had a pause when it comes to target audiences for my work, because you never really know who will eventually come out to support you. You always hope for the largest audience possible, but realistically, you have to review the content and the delivery of yourmaterial, as well as the audience who have been a part of the natural marketplace thatyou fall into with your project. And with that being said, I would expect to attract the African-American working class who typically support stageplays.At the same time, I would also hope to attract a few college-aged supporters, and possibly crossover to non-blacks, who may be interested in the contemporary economic content that is involved.
Q: In light of the economic issues highlighted within the play, how do we as African Americans prepare our youth in college, so that they are better prepared for corporate America?
A: You can prepare all college students for corporate America by telling them, or demanding them, to do internships in their freshman, sophomore, junior and senior years. The best way to learn is to be there. And corporateAmerica is always open to free young labor, especially now. So when thoselazy college students wait until the last minute to intern in their field ofwork, or don't make the sacrifices that are needed to do so, then they hurt themselves by not providing their own early opportunity to learn before graduation. I even bring up internships and putting in your dues within theplay. So there are no excuses for not starting early.
Q: What is success for our community? How do we define it as individuals, so we are not compelled to keep up with the Joneses?
A: I'm sorry to tell you the truth and keep it real here, but keeping up with the Joneses is a part of the American way. And the only way you can maintain your focus is by choosing to live in economic arenas that fit whereyou are financially. In other words, don't choose to live around people who you feel you can't compete with. It's a battle that many of us Americans end up punishing ourselves and our loved ones to be involved with. Nevertheless, as long as we can dream the American dream and go after what we want, wewill all find ourselves in competition with the next man and woman and family, whether we like it or not.
Q: How do we get educated, 30-somethings to date and enjoy the moment, without making it a job interview or audition for a potential husband orwife?
A: Now, that all depends on the person. If you're into casual dating, then you will find a way to do it. But if not, and you're ready to get serious about what you're doing, then you start to take the people around you more seriously. But in these economic times, dating can get to be frivolous and expensive, which again, I allude to within the stageplay. But ultimately,it's all up to you and what you're after. So folks who want more fun find ways toplace themselves around the fun people, who may be younger than them, or older people who are just looking for fun themselves.
Q: Are "Alvin Williams" and those people out there who share his way of thinking, male gold diggers, or are they simply trying to beat women attheir own game?
A: Alvin is a creative character that I wrote to make a point and to make sure we get to all of the issues at hand dramatically as well as comically. So even though guys who prey on women economically exist, I realistically don't hang out or know too many if those guys. So I would have to havepeople who are closer to the "Alvin Williams" types to explain what's going on there. I was always raised on men that took care of their own business andhad enough left over to take care of their women and families when needed. So although I can write about a guy like "Alvin", trying to explain that dudeis something totally out of my league. So you just have to enjoy his role and come up with your own ideas to explain him.
Stay tuned for more information regarding the Broke & Sexy stageplay coming soon @ www.OmarTyree.com
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