Percy Miller, aka Master P, is launching his own
family-oriented black TV portal. Calling it Better Black TV, Miller rejects his
past as a raunchy, graphic rap artist in favor of providing something more
wholesome for the public to consume. Part of me thinks that this is just purely
economic: rap music’s gangster narrative has kinda topped out, and the music
just isn’t selling the way it used to, especially since you can basically just
get it for free. Miller sees the popularity of the Jonas Brothers and other
family-centered entertainment and wants to beat the rush of commercialism by
being the first one in. Except that Robert Townsend tried the same thing some
years ago with the Black Family Network and it failed miserably. It folded in
2007.
Part of the problem is that none of us can decide what
family values look like, or what constitutes wholesome entertainment.
Interesting, that we look at Sanford and Son and Good Times now as “wholesome,”
but back in the day, people thought it was degrading and kind of risqué’. I
don’t know if Miller will succeed where others have failed, but before he goes
forward, he has to answer an important question.
What does “black family-oriented entertainment” look like?
