::Where's Maxwell?::

Ok, I've been secretly waiting for this kat to come out of hiding just as much as the next person. But the last place I expected him to resurface was modeling clothes on a Gap in-store poster board. I mean, really. What the hell ever happened to his comeback record, Black Summers' Night?



That album title and the impending release had been volleying back and forth in the press since 2006. But instead of a dope record, all we got were broken promises and rumors of a label-artist conflict stemming from alleged homosexual messages in the music. Man, at this point I don't even care. I just want some good music. Hopefully, D'angelo and Lauryn Hill can come out of obscurity and drop some gems real soon too. Call me nostalgic, but I just long for a little slice of yesterday. R&B (and hip-hop) has become increasingly disposable since the dawning of digital downloads in the 21st century. We're selling scandal, reality program personalities, and souped up celebrity status instead of music. It seems that art has officially taken a backseat to commerce in the millennial era. When your net worth as an artist is measured by your total ringtone sales, there's a problem. We've morphed into a culture of incidental music consumers...and that ain't good folks.

Chalk it up to wishful thinking, but I'm of the mind that what goes around comes back around. Good shit will come back in fashion. Early. Until then, I guess we'll just have to cross our fingers and pray that groundhogs like L-Boogie, Maxwell, and D'angelo don't get scared by their own shadows and camp out in their bat caves for another decade.