Music2/14/21Feb 141Music2/14/21Music28 Days of Album Cover Blackness With VSB, Day 14: Marvin Gaye's I Want You (1976)Panama Jackson4It’s Valentine’s Day so it only makes sense to include an album cover for an album about that good lovin’. Marvin…
Music2/13/21Feb 131Music2/13/21Music28 Days of Album Cover Blackness With VSB, Day 13: Preston Love's Preston Love's Omaha Bar-B-Q (1969)Panama Jackson5Have you ever seen an album cover that had you at hello? For me, that album cover would be Preston Love’s Preston…
Music2/12/21Feb 121Music2/12/21Music28 Days of Album Cover Blackness With VSB, Day 12: Diana Ross' Diana (1980)Panama Jackson4You know this album. I know this album. Your neighbor knows this album. Everybody knows this album by the Queen of…
Music2/11/21Feb 11SaveMusic2/11/21Music28 Days of Album Cover Blackness With VSB, Day 11: Kay-Gees' Keep On Bumpin' & Masterplan (1974)Panama Jackson2I cannot stress to you how much I love this album cover for the Kay Gee’s 1974 album, Keep On Bumpin’ & Masterplan…
Culture2/10/21Feb 101Culture2/10/21CultureThe 2021 Skippies: An Interview With the Bay Area About Whether or Not They Were Snubbed In the 'Best Verzuz' CategoryPanama Jackson8Last week, The Root dropped our nominations for the second annual The Blackest Awards, or more simply, the 2021…
Music2/10/21Feb 10SaveMusic2/10/21Music28 Days of Album Cover Blackness With VSB, Day 10: The Brothers Johnson's Winners 1981Panama Jackson6To be Black (especially in America) is to know the Brothers Johnson. They had several No. 1 singles on the R&B…
Music2/9/21Feb 9SaveMusic2/9/21Music28 Days of Album Cover Blackness With VSB, Day 9: Amii Stewart's Knock On Wood (1979)Panama Jackson4You may know Amii Stewart because she had a monster disco song in 1979, “Knock On Wood.” The song made it all the…
Music2/8/21Feb 82Music2/8/21Music28 Days of Album Cover Blackness With VSB, Day 8: Guy Warren of Ghana's Afro-Jazz (1969)Panama Jackson1I’ll bet if that if I didn’t tell you that this album cover was for an album by a Ghanaian artist in 1969, I’d bet…
Music2/7/21Feb 74Music2/7/21Music28 Days of Album Cover Blackness with VSB, Day 7: Miles Davis' On the Corner (1972)Panama Jackson7I mean, I don’t even have to say it, but do you see this cover?? Look at all that animated Blackness permeating that…
Music2/6/21Feb 61Music2/6/21Music28 Days of Album Cover Blackness With VSB, Day 6: Queen Latifah's Nature of A Sista' (1991)Panama Jackson4The album cover for Queen Latifah’s sophomore album, Nature Of A Sista’, is a much better take on the album cover…
Music2/5/21Feb 51Music2/5/21Music28 Days of Album Cover Blackness With VSB, Day 5: Betty Davis' Nasty Gal (1975)Panama Jackson10I love Betty Davis. Her string of albums in the early to mid ’70s—any of which could have easily been included in…
Music2/4/21Feb 41Music2/4/21Music28 Days of Album Cover Blackness With VSB, Day 4: Black Ivory's Don't Turn Around (1972)Panama Jackson2Black Ivory—the trio of vocalists from Harlem, N.Y.—is a group that had me at hello. Made up of multihyphenate,…
Music2/3/21Feb 31Music2/3/21Music28 Days of Album Cover Blackness with VSB, Day 3: Big Bear Doin Thangs (1998)Panama Jackson7Easily doubling as both one of my favorite album covers of all time and one of the worst album covers of all time,…
It's Lit!2/2/21Feb 23It's Lit!2/2/21It's Lit!So...President Obama Showed Up to the Latest Very Smart Brothas x MahoganyBooks Book Club Meeting. Here's What HappenedPanama Jackson18Way back yonder—in late 2018—I co-founded a book club with the owners of MahoganyBooks, Derrick and Ramunda Young.…
Music2/2/21Feb 21Music2/2/21Music28 Days of Album Cover Blackness with VSB, Day 2: A Taste of Honey A Taste of Honey (1978)Panama Jackson8If you listen to Black music and disco (or either/or, really) you know A Taste of Honey. They had a monster hit with…
Entertainment2/1/21Feb 1SaveEntertainment2/1/21EntertainmentThe Root Presents the 2nd Annual Blackest Awards. Welcome to the 2021 Skippies!Panama Jackson4Guess who’s back in the *CENSORED* house with some new awards for the African American crowd!!!?? If you said, it’s…
Music2/1/21Feb 11Music2/1/21Music28 Days of Album Cover Blackness With VSB, Day 1: Al Green I'm Still In Love With You (1972)Panama Jackson7It’s February again, and you know what that means—it’s Black History Month. Well, here at VSB, we like to celebrate…
Can I Kick It?1/29/21Jan 29SaveCan I Kick It?1/29/21Can I Kick It?To Washington, D.C. With Love: The Commes Des Garcons x Nike Foamposite 1 Collaboration Might As Well Come With Mambo SaucePanama JacksonMy first experience with the Nike Air Foamposite One, released in 1997—we called them Penny Hardaways or Penny’s,…
Music1/25/21Jan 25SaveMusic1/25/21MusicJazmine Sullivan's Heaux Tales Album Is Amazing AF. Here Are 10 Thoughts About ItPanama Jackson4On January 8, 2021, powerhouse singer/songwriter Jazmine Sullivan released her fourth project—at a little over 32…
Culture1/22/21Jan 22SaveCulture1/22/21CultureThe Case For and Against Rocking Gear From a College You Didn't Graduate From (Or Attend)Panama Jackson53I’m an HBCU (historically Black college or university) enthusiast. There was a time in my life that whenever I went…