By the time I first heard Mos Def’s Black on Both Sides I was not just deep in Black Star and Mos' many amazing guest spots, but I was a reggae and soul-loving teenager too - steeped in Aretha Franklin and Gregory Isaacs. It all came together when “Ms. Fat Booty” came on. A love … Continue reading Sunday Music: Mos Def And Fat Booty Love
Tag: soul
Podcast Of The Week: Yasiin Bey (Mos Def) On Music, Life, And His Career
Yassin Bey, aka Mos Def, has a short Audible audiobook titled, “A Dynamic Career in Communications.” The music and stories are fantastic. Especially if you’re a fan. But he’s got some quotes. This one on in particular, hit me hard. He was talking about church as a sacred and safe space in his childhood. He … Continue reading Podcast Of The Week: Yasiin Bey (Mos Def) On Music, Life, And His Career
Del Before Dre (Themes And Trends With Dante Ross)
Del the Funky Homosapien’s first album is called I Wish My Brother George Was Here. The George in the title is (at least indirectly) a reference to George Clinton.* The album itself is brimming with Parliament samples, and if you figured it came after Dr. Dre’s The Chronic because of it’s sonic similarities, I’d understand … Continue reading Del Before Dre (Themes And Trends With Dante Ross)
Sly Stone And Saving Humanity
We live in a polarized world. Yeat’s “widening gyre” gets invoked around here a lot. We have a shortening list of ways to find optimism and chart a path forward it seems. Enter Sly Stone’s new memoir. If you want to chart a path for optimism, there are so many pieces layered inside of his … Continue reading Sly Stone And Saving Humanity
Sunday Music: The (Perfect) Un-Originality In Sublime’s “Caress Me Down”
I was in a conversation last week with someone who brought up how original and fresh 90s music was. I said it was refreshing, in the sense of how it was such an original act of musical collage, but it wasn’t in and of itself anything new. They disagreed. I got sublime. Or more literally, … Continue reading Sunday Music: The (Perfect) Un-Originality In Sublime’s “Caress Me Down”
Sunday Music: Tina Turner And The Stones
In 1966 the Rolling Stones took Tina Turner on the road in England. In 1969, they hit the states. Here’s her and Ike doing, “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long” from the Gimme Shelter movie, which captures the period. But let’s be real. It’s just Tina in this clip. She melted all of them. … Continue reading Sunday Music: Tina Turner And The Stones
Patti LaBelle’s Fondest Memory Of The Apollo (Embrace The Chase)
Is your fondest memory the end result OR something on the journey? It’s worth asking. Because wherever you are now, wherever you want to go, your fondest memory might be closer than you think. Life is funny like that. Like when they asked Patti LaBelle what her fondest memory of the Apollo Theater was and … Continue reading Patti LaBelle’s Fondest Memory Of The Apollo (Embrace The Chase)
Sunday Music: Now Why You Wanna Go And Do That Love, Huh?
You know those weird things you say to yourself all of the time? As in the things you say to your dog, or the dishes, or the anthropomorphized internet company in your mind? “Now why you wanna go and do that love, huh?” I say that - all of the time. Here’s where it’s from, … Continue reading Sunday Music: Now Why You Wanna Go And Do That Love, Huh?
Sunday Music: Eye Know Eye Love You Better
We lost Dave Jolicouer from De La Soul a few weeks ago. In another week or so we get the group’s full catalog on streaming services for the first time ever. Sample clearances, label shenanigans - you name it, the crap that buried their music was frustrating. I can’t remember how or when I first … Continue reading Sunday Music: Eye Know Eye Love You Better
Sunday Music: Birtha (Best Band You Never Heard)
I don’t know how I missed this all-female band that mixed Zeppelin with Joplin with Bikini Kill energy before Bikini Kill was a thing. But I did. And until my girlfriend’s buddy Kenny said, “wait, you seriously never heard of Birtha?! We have to go to YouTube, right now," my life was incomplete. Don’t feel … Continue reading Sunday Music: Birtha (Best Band You Never Heard)