{image1}It's not unusual to turn on the radio and hear r&b and rap songs packed with derogatory messages. Milwaukee-based r&b artist Cincere, a Chicago native, publicly opposed those commonalities of today's music with the video premiere of his hit single, "Daddy," before his alma mater, Lincoln Center School of the Arts, last week.

Producer of the video, Rafal Krolik of Seville Media, throws this emotional topic right in your face with the heartrending looks of kids missing their dads. And the words are clean enough for any age to hear.

"My kids sing along to lyrics of Cincere's songs," Krolik says. "And I don't have to worry about the lyrics or changing the station, like you do with so many other artists out there that appeal to kids, it's not degrading in any way."

Degrading? No. Inspiring? Yes.

Accompaniment by the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and the Mount Olive Baptist Church Choir, along with Cincere's repeated lyrics, "Daddy, daddy, daddy come home," is depressing, but Cincere makes sure that's not all listeners are getting out of his song.

The 23-year-old encourages fathers to take responsibility, and others to be positive role models.

And Francis X. Vogel of Milwaukee Fatherhood Collaborative agrees. "There are a lot of young dads who get a bad reputation, but for many of them, it's not that they're deadbeats, it's that they're dead broke," he says. "And we're trying to do all we can for them, whether it's through job training or education.

"We're hoping that the song will be a catalyst for action, first locally and eventually nationally," says Vogel.

Earl Stokes of Jammin' 98.3 backs up Cincere's message of education, dreams and responsibility. "If you've got something you want to do that's positive, don't let anyone stop you."

To view Cincere's "Daddy" video, go to the Seville Media Web site, sevillemedia.com.