-
30 Days of Iconic Music Video Blackness With VSB, Day 24: Jodeci, 'Stay'
Jodeci and SWV are my favorite 90s groups. Their music, to me, is so superbly good that you shouldn’t have anything negative to say about it. Jodeci is still, today, a gold standard group, which is amazing considering that they only have three albums, all released between 1991 and 1995 that are worth talking about.…
-
30 Days of Iconic Music Video Blackness With VSB, Day 23: Kriss Kross, 'Jump'
At first glance, there’s not really much to the video for Kriss Kross’ “Jump,” though it’s a song and video that changed their lives, along with their producer, Jermaine Dupri. Famously, the royalty check Dupri received from Ruffhouse/Columbia Records (the label Kriss Kross was signed to) for “Jump”—the single itself sold over 4 million copies—enabled…
-
30 Days of Iconic Music Video Blackness With VSB, Day 22: Jill Scott , 'Gettin' In The Way'
From the moment Jill Scott hit the scene nationally in 2000, she was a force. While she got dropped into the earthy-crunchy, neo-soul bucket of the late 90s and early aughts—I think being both from Philly, the epicenter of the movement if it had one, and the “sound” of her music helped this categorization—Jill to…
-
30 Days of Iconic Music Video Blackness With VSB, Day 21: Will Smith, 'Just the Two of Us'
Today—June 21, 2020—is Father’s Day. My goal on today was to feature an iconic music video about black fathers and fatherhood. And you know what feels like damn near an impossible task? Finding a music video for a song celebrating black fathers and black fatherhood. In fact, there were so few videos in this particular…
-
30 Days of Iconic Music Video Blackness With VSB, Day 20: Stepanie Mills, '(You're Puttin') A Rush On Me'
I cannot tell you how much I love Stephanie Mills’ video for “(You’re Puttin’) A Rush On Me” so I won’t even try. I love it a lot lot, though. What I will attempt to explain is why I love this video so much. For starters, I’d be willing to bet good money that a…
-
VSB Dads Share Their Father's Day Wish Lists. We Thank You In Advance
Father’s Day is upon us and even before COVID-19, the sock aisles at your favorite retailers (that also sold groceries!) were probably almost bare, but now they are probably empty. Socks and ties are the Father’s Day staples near and far, to and fro. But is that what the father in your life really wants…
-
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”…
-
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…
-
30 Days of Iconic Music Video Blackness With VSB, Day 18: Dennis Edwards and Siedah Garrett 'Don't Look Any Further'
This video is terrible. But it’s terrible so good. But it’s like really bad. Especially considering that this song and video came out in 1984. A year earlier—1983 for those less mathematically inclined individuals—saw the release of possibly the most iconic music video ever in Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.” Think about that: a year prior, a…
-
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…
