Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Shannon Sanders and His "Man Up Movement"





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
 Guest Contributing Writer
The Cultural Weekly

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