I often look at myself sometimes a musical encyclopedia because of the number of music and musicians I know but with this great woman dying throwing the world of music and entertainment into a mourning mood; I realize that I am just but a baby to music and musician. I can’t claim to know this great lady because she must be at the peak of her music carrier when my mum was not even born. I can’t claim to tell you what her music was like and how it influenced people apart from the things I read and saw in the media. What I can tell you are the few things I drew from this awesome ladies story. Many of you might be wondering why this lady is worth talking about; let me do a quick break down for you. Aretha Franklin has a magic that can be seen, heard and felt in her music and life style.
This woman is a soul music major and RnB music minor with one hundred and twelve (112) charting song on the billboard hot 100 (Wikipedia, 2018). She is the only lady I know for now who has performed in the presence of the African American revolutionary, Martin Luther King Jnr and the Queen of England, Queen Elizabeth II. She is a lady who rocked the world of entertainment, touring and still made it to ripe old age. This woman for me is a musical hero and a fairly good role model. As her pictures flooded the internet with entertainers paying tribute, I see them talking a lot about her music and her impact to the entertainment scene. I sat back and wondered how this woman became this impactful. So I picked up some of her biography materials and I stumbled on the magic behind this woman greatness.
A PURPOSE DRIVEN WOMAN
Franklin was born in a Christian home with lot of instabilities in it which led to a break up of her parents. Before then, she has always sang in the choir in the church because her father was a leader in the Baptist church they worshipped. Being a lady who loved her music, she was able to learn how to play a piano by listening carefully. If you have ever tried playing a keyboard in modern times without a coach then you will understand that it is one very big piece of work. Nevertheless she continued and started going on tours with her dad who was always on the road as a minister of God with her serving as his personal minstrel. The twist came up when she made up her mind to go solo and become a secular musician. She was not stopped by anybody because this woman was bad ass (excuse the expression). She went secular and the rest is history.
During the first six years of her carrier, this lady did not make any real impact with her music because nobody knew her and her label was not doing enough for her music. She made up her mind and refused to renew a contract with them swapping record label. She moved from Colombia records to Atlantic records painting a clear picture of a woman that knows where she is going and was hundred percent ready to make the decisions. After swapping record labels, she became a star because her new employers tapped into her dreams and aspiration.
SHE HAD ZERO NEGATIVE ENERGY
Giving birth to a child at the age of twelve or there about is enough to make a person live a life plagued with negative energy. This was not the case of this woman. She got pregnant again after two years or there about but she did not slow down. Yes, this can be counted for her as living a rough life of having babies from different fathers at an early age and smoking terribly but this woman did not allow the negative energy and situation around her pull her down. In fact, she made some of her classic songs in those periods channeling all the negative energy into the music. She had no room for negative energy. She had some problem with her health as she grew older but this super woman was still touring cities in America blessing people with her sweet voice.
NO NONSENSE WOMAN
Aretha had no time for nonsense especially from men. Married two times and divorced two times tells you a short story of who this woman was. Quit smoking in a swift decision making section after she realized that smoking was messing up her voice and she made it public and stayed so. Was part of the black movement which preached seriously against racism in America having been introduced to Dr King by her Father at a young age. She is like the mythical queen of Zazzau of ancient Zaria in Nigeria who fought wars and won although in the case of Aretha; she fought against an unstable childhood and early motherhood and won. She fought against limitation in the music industry and won. She fought against societal imbalance and discrimination and won. She wrote her name in the gold book of humans that lived, loved and achieved everything they could wish for. My prayers are with her family; Rest on Queen of Soul Music.
