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28 Days of Album Cover Blackness With VSB, Day 16: Outkast's Aquemini (1998)
“Even the sun goes down, heroes eventually die, horoscopes…often lie, and sometimes “why”/Nothing is for sure, nothing is for certain, nothing lasts forever/But until they close the curtain, it’s him and I, Aquemini.” If you’re a fan of hip hop, and especially the “golden” era, then you probably both know and love Outkast. The group,…
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Watch: The 2nd Annual Blackest Awards Winners!
We’re so happy to bring you the winners for our 2nd Annual Blackest Awards. Around here, we call them The Skippies because we get down like that. Well, as with most awards shows, some awards are televised—unlike the revolution—while others are awarded before the show. Since we don’t have a show, so to speak, but…
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28 Days of Album Cover Blackness With VSB, Day 15: Minnie Riperton's Perfect Angel (1974)
I love this album cover for Perfect Angel. For starters, it has an innocent feel to it, but that melted ice cream tells another tale. Plus, she outchea with the overalls with no shirt on. So it’s both innocent and sexy, with an afro for the ages. Once you consider that Minnie Riperton has a…
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28 Days of Album Cover Blackness With VSB, Day 14: Marvin Gaye's I Want You (1976)
It’s Valentine’s Day so it only makes sense to include an album cover for an album about that good lovin’. Marvin Gaye’s I Want You is that album. And there might not be a Blacker album cover. Gaye’s 1976 album used Ernie Barnes’ famous “Sugar Shack” painting—altered to include banners for the title of Marvin…
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28 Days of Album Cover Blackness With VSB, Day 13: Preston Love's Preston Love's Omaha Bar-B-Q (1969)
Have you ever seen an album cover that had you at hello? For me, that album cover would be Preston Love’s Preston Love’s Omaha Bar-B-Q (featuring Shuggie Otis on Guitar). I’d never heard of Preston Love. Or at least I didn’t know I had. You see, you know Preston Love even if you don’t know…
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28 Days of Album Cover Blackness With VSB, Day 12: Diana Ross' Diana (1980)
You know this album. I know this album. Your neighbor knows this album. Everybody knows this album by the Queen of Motown, Diana Ross, simply titled diana. Even if you can’t tell me what songs are on this album title, if you love Black music, I’m about 100 percent sure you know this cover. Everybody’s…
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28 Days of Album Cover Blackness With VSB, Day 11: Kay-Gees' Keep On Bumpin' & Masterplan (1974)
I cannot stress to you how much I love this album cover for the Kay Gee’s 1974 album, Keep On Bumpin’ & Masterplan (alternately released with the title Hustle With Every Muscle). Shot by Howard Winters and designed by Frank Daniel, this album cover for the Kay-Gees debut album is a masterclass in Black cool…
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The 2021 Skippies: An Interview With the Bay Area About Whether or Not They Were Snubbed In the 'Best Verzuz' Category
Last week, The Root dropped our nominations for the second annual The Blackest Awards, or more simply, the 2021 Skippies. The categories, both fun and serious, are fairly non-controversial. The nominations though, can sometimes tread into “Yo, how are you going to include X but not Y?” One such situation this year centered on a…
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28 Days of Album Cover Blackness With VSB, Day 10: The Brothers Johnson's Winners 1981
To be Black (especially in America) is to know the Brothers Johnson. They had several No. 1 singles on the R&B charts in the ’70s and ’80s. Even though they didn’t write “Strawberry Letter 23“—that distinction goes to Shuggie Otis—their rendition is probably the one most of us are familiar with. They also gave us…
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28 Days of Album Cover Blackness With VSB, Day 9: Amii Stewart's Knock On Wood (1979)
You may know Amii Stewart because she had a monster disco song in 1979, “Knock On Wood.” The song made it all the way to the top of the pop charts and is a disco staple. And it still bay-yangs. You know what else bay-yangs? This album cover. For one, Amii is giving all a…
