K-Ci and JoJo Seek Redemption

Are the Hailey brothers continuing a sad tradition of the tragic 'Soul Man?'

K-Ci and JoJo Seek Redemption on Reality TV
by Mark Anthony Neal | TheLoop21

Robert Townsend’s 1991 film 'The Five Heartbeats', chronicled the lives and careers of a fiction R&B group, The Five Heartbeats. At the center of the story was the character of Eddie King, Jr. (portrayed by the underrated Michael Wright), a dark shadowy figure, who was magnetic on stage, but self-destructive off stage. Eddie King. Jr. was a metaphor for the ‘Soul Man’, a tragic figure in African-American lore. Nearly 20 years later singers and brothers K-Ci and JoJo Hailey seem to follow a script that is all too known for far too many Black male singers.

The Brothers Hailey are currently the stars of the TV-One reality series K-Ci & JoJo ‘Come Clean’ which features the former Jodeci lead singers in recovery from alcohol (and presumably drug) addiction. At their peak in the mid-1990s, Jodeci were the bad-boys of R&B, thuggish counterparts to the January “white sale” clean of Boyz II Men. K-Ci and JoJo seemed to live up to that reputation in every way, including widespread rumors that K-Ci was physically abusive to then romantic partner Mary J. Blige. By the early 2000s, enough stories had begun to circulate about their personal and professional unraveling, that the worst was feared when a video of JoJo collapsing on stage hit the internet in 2008.

Gifted vocalists, whose performances always remained in conversation with their musical roots in the Black Church, the travails of K-Ci and JoJo were all too reminiscent of the many Black male singers who had struggled to balance their artistic gifts with the pressures of celebrity and dysfunctional family lives.

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TV-One's "Unsung" Tributes Forgotten Stars

from Vibe.com

CRITICAL NOIR
TV-One's "Unsung" Strikes the Right Chord
by Mark Anthony Neal

Like its predecessor Black Entertainment Television's, TV-One, the cable television networked owned by the Radio-One family, attempted to strike the right balance in terms of syndicated reruns and original series. TV-One, perhaps benefiting from BET's longtime decision to abandon middle-age audiences, has proved successful in at least locating a niche market of over-30 something African-Americans. Though the network has tried to put a fresh coat of paint on 15-year-old favorites like Martin and Living Single (the recent cast reunion of the later show being an example), it has proved far more capable than its competition to produce original programming. Though Baisden at Night is a mixed-bagged (it simply lacks the energy and cohesiveness of the drive-time radio program)shows like G. Garvin's Turn Up the Heat and Gospel of Music with Jeff Major are high points of the network's programming, though neither will have audiences forgetting the wealth of programming on the Food Network or the old BET stalwart, Bobby Jones Gospel. Fresh off of their live coverage of the Democratic National Convention, late last month TV-One unveiled what is perhaps its first legitimate original hit, the music documentary series Unsung.

The formula of Unsung is not original--it draws liberally on many of the conventions that made VH-1's series Behind the Music so compelling. Where Unsung succeeds in its ability to locate compelling human stories behind musical figures that are quite beloved among black music fans, though largely obscure to mainstream audiences. The Debarge Family, the Clark Sisters, Donny Hathaway and Phyllis Hyman are simply not figures that would register to traditional mainstream audiences and as such TV-One should be commended for the willingness to tell the stories of those who would not necessarily generate the kind of cross-over appeal that documentaries on the lives of well-known tragic figures like Sam Cooke, Marvin Gaye or Otis Redding might have. And while the stories of the aforementioned artists deserved to be told and deserved to be told from a distinct African-American perspective, as TV-One's publicity for the series rightfully suggest, Unsung allows tribute to artists who simply aren't going to get the recognition that they deserve.

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