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30 Days of Musical Blackness With VSB, Day 11: Fresh Start Worship, ‘Mention’
I listen to a lot of music, from hip-hop to country to rock ’n roll to even Celtic (seriously, some of that harp work jams … on the one), but when I need to hear something that digs into my soul, I go straight for gospel, and more specifically, praise and worship. Some of this…
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30 Days of Musical Blackness With VSB, Day 10: Geto Boys, 'My Mind's Playing Tricks On Me' x Isaac Hayes, 'Hung Up On My Baby'
Like many of us, I spent various moments yesterday reading mixed reporting on the status of Bushwick Bill, member of pioneering Houston rap group, Geto Boys. A few weeks ago, we were all met with news that Bill, born Richard Shaw, had been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. When the news came last night…
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30 Days of Musical Blackness With VSB, Day 9: Ray J, 'One Wish'
I hear you looking at me right now like, “How did Ray J end up ‘round here?” And to that I say, despite the fact that I have stated very plainly that I’m a fan of one Willie Ray Norwood, I didn’t put Ray J on this list, I put “One Wish” on this list…
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30 Days of Musical Blackness With VSB, Day 8: Teni, 'Party Next Door'
One thing I’ve made it a point to do more in the past few years is dig heavier into current music coming from Africa. So many artists are breaking through (i.e., Davido, etc.) but there is just SO SO much dope music coming from West Africa—Nigeria in particular. Fela Kuti is one of my top…
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Raphael Saadiq Is About to Make Your Summer Better With the August Release of His New Album, Jimmy Lee
Raphael Saadiq, the most underappreciated R&B artist of all time, is about to bring forth the sound and light with his Aug. 23 release, Jimmy Lee. It will be his first solo release in eight years, following up his 2011 release, Stone Rollin’. This album comes fresh off the heels of his amazing performance at…
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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…
