We’ve Got the Jazz (Style)

Jazz musician Etienne Charles speaks about how today’s hip-hop style is borrowing a lot from yesterday’s jazz style– the suits, ties, fedoras, jackets. Check out more from iRock Jazz.

Spirituality in Africa…

“Ancestral Voices: Esoteric African Knowledge A educational documentary, spanning two continents, opening up a much-needed debate about traditional African spiritual systems; their cosmologies, ideologies and underlying ethical principles. Modern science no longer refutes the origins of mankind being in Africa and similarities in the cosmological ideologies of African esoteric systems with those found many established world […]

Memory…

Last week, I saw Eve’s Bayou again, a film I have not seen in years. As much as I love the entire movie, the monologue at the end always stands out most to me because she speaks on how perspective can influence memory, the past and truth. “Like others before me I have the gift of sight. […]

Modern Griots: Valerie June

Valerie June feat. John Forte- Give Me Water Valerie June is an music artist that caught my attention months ago. The “Organic Moonshine Roots” (a term she came up with) singer mixes together aspects from roots music, including the spirituals, blues, folk music, soul, and Appalachian music, and puts it into a modern 21st century […]

“Mambo Nights in Hollywood” Mini-Review

So, I did attend Bobby Sanabria directing the Manhattan School’s Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra, and I must say it was so worth my $5. I would’ve payed more if it cost more. Once again, I must applaud how Sanabria is not only a drummer, but a genuine historian and performer who loves what he does and […]

Modern Griots: Gerald Watson, DJ 2-tone Jones and Shaolin Jazz

Yesterday, I wrote about the Festival of the Nw Black Imagination and one of the speakers was DJ 2-tone Jones. The idea for Jones and Watson’s project started with the graphic designer Logan Walters‘ project called, Wu-Note, in which he redesigned Wu-Tang Clan album covers as if they were original jazz Blue Note Records albums. […]

From the Top: Recap of Festival of the New Black Imagination

Saturday was jam-packed with lectures, panel discussions and readings and I am still trying to process it all. Lasting from 10 in the morning to around 6:30 in the evening, the festival started with the futurist and professor of management, Nat Irvin II, discussing the importance of futuristic thinking. His son is actually Nat Irvin […]

The Illuminati in Pop Culture?

Silverback Magazine posted a video of famous Black historian Robin Walker, author of “When We Ruled,” explaining the history and meanings behind the so-called “illuminati symbols” in pop culture and the illuminati.

Sisters of the Revolution…

I remember randomly coming across this video while looking up information on Lisa Nicole Carson and what happened to her because she seemed to have disappeared from film. This is an Apollo History Moment, which was part of Apollo Comedy Hour, in the ’90s. It stars Lisa Nicole Carson and Paula Jai Parker in the form […]

What Is Afrofuturism? Part 2

Alondra Nelson speaks about afrofuturism and the concepts embedded within it, such as alienation, modernity, subjectivity, utopia, and speculation, in a Feed interview. She also mention different musical acts who explored afrofuturism, such as Sun Ra, George Clinton, Janelle Monae, Prince and Labelle (Patti Labelle, Nona Hendyx, Cindy Birdsong). Source: Kunst and Xoias