WATTERS: Cause of deaths in black entertainment

Cyra Watters is a sophomore mass communications major from Chicago, Ill.

When thinking about black entertainment, we have to fully understand what it is and how it has impacted others physically, mentally and musically. For us to do that we must go back to the past to understand how Whitney Houston, and Prince affected people around them through their music. 

Black entertainment has played a huge role in our society today, without black entertainment we wouldn’t be able to make the music we have today.  We also wouldn’t have the different styles of music we have today. Whitney, Prince and Michael set the bar for other artists, they were pioneers of soul music, rhythm, blues and pop. They were amazing entertainers who thought outside of the box, they tried new things and inspired others to think outside of the box.  The death of black artists have become an unfortunate tragedy, with many of the deaths remaining  unsolved.  With the passing of Whitney Houston and Prince, listeners have begin to question what is really going on in the music industry, especially with our black artist. The information given about each of these artists have questionable circumstances.

Which leads to us asking ourselves why are these black entertainers losing their lives. Whitney Houston, Prince and Michael Jackson all have stories that are similar to each other. Going back to learn information about these black entertainers will help us understand what shapes music today. 

Whitney Huston’s death was a natural death. After doing my research on the legendary star Whitney Houston I realized that she died from heart problems. Whitney Houston’s drug use caused her to have problems resulting in her death. I believe that Whitney Houston would’ve passed away at any moment which makes her case a natural death.

As well as the death of Prince which was a natural death. Prince faced many health issues throughout his career, causing him to have to use different medications. When using medications, it is likely that you can become addicted. But in Prince’s case he was both addicted and had health issues. Which makes this a natural death because Prince died from his health issues, Prince was prescribed medication to use and although he was addicted to the medication he also needed it. In a way Prince did kill himself because he used so many different medications, it just goes to show that everything that we put in our bodies aren’t always used to help us. It also shows what medications can do to you overtime. 

I feel that celebrities show what they want us to see, we as viewers don’t see what happens behind closed doors. Instead we see the glamorous videos or sometimes just focus on the music and not the individual who made the song. 

Whitney Houston, and Prince were very special individuals they brought something different to the table when it came to music they were all known artists around the world. Nobody would ever think that, they faced as many problems as they did. The death of these artists were very tragic, they changed pop, rock, rhythm and blues for a lot of people. And their music stays with us all, from samples to movies, they will not be forgotten.