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30 Days of Musical Blackness With VSB, Day 7: Mother’s Finest, 'Love Changes'
I came to know this song by way of one of the greatest groups ever assembled: Immature. The trio of Marques “Batman” Houston, Jerome “Romeo” Jones and Kelton “LDB” Kessee recorded “Feel the Funk” in 1995 for the white-savior extraordinaire film Dangerous Minds soundtrack (it was also included on their 1995 album, We Got It).…
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Open Thread: VSB x Mahogany Books June Book Club Meeting Selection, Zora and Langston by Yuval Taylor
Back on May 15, we announced that as a way to engage the online VSB community with the in-person monthly book club meeting, we’d post an open thread on the day of the actual book club meeting for those who aren’t in D.C. or who would rather have a convo about the book online. Well,…
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30 Days of Musical Blackness With VSB, Day 6: Oddisee, 'That's Love'
Oddisee is one of the hardest working artists in music. And I say music, and not just hip-hop, because his catalog is so expansive that it’s unfair to limit him to the genre he’s most well known for. And that’s if you’re familiar at all. Oddisee seems to live in that interesting space of being…
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30 Days of Musical Blackness With VSB, Day 5: Letta Mbulu, 'Mahlalela (Lazy Bones)'
Today, we’re going international with our Black Music Month love. As a hip-hop head who also tried his hand at music production, I’ve spent a considerable amount of time crate digging, searching through entire obscure record label catalogs, hoping to come across the perfect sample. Well, that’s how I came across Letta Mbulu’s banger of…
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30 Days of Musical Blackness With VSB, Day 4: Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway, 'Be Real Black For Me'
Since first discovering Donny Hathaway, he’s been my favorite singer ever. His version of “A Song For You” is one of the few musical compositions to ever bring tears to my eyes and I’ve made it a point to own every ownable composition of his in multiple formats. I’m also a Roberta Flack fan, though…
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5 Black Men React to Netflix's When They See Us, Ava DuVernay's Series About the Central Park Five
On May 31, Netflix released the Ava DuVernay-helmed miniseries, When They See Us, which delves into the case of the Central Park Five, the five black and brown boys who were convicted in 1990 in both the media and the courtroom for a crime they didn’t commit. In 2002, they were exonerated after the actual…
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30 Days of Musical Blackness With VSB, Days 2 and 3: Tank and The Bangas, 'Spaceships' + The Roots 'Act Too (The Love Of My Life)'
You’re getting a twofer today; it’s a celebration, bitches! This weekend I made my way up to Philadelphia for the 12th annual Roots Picnic (whole article comin’) to celebrate my 40th birthday (more on this coming soon, too) and because of the amount of drinking and shenanigans I participated in, Day 2 got lost in…
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30 Days of Musical Blackness With VSB, Day 1: Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth, ‘They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)’
June is Black Music Month and we here at VSB have decided to celebrate with aplomb and splendor. Just like we did back in February with our 28 Days of Literary Blackness series, we also love music and relish in the opportunity to celebrate that love as frequently as possible. Sometimes you just have to…
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10 Thoughts About the Wu-Tang Clan and Their Showtime Documentary Wu-Tang Clan: Of Mics & Men
1. I got into the Wu-Tang Clan very late to the game. It’s not because I didn’t think they could spit—I did, but the sound was just too dirty for me. I was a very big fan of Dr. Dre and DJ Quik and they both produced very cleanly, so to speak. And also, one…
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7 Black-Ass Things I Will Teach My Kids to Make Them HBCU Ready
My daughter is now 10 years old. This means in eight years she’ll be off to Spelman College in Atlanta to become the best she can be at the best HBCU in the country. I remember announcing on this here website that her mother was pregnant. Oh, how time flies. While my daughter can go…