Oil and Gas. Blood diamonds and cocaine. In essence, the list goes on from underground black market small weapons to WMDs. There is no denying that numerous multinationals are guilty when it comes to their dealings with dictators, some of whom were either installed by meticulous planning on the part of both the United and States and Israel. Listen to some Mickey Boston hip-hop, you’ll hear the rest.
Despite such givens, there is no doubt that everyone has a hand in the Ghadafi regime. Undeniably no government was entirely interested in ctriquing the regime to the point of trying to overthrow it because Ghadafi knew how to throw his money around and keep people on the inside and outside silenced and content. While paying off tribal leaders and gaining their loyalty to having lucrative deals with the Italians, the Chinese, the Canadians and the Americans, Ghadafi can actually write and publish the “Green Book” of using money in order to stay in power for over four decades. Indeed there is a vivid recipe and Gadhafi is some genre of master chef cooking the coke in the back. One would assert Ghadafi as a coke head sometimes alothough he is not.
While Furtado tweets about the 2007 payout, bombs drop on ammunition depots in Libya's east.
Big Brosky hip-hop is about reality. Reality is that American, British and Israeli intelligence always knew what was going on in Libya just like they know far too well what is going on Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Pakistan, Somalia, Iran and North Korea. Ghadafi himself knows all too well that Osama bin Laden never existed during the 9/11 attacks while many in the world know of the infamously fabricated 9/11 video cassettes. With all this said, are Nelly Furtado, Usher, Beyonce and Mariah Carey also just as guilty as the multi-nationals?
Seriously Nelly, some say Steve Nash was too good for you. Moreover, some may even begin to question who else did you perform for, the corrupted Kuwaitis, Bahrainis, House of Saud? Others may critically assert that maybe you would need to stop looking so promiscuously into the lens of a camera and more into the lens of the world's oppression and poverty. Some say you were great in CSI NY.
The answer is a simple one, yes. Essentially, it is a duty and obligation of any artist to know who the hell they are performing for. In this regard it is quintessential for artists heading to Tel Aviv, Israel should think and reconsider wisely over and over again. There is an artistic and cultural boycott of Israel for a reason, and for good reason. It is an obligation on the part of the consumer to boycott such artists of the likes of Linkin Pork who recently performed in Tel Aviv; if you do not boycott Israel, we the people boycott you and your music and your labels.
While the Nelly Furtado hype swims across global Twitter feeds, this in itself does not entirely make her look good at all, rather it renders her rather negligent. Negligent in regards to properly informing herself of who exactly “the Ghadafi clan” is. It is more than obvious Ghadafi was not there, he clearly does not listen to Western music. The question and scrutiny does arise: so it was alright to accept the million dollar payout in 2007, right?
Furtado’s distancing from the Ghadafi clan may or may not be a publicity stunt however, it is clear she needs to donate that money not just to any “charity” or non-profit organization but rather to an organization that is transparent in providing food and medical supplies to those entrenched on the ground in Libya, let alone the refugee camps established outside both Tunisia and Egypt respectively. Nelly Furtado, Beyonce, Usher and Mariah Carey cannot go wrong with a conscious undergound hip-hop artists critical assessment with a humanitarian cause.
Celebrity gossip will always embellish the airwaves and cyber-waves. In a clever stance, Canadian chart-topper Nelly Furtado is not waiting for critics to uncover her own involvement with the Libyan dictator, and decided to get in front of the potential controversy by announcing via Twitter that she plans on donating the million dollar performance fee she received from the clan in 2007. Here, she is wise and will be given appreciation for the deed however, on the hand will be subject to some harsh criticism. Without a shadow of a doubt, Furtado is wiser than mulit-nationals involved with Ghadafi for decades; she has come forward which is something so powerful and poignant as so many leaders and companies still havent done so and may never will. For this, Furtado does deserve some leeway.
For unexplained reasons, the original tweet from last night was deleted this morning, but just popped up again. We’re going to assume that this was not a case of her having second thoughts after talking to her accountant, but rather just the accidental slip of a finger. As far as details about who she’s going to give the money to, her label tells us to keep watching her Twitter account for more info. As his stronghold on the country weakens, amid anti-government violent protests and increasing revelations of corruption, she revealed, “In 2007, I was paid 1million$ by the Gaddafi clan to play a 45min. show for guests at a hotel in Italy. I am going to donate this $.”
It’s a good move on her part, but we can’t help but wonder why we haven’t heard similar things from other performers who entertained Gadaffi over the years for big money. Gaddafi has amazed some $60 billion for himself and his family, including shares in one of Italy’s largest banks, Unicredit, and Finmeccanica, producers of defesce equipment, according to Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant. Gaddafi reportedly keeps a substantial portion of his fortune in Italy, a former colony of Libya.
Furtado is not the only pop artist to have been paid an exorbitant fee to entertain the leader and his family. As Billboard reported on Feb. 23, Mariah Carey was reportedly paid $1 million to sing at a New Year’s Day bash in 2009, and Beyonce and Usher were also allegedly hired by the family. Furtado is the only performer so far to decide to donate the equivalent of her pay to charity. She did not say which one.
Back in 2007 when Nelly Furtado was on tour in support of her third studio album Loose, the Canadian singer/songwriter did a peculiar thing: she accepted a fee of $1 million from the Muammar Gaddafi family to perform at a private party in Italy.
The question is, just how much corrupted money did the Saudis give their entertainers, hoes, prostitutes and escorts?
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rekzkarz
March 1, 2011
Interesting article. The main ‘link’ you have is that artists should know who they are performing for. Bad news for you: often they don’t. Some folks are in the dark.
How do you think dictators stay in power? Bc people don’t know.
While I get your frustration & anger at artists performing for despots — and I’m not saying it’s ok, merely that artists often take performance deals bc of the paycheck (like all working folk) and may not know the whole scenario NOR want to know — but please don’t confuse labor with support.
People need to eat, artists need to perform, people go to where the money is.
Should we blame you for using the Internet to post a blog bc it’s not powered with renewable energy?
Rather than random acts of hate, we need to unite and support eachother in doing good works!
Btw, I have a tendency to rant on my blog. It provides me with an outlet to frustration w/society. Feel free to catch me in my hypocrisies there! HA
rekzkarz.com
Mickey Boston
March 2, 2011
Rekzkarz, I do believe that all artists need to eat, undeniably this remains such however, Individuals of the likes of these artists aforementioned within the article are already multi0millionaires, how much more money do they need? I am sure Usher grosses five million a year, of course he pays taxes but with all the endorsements and free stuff these celebs get I dont think they are in dire need of another million dollars. I can agree with you that these “artists” may be in the dark, but I do blame them. They do realize how much sway they have on the masses, if one starts having a nose pin, a good hundred thousand would follow suit. I could only wish that celebs would be more critical and conscious of the world they live in. Do check out Macy Grey’s piece on performing in Tel Aviv 🙂
yves
April 13, 2011
i enjoyed your little typo “mistakes”