Shannon Sanders and His
“Man Up” Movement
Shannon Sanders and His
“Man Up” Movement
Grammy/Emmy/Dove-award winning songwriter and producer
Shannon Sanders is on a mission. Sure, a lot of people say that, almost to the
point of it being a bit of a cliché. However, Shannon’s is one that’s very
clear and calculated. So much so, that it’s posted up on the home page of his
website (www.shannonsanders.com): “To bring forth an understanding of what it means to live
and love from a man's perspective using the power of words and music.”
Already, especially in these days and times, that says a
mouthful, but it goes far deeper than the surface. For years, Shannon has been
known as one half of CuttyStang---an ingenious production duo alongside Drew
Ramsey in Nashville, TN. Together, they have created hit singles for India.Arie
(Grammy), Jonny Lang (Grammy), Robert Randolph & the Family Band (Emmy),
Nicole C. Mullen (Dove) and Heather Headley (“In My Mind” is actually a remake
song from Shannon’s first LP, Outta
Nowhere). They have also produced for other artists like John Legend, Eric
Benet, Leela James and Marc Broussard.
Yet after spending over a decade touring the world as
India.Arie’s music director, the itch to return back to the spotlight as a
performance artist was one that Shannon couldn’t shake. The Grown Man Handbook, a single series that has been quietly in
the making for some time now, has just offered up its first official single,
“Man Up” and yes, it’s just as poignant and profound as you would assume that
it would be based on the title.
“I’ve been a lover of music ever since I was very young,”
says Shannon. “When it came to R&B and soul music, I grew up listening to
Teddy Pendergrass, Isaac Hayes, Al Green, Curtis Mayfield, O'Jays, Willie Hutch
and B.B. King and do you know what they all had in common? Not only did they
bring a certain level of consciousness to the music scene, but a strong sense
of masculinity and self-awareness as well. That was something that I grew up
expecting from music. I still do.”
In taking a listen to Shannon’s “Man Up” song, you
definitely get that impression (here’s a part of verse one):
Nothing wrong with a hard day’s work
Little sweat, little dirt
It ain’t gonna hurt you
Live for family
Die for freedom
You make babies
You gotta feed ‘em
The strong energy behind the delivery of these lyrics
reveals that Shannon is using his artistry to start (or rather rekindle) a
movement. As a man who was raised by his grandfather and now has three children
of his own including two sons; as a man who has lived long enough to watch
radio transition from supporting all facets of black music to preferring the
“Flavor of the Month” sound that pop culture demands; as a man who has
witnessed the Arts in public schools suffer to the point of near-extinction, he
is intent on redirecting a lot of young men’s focus back to some of the things
that he knows, for a fact, saved his life. Literally.
“When so much of the Arts and sports were taken out of
school, the inner city male stopped being exposed to skills like music,” says
Shannon. “They’re suffering due to the fact that school used to be where you
got musical training for free. Now, in exchange for music genres like R&B
and soul, because rap merges art and the streets, it has become the only
accessible option because young men cannot [easily] get their hands on an
instrument.”
And what about when they get into high school, where there
are school bands?
“When a young man is young and innocent, he’s better able to
gravitate to musical teaching,” says Shannon. “I got exposed to it in the third
grade. Had it been around the time that I reached puberty, I would've been
affected by my peers. Girls and hanging out would’ve been more important
because that’s the natural transition of life. For me, because I started so
young, it has always been a part of who I am. That has proven to be a really good
thing.”
Shannon doesn’t just attribute the lack of Arts in education
as a part of soul music’s demise. “The radio is not very musical, either” says
Shannon. “Pop music today is not as polished as it was. You don't hear string
arrangements and horn arrangements. And because of our dependence on
technology, there is less of a need for real musicians in pop music. So many
people rely on sampling now. It has become the preferred art form. The irony is
that sampling is about finding pieces of everyone else's brilliance and
sometimes that comes at the expense of tapping into the full potential of your
own. A lot of our young men don’t even know how much power is within them
because they’re not encouraged to explore it.”
The brings the purpose of “Man Up” full circle because
Shannon believes that while there are conscious records for women within this
generation (Destiny’s Child’s “Independent Women” was one that he specifically
mentioned), “For men, there are far more songs that speak to a man’s physical
passion than his life’s purpose,” says Shannon. “We don’t have a lot of ‘What’s
Going On’ songs to listen to and even if they are being written and recorded,
the radio stations are not playing them. Our young men are paying the price for
that. Ultimately, so are we.”
A wise man once said that if you’re not a part of the
solution, then you’re a part of the problem. Shannon is taking note. Even with
his many awards and accolades in tow, in order to control the kinds of records
that he creates, Shannon is not going the record label route this time.
Instead, he’s releasing “Man Up” and the songs to follow on the project
independently.
“I want young men to know and older men to remember,
especially black men, that our voice matters and we are still needed,” says
Shannon. “This means that we need to be conscious of the fact that we have
options. We need to understand our positions as men in our homes and
communities. And, we need to stop making excuses for when we dropped the ball.
We can’t expect women to raise boys to be men. That’s our job. It’s our
responsibility.”
Shannon knows that all of this is not going to happen just
because of a song. But, he’s hoping that “Man Up” will be received as an anthem
for a greater purpose. And what would that be exactly? Honestly, the hook says
it all:
It takes a man
To teach a man
To be a man
We hear you, Shannon. Keep on singing, brotha.
We’re listening and to listen is to pay attention. To
listen is to “take heed”.
©Shellie
R. Warren/2012
