Here are two posts expanding more on the term afrofuturism: “Afrofuturism: A Beautiful History, A Brave New World” by Nicole D. Sconiers “We have a beautiful history, and we shall create another in the future that will astonish the world.” — Marcus Garvey AfroFuturism is a culture that has emerged to render a portrait of […]
Read More What is Afrofuturism? Part 3The Original 7ven, originally The Time, is back with their first single, “Trendin’.” Including members Morris Day, Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis, Jellybean Johnson, Monte Moir, Jesse Johnson and Jerome Benton, this group became popular in Prince’s film “Purple Rain.” Two of its members, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, became well-known producers for artists like Janet […]
Read More #Trendin’I have mentioned mambo a few times on this blog and this will be another one. Did you know that the word for the high priestess in Haitian Voodoo is mambo? Mambo, which means “important words, matters, etc” or “conversation with the gods,” in the Central African language of Kikongo, is also used for the […]
Read More The Mambos“Honey” Erykah Badu is known for her distinct album covers and her video for her song “Honey” (one of my favorite songs) highlights her affinity for album covers. Go to Soul Bounce to see the list of all the albums she referenced. Her recent album covers for New Amerykah and New Amerykah Part Two: Return […]
Read More … An Album by Its Cover: Erykah BaduFor my first December post, here are some drawings of black mystical and magical creatures: Pixel Randomness by Little Merokochan The Nameless Lady by Zardra Pulled Back by Kira the Artist In Her Eyes There Is Beauty by Ebony-Chan Black Panther by Kira the Artist Unknown Mermaids From No Good Habits Jennifer the Little Mermaid […]
Read More Magical CreaturesTwo weeks ago, I was studying Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo opera in my Antiquity to Baroque music history class and by coincidence the singer Imany released her song, “You Will Never Know,” whose video is a take on the 1959 Brazilian film, Orfeu Negro (Black Orpheus). For those who do not know, Orpheus was the Greek story […]
Read More Orfeu NegroVV Brown feat. Chiddy Bang- Children Does this tune sound familiar? Hear ice cream trucks play it all the time? Well, this tune is actually over 150 years old. It was a well-known American folk song from the early 19th century. Originally popularized with blackface minstrel performers, the tune was associated with several songs — […]
Read More Zip Coon to VV Brown…One of my favorite songs is Parliament Funkadelic’s Cosmic Slop. Just a few days ago, I found out about a collection of films called Cosmic Slop, which was produced by the group. Basically, this is the Afrofuturist version of the Twilight Zone. The first film is about what would happen if America was in shambles […]
Read More Cosmic SlopOn this Thanksgiving day, while we spend time together with family and friends, eat and be thankful for everything, I still want everyone to be knowledgeable of the myth of the origin of the holiday: For more information, check out Susan Bates’ website, Oyate post, Lies My Teacher Told Me book website, NPR story and countless […]
Read More I Am Thankful for Having Empathy…Via analog-blog Lee “Scratch” Perry – Roast Fish, Collie Weed And Cornbread “I returned to music through machines. The difference is that the machines are clean, and the machines are not corrupted. What I create here cannot hurt people, but you can bring an impure musician to play in your studio and create your own […]
Read More The Sound of the Machine…
Sherese Francis 