Dear Nickelz:

I know you said you won't be reading this but on the off chance that you do, I can't help but want to reply. You are absolutely entitled to your opinion, as I'm entitled to my opinion of your opinions. So here goes:

Granted, our album is not a dance album, nor did we ever intend or perpetrate that it would be so. We're definitely more about thinking than dancing and if that's depressing to you, so be it. A song like "Sail The Seas" is definitely NOT a happy song, but it is a wistful, haunting, thoughtful song about a child dying before her mother. It's real. It's happening while you're reading this post.

As for the "100 times better when there were four of them" I'll say that Tracey and I never started out with plans to be a duo, that's the twist of fate that life brought. But we weren't about to let what we'd worked so hard for die. I will say that regardless of your opinion Tracey and I are a 100 times better writers and vocalists today, than we were then. That's obvious when you listen to the Tommy Boy album, remember we have copies, you don't.

I sense that you also implied that we couldn't expect much in the way of promotion for a "sub-standard" album like ours. That's pure bullshit right there. Everyone knows there are albums blowing up that are way more "sub-standard" than ours. I don't believe in good or bad music but a lot of people do and a lot of the so called "bad music" is blowing up because of one thing, MONEY.

Of course we're going to do a better album. Isn't that the point of life, to become better as people, as artists, as teachers, as parents, etc? Why you need to be reminded of this I just don't know but I suspect that you aren't old enough to have discovered this philosophy.

As far as the "acting like divas" part, I'm not even going there. Are we happy all the time? No. Are we professionals who gives our all and understand that relationships are a big part of the business? Yes. Could you have approached us on a day when our professionalism cracked due to undue stress? Yes. We're human, it happens, though I can't imagine what you're referring to specifically.

I'm responding to you because this isn't the first time that you've felt the need to make a disparaging comment about Tracey and me. So I'm defending MY OPINIONS and I don't mind if you think I'm a bitch for doing so. I'm sorry you don't like the album but you can't please everyone. Remember, if you don't have anything nice to say . . .

Mercedes
(The Jazzyfatnastees)