Featuring

I’ve been noticing how nowadays, musicians “feature” other artists. When a new song comes on XM radio while I’m washing the dishes, I can’t resist looking at the digital display to see who it is.  My sink nearly overflows with suds as I watch the roster of names march across the tiny screen. What?! Robert Plant featuring Alison Krauss?  I float away on a vision of the shirtless Plant of the 1970’s meeting the pre-glam, early 80’s Krauss with her buttoned-up plaid shirt and floor-hugging denim skirt. It’s so wrong, it has to be right. All thanks to “featuring.”

Maybe the featuring trend sprouted its roots in a legal dung pile. Attorneys and agents sat down in a brown conference room and decided that “featuring” is substantively different from “and” or “with.” Surely it’s about money and rights. Which makes me wonder, if they were recording today, would Cher now feature Sonny? Surely Tenille would feature Captain.

Duets were big in the 80’s, especially when MTV got rolling. Stevie Nicks was a serial featurer with singers like Tom Petty and Don Henley.  Back then, it seemed more of a privilege to be asked to record with a popular artist. Whereas now, featuring a hip newcomer gives an established musician a sparkly new sheen. I Googled the phrase “featuring Rhianna” and came up with an extensive roster of  varied artists such as U2, Maroon 5, Jay-Z, Kesha, and TI.

Though it’s overused, I dig the term “featuring.” It might be all about ownership, but the word emanates the glow of collaboration and gratitude. My work is largely solitary; I design buildings, I write, and I care for my young children. But my life is enriched by many people, from our cheery mail carrier, to members of my extended family. If my role as a mother were to flash across the XM display, my husband would definitely be an “and” artist. But there would be many featured artists, too. “Whitney, featuring her Step-dad, who played mixing-bowl-basketball with her son for an hour today.” Or “Whitney, featuring her daughter’s teacher, who helped her tackle a harder book this week.” In my work, I’d feature things as well as people: ‘Nilla wafers, the Newark jazz station WBGO streaming online, and my favorite blueprint shop.  I’d need a bigger display to credit everything and everyone. Something say, the size of the Times Square ticker.