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The Root Jams Weekly (6/19/2020): 'Juneteenth'
June 19, known as Juneteenth in the black community represents the day that the word about the end of slavery finally reached Galveston, Texas, which at the time was the furthest part of the United States. Today, we celebrate the holiday by sharing our favorite jams in the spirit of Juneteenth, freedom and blackness. “Juneteenth”…
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30 Days of Iconic Music Video Blackness With VSB, Day 19: Public Enemy, 'Fight The Power'
For a song that came out over 30 years ago, Public Enemy’s “Fight The Power”—created for the soundtrack to Spike Lee’s 1989 classic film, Do The Right Thing—remains remarkably resonant even in 2020. We’re still at war with structural racism and all of the issues that existed at the time of the song’s creation are…
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10 Thoughts on J. Cole's 'Snow On Tha Bluff'
On June 16, J. Cole released a song that lit up social media titled, “Snow On Tha Bluff,” named after the 2011 is-it-a-movie-or-is-it-a-documentary (?) of the same name that featured Atlanta’s finest, Curtis Snow, jacking a camera from some film school kids and recording the happenings of his Bankhead neighborhood called The Bluff. Here are…
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30 Days of Iconic Music Video Blackness With VSB, Day 17: Queen Latifah, 'Ladies First'
Queen Latifah’s video for her single, “Ladies First,” has stayed with me since the first time I saw it, probably sometime in late 1989 or early 1990. The imagery in the song was so striking to me that even as a 10- or 11-year-old, I remember being mesmerized. The video clips, the way Queen Latifah…
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30 Days of Iconic Music Video Blackness With VSB, Day 16: 2Pac featuring Dr. Dre, 'California Love'
June 16 is Tupac Amaru Shakur’s birthday. Today—June 16, 2020—he’d be 49 years old. Since it’s Tupac’s birthday and one of his singles— “California Love”—happens to feature one of the most iconic hip hop videos of all time, it only makes sense to include him here. The video for “California Love,” which was directed by…
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30 Days of Iconic Music Video Blackness With VSB, Day 15: Cameo, 'Word Up!'
One day, Cameo will get the documentary they truly deserve. One trip through their video archives makes want to know everything about the group possible. Sure, Larry Blackmon is the most recognizable because he was the front-man and lead vocalist (I struggled with putting singer here), but the whole band was really out there. Seriously,…
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30 Days of Iconic Music Video Blackness With VSB, Day 14: The Roots 'What They Do'
The mid-to-late 90s ushered in an era of opulence in hip hop. While Sean “Puffy” Combs gets most of the credit for taking hip hop into the “Shiny Suit” era, he was far from the only artist making music and videos that exhibited lifestyle goals more than lifestyle. And just as there was no shortage…
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30 Days of Iconic Music Video Blackness With VSB, Day 13: Michael Jackson, 'Thriller'
I mean, I couldn’t “well duh” think of a video any harder than this one. “Thriller” is probably the most iconic music video of all time. Of ever. And will probably be forever. And forever is a mighty long time. It’s so iconic it’s that I guarantee you can do at least one part of…
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The Root Jams Weekly (6/12/2020): 'A Roller Skating Jam Named Blackness'
Its Black Music Month, and summer is on the way. One of the funnest old school summer night activities was going to the skating rink. Roller rinks always had the best jams, so we’re putting together our list of Roller Skating Jams. Break out the skates! And don’t forget to bounce, rock then skate and…
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30 Days of Iconic Music Video Blackness With VSB, Day 11: Ciara 'Oh'
You and I both know exactly why this video is on the list: the car scene. And here’s how fucking iconic that car scene is—it doesn’t even happen until the last minute-and-a-half of the video AND I entirely forgot what the rest of the video looked like, which is a shame because Ciara’s dancing is…
