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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 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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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…
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30 Days of Iconic Music Video Blackness With VSB, Day 7: TLC, 'Waterfalls'
To call TLC’s “Waterfall” video iconic is almost underselling it. This award-winning video owned MTV back when that was a thing worthy of note and did it while addressing social issues like violence and HIV-awareness. The video stayed true to concept, used some CGI and showed our favorite girl group of the time in amazing…
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30 Days of Iconic Music Video Blackness With VSB, Day 6: Rick James & Smokey Robinson 'Ebony Eyes'
Have you ever watched something so ridiculous that it becomes both perfect and almost life-changing? That for me is the video for Rick James single featuring Smokey Robinson off of his 1983 album, Cold Blooded. Rick James featuring Smokey Robinson “Ebony Eyes” (1984) I don’t know why God made me the way he did, but…
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The Root Jams Weekly (6/5/2020): 'Say Her Name'
Breonna Taylor would be 27 years old today. Unfortunately, she is now with the ancestors, cut down prematurely by a police system that devalues black bodies. She, along with too many other black women whose lives were cut too short often go under-acknowledged. This playlist honors them. “Say Her Name” (6/5/2020) J’Na Jefferson Janelle Monae…
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30 Days of Iconic Music Video Blackness With VSB, Day 3: The Whispers, 'Keep On Lovin' Me'
This video perfectly reflects black cool…and I love it. It is hands down one of the best videos of Black Men Walking of all time. There’s even the rogue brotha in the back who clearly didn’t get the memo about wearing neutral colors and since he didn’t get that memo, he didn’t get the memo…
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9 Observations About the Video of the News Anchor Getting Hit By a Flying Hennessy Bottle In Cincinnati
Let me start by saying that I neither encourage nor condone violence towards anybody (who doesn’t deserve it), especially unsuspecting individuals who are just doing their job. Taking aim at a journalist for doing nothing more than (presumably) being present when you feel like firing off a projectile isn’t only not cool, but also dangerous.…
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30 Days of Iconic Music Video Blackness With VSB, Day 2: Janet Jackson, 'Rhythm Nation'
When I think of iconic music videos, several come to mind. Janet Jackson is responsible for several of them. While this series will probably get real loose with the definition of “iconic,” there is no need to qualify it with the video for the title track from Janet’s 1989 game-changing album, Rhythm Nation, officially titled…
