Kanye West and Jay-z are stirring controversy in their new video for “No Church in the Wild.” Although I have my issues with the two rappers, every now and then they do something that is thought-provoking and I think this is one of them. Both the song and the video (which was created by High […]
Read More Kanye West and Jay-Z Turn the Tables…This song is called “I’m Excited” and it is by DJ Shadow and Afrikan Boy. The American DJ, Hip-Hop producer and songwriter is known as a prominent figure in the development of instrumental Hip-Hop. Olushola Ajose (aka Afrikan Boy) is a London grime/Afrobeat rapper originally from Nigeria and has worked with M.I.A. in addition to […]
Read More I’m An Alien Living In the Ghetto…Happy Birthday Michael Jackson! May you continue to live in our memories. And here is the teaser that was released for his album, History, which I have (actually, it’s my mom’s CDs, shhhh). This teaser is kind of giving off a dictator vibe, but it is cinematically appealing.
Read More HIStoryBlitz the Ambassador– Emmett Still Today is the 47th anniversary of the March on Washington in which Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his famous “I Have A Dream” speech. Sadly, it is also the 56th anniversary of the lynching of Emmett Till in Mississippi and 56 years later, it still resonates. On June 26th in […]
Read More Emmett Still…This is the tenth anniversary of Aaliyah leaving us and I still miss her. Very few Hip-Hop/R&B singers today can compare to how cool she was as a singer, dancer and budding actress. To this day, I still listen to all three of her albums that she made before she passed and wonder how far […]
Read More Remembering Aaliyah“It began with the beat of the drum. With the beat, came a voice for those without one. From this voice, came a movement. Overcoming the odds, the originators of hip hop took their music from block parties of New York City streets to world wide radio waves. During the early years, the music and […]
Read More What Ever Happened to Hip Hop?This will be a new segment in my blog where I highlight artists, musicians, filmmakers, etc. who blend together influences from the past and present to create new, even futuristic, stories. The first post is of the South African rock band, Blk Jks (pronounced Black Jacks). Besides performing with Alicia Keys at the 2010 World […]
Read More Modern Griots: Blk JksJazz pianist and composer, Jason Moran, discusses Jazz and Bebop legend Thelonious Monk‘s influence on Hip Hop music and artists like Wu-Tang Clan and Slum Village.
Read More Thelonious Monk and Hip HopEarlier, I posted about how I was never impressed by Lady Gaga because I have had enough experience with quirky female artists who I feel do a better job, especially in the music area. I am not saying that Gaga is not smart or talented; I am saying that she is not very convincing at […]
Read More “I’m Strange and I Like It, Just the Way I Am”Yesterday, I came across another documentary that was directed by John Akomfrah, who directed “The Last Angel of History.” The Vh1 documentary is “Urban Soul: The Making of Modern R&B,” and it covers the history of R&B from the 70s to now and how artists, like Chaka Khan, The Fugees, Lauryn Hill, and Mary J. […]
Read More Taking It From the Streets: The Making of Modern R&B
Sherese Francis 