मुसिक सौल्चिल्ड---चार्ल्स हेद्जी

Musiq Soulchild

I went to a Musiq Soulchild concert last week, and was slightly disappointed. To begin, the unknown artist who was supposed to open for him was nowhere to be found. So Musiq had to start earlier than expected. A lot of people came in late, which didn’t help his performance. The fellow did well when I came to singing. His short stature did not stop him from reaching the females in their seats and bringing them to their feet. One thing I didn’t like though was the fact that he sang a lot of his old songs and not many of the new ones.
Now I bought his album because I liked the songs I had heard on the radio and the videos I watched on Yahoo. So why didn’t he sing the songs from the new album? Okay he sang maybe five of them, but there’s no way of knowing whether the fans in the theater liked those more than the ones he omitted. Honestly, I did not have much of a problem with his performance, but you can imagine how unhappy I was when I couldn’t sing all the songs he was singing –the old ones that is.
This however will not stop me from going to a Musiq concert sometime in the future, but I hope he would sing his new songs instead of the old ones. And perhaps I should go shop for his old albums and get acquainted with the songs so not to look like a bumbling idiot while others sing their souls out.

Must Read: Charles M. Hedji’s Fields of Discovery.

When I first came across this book, I thought I’d be about life in Africa, since the author is of African origin. When I read the synopsis, I was sure I was going to be disappointed by the story. After all how many coming of age stories must I read in a life time? I’m confident that I have come of age.
However, and this is the part where I admit to having jump the gun, I was wrong. Fields of Discovery is not a coming of age of any sort. The story is about a 17 year old young man with a steady head on his shoulders, who happens to have a fear of separation. Corey Holmes does all he can to keep the people he loves around him. He does his best to make sure that change does not occur.
This young author does something in his writing that I haven’t read in such a long time, and that is to be truly honest about his subject matter. We are not kept out of the young man’s mind. Every little thing that he thinks, whether positive or negative, is shown to the reader. At times the story feels as though it was lived by its author and not simply imagined. When he describes the highs and lows Corey feels when listening to classical music, I felt as though I was living this character’s life. He impressed me most when he showed the character’s vulnerability away from his loved ones. He cries for the first time in an empty room by himself, as though being seen would end his world. It is that sort of daring comment that makes Charles Hedji an author to watch for, and to read and reread.
Now beyond the glossy commentary I have for this writer, I found a weakness that is the lack of a big time publisher. I feel a novel such as this would be better served being backed by a bigger publisher. There would be better editors dealing with the finished product and promotion would be better. It’s a shame that the book has been out since June or July 2006 and no one has really heard of it. Mr. Hedji must certainly look for a better home than PublishAmerica.
I think this book merits your attention, simply because it is a good story, well written by a young and honest author. He does not employ any tricks to get his story moving. There will be no deux ex machina popping up out of nowhere. It is a genuine story that you’d love and your teenagers will love.