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10 Things That Confuse Me About Kenny G’s Colonization of My Musical World
For some odd reason that I cannot quite understand, I grew up listening to a very (un)healthy amount of Kenny G. The track “Songbird”—you know the one—could be heard on any given day throughout my home as a kid. For the life of me, I do not understand why this was the case. Turns out…
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At What Age Did You First See Coming to America?
I have three chirrens. They are ages 9, 3 and 2. At this point, because children are sponges and shit, I am very careful about what I watch and listen to in front of them. The last thing I need is to have my kids absorb some super-profane content and then repeat it. I already…
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Jimmy Jam’s Episodes of Questlove Supreme Might Be the Greatest Episodes of Anything That Ever Existed
I can be prone to hyperbole. I can see proof of it in my daughter, who has adopted my penchant for saying, “This is my favorite song ever” for nearly every song she hears that she likes. We don’t do things small in the My-Last-Name-Isn’t-Really-Jackson household. I remember once playing the Sylvers’ “Even This Shall…
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Ronnie, Bobby, Ricky and Mike (aka RBRM) Is the Lemonade We Get From New Edition’s Lemons
The Temptations are one of my favorite groups of all time. But I have to caveat that: The version of the Temptations that features the “Death Lineup” (no pun intended, seriously) of David Ruffin, Eddie Kendricks, Paul Williams, Melvin Franklin and Otis Williams is my favorite. Even though that lineup is my favorite, the lineup…
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This Mother’s Day Will Be Different
Editor’s note: It’s very important for me to mention that I have two mothers. I was largely raised by my black mother, but my white mother was ever present in my life and obviously had a significant hand in shaping who I am as a person. God saw fit to gift me with two mothers…
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This Is America: Save a White Drug Addict, Jail a Black One
Much has been said of the government responses to the opioid epidemic—specifically that it is leniently and sympathetically called an epidemic (I agree with that assessment), with sights set on healing and treatment. While necessary to combat the issue, the sympathy with which our nation views the current drug scourge is, frankly, frustrating. Why frustrating?…
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The Fugees’ ‘Killing Me Softly’ Is Overrated and the Least Awesome Song on The Score. Fight Me, Bro
I was recently hipped to Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson’s (the Roots) Questlove Supreme podcast on Pandora. I can’t believe I’ve never listened to it before, but now that I’ve found love, what am I going to do with it? I’m going to binge the fuck out of this podcast and treat every day like Christmas. The…
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Black Life, White Wife and the Art Caught in the Middle
Over the weekend, Donald Glover, aka Childish Gambino, dropped a video for a new song called “This Is America.” You are reading this, which means there’s a better than 90 percent chance that you’ve both seen the video and had a discussion about it already. Probably several. I assume, based on the imagery and visuals…
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Wale Thinks Being Dark-Skinned and African Held Him Back in Hip-Hop, but He’s a Successful Rapper. What Gives?
I’m not Wale’s biggest fan, but the man can make a hit song. He has several of them. If you listened to the radio at all in 2011, you heard “Lotus Flower Bomb” multiple times a day. His verse on Waka Flocka Flame’s “No Hands”? Stellar. I still know it word for word. He’s got…
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Detroit Music Station ‘Mutes’ Kanye West but Doesn’t Know if It’ll Mute Chris Brown and R. Kelly. SMH
Ever since T.I. rapped “you had a bad idea and you makin’ it worse” on his and Kanye’s “Ye vs. the People,” I’ve found ways to apply that statement to so many facets of life. It was so apt and simple and profound that it really encapsulates everything going on in the world of Kanye…
