By Janda

Well here you have it…the FINAL dose of STACKS Magazine’s interview with the author of “Dancing with the Devil”, former Bad Boy artist Mark Curry.

Final Dose

Janda: Being that you’ve been in the industry and have seen the good, the bad, the ugly and the indifferent, and you mentioned that your book details an era of reform, what would you say is the biggest area of reform that needs to occur in the industry as a whole?

Mark: The whole music industry needs reconstructing. It needs work. It’s falling apart…the leaders. It’s just like having a bad coach that’s always leading you, but don’t never get you the victory. Even in the NBA with professional teams, if the coach is not leading the team to the victory, sometimes you got to change the coach and right now in the music game, we got a lot of bad coaches. We need to get rid of those coaches teaching those old methods of the game and we need to play the game for how it’s supposed to be played today…You know, different scales, different rates, different meanings, different points, all of that…different subject matters. It’s nothing wrong with it, but what else could you expect for us to do after you hear a song that comes out and it’s on the radio.

Back in our time you had radio songs then you had rap songs. This is radio, this is rap. Radio was probably like Fresh Prince, Kid –n- Play, Puff Daddy, that was radio. Then they started changing it and said let’s start talking about other things like where we really come from and what we really do. So they started talking about drugs and crime. After you talk about drugs and crime, what else are you going to talk about? It’s only probably few ways you can rob somebody. As a matter of fact, there’s only one way you can rob somebody, either you do it or you don’t. How many more songs can we write about that? How many more ways can we express that? So when you ask what needs to be reformed, it needs to start off with having some new subjects.

Janda: So knowing what you know now and considering what you’ve been through, if you could go back, what is one thing you’d do different concerning your career?

Mark: One thing I would do different is I wouldn’t get so comfortable around a person just because they have money. That money you have is your money and that’s only going to do you some good. So I would never let my guard down and think that everything is going to be okay because I’m in good company because when you in good company, sometimes good company don’t make sure you’re kept good.

Janda: What kind of financial advice could you give to the new-comers in the industry or even to those that are in the industry now as far as protecting their funds and things of that nature?
Mark: When you make money and you make it from music, you don’t put the money that you made from music back into music. Don’t do that. It’s not about using money to get it. The best things in life are free so it doesn’t really cost to create a song that should be free. So as soon as you know you trying to get something and you trying to get the best and you going about money to get it, you’re going to spend a lot of money because money can’t make a hit. Money doesn’t make a star either. A star is born and destined to be.

Janda: Since you left Bad Boy in 2005, outside of working on your book, what else has Mark Curry been doing?

Mark: What else has Mark Curry been doing? I’ve been experiencing life in a way not many men get to see it. A lot of people would put a gun to their head and pull the trigger. A lot of people would go to the tallest building and swan dive off because it’s such a hard thing to deal with, but I had to survive. I had to be strong.

Janda: After the book, what’s next for you?

Mark: After the book, what I’m going to do is what I always dreamed of doing and that’s take care of my family, travel if I can and see other different walks of life so I can appreciate life from a whole different standpoint. I’m going to uplift myself to seeing and doing better things in life and I’m going to live for a change. That’s what I’m going to do. If I’m blessed enough to be able to do that, that’s all I ask for. I want everybody around me that truthfully deserves and works hard for and dreams about and wants…I want everybody around me to be happy too.

Well there you have it folks! Be sure to comment and let us know what you think.
To get the 1st two doses click on the links below.

Dose 1

Dose 2

To find out more about Mark Curry or to purchase a copy of his book “Dancing with the Devil” go to www.markcurrybook.com or www.amazon.com.