Music
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30 Days of Musical Blackness With VSB, Day 29: De La Soul's 'A Roller Skating Jam Named Saturdays'
De La Soul’s sophomore album, De La Soul Is Dead, was released on May 14, 1991. Sometime in late 1991, while I was in 7th grade, my class went on a field trip, and on the bus ride I sat down next to a friend of mine (whose name I remember vividly but whose business…
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30 Days of Musical Blackness With VSB, Day 28: SWV 'When U Cry'
I’m a well documented SWV fan. But since I’m feeling generous, allow me to document this again. From a piece I wrote called “An Ode to SWV” in February of 2016: I love SWV. Since 1992, they have been my favorite girl group. For me, all of their songs seem rooted in fun and good…
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The Homecoming Playlist: Turn-Up at the Tailgate
A few months after the summer cookouts are over and right before hibernation mode kicks in, there’s one last annual turn-up that’s a staple of black culture. It’s that time of the year known as homecoming season—an important time, filled with step shows, galas, panel discussions and more. But the most anticipated and highly attended…
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30 Days of Musical Blackness With VSB, Day 27: Junk Yard Band 'Loose Booty'
Washington, D.C., and its culture absolutely changed my life. I was first introduced to D.C.—outside of the national stories about Marion Barry—in a pre-freshman program the summer before my freshman year at Morehouse College in 1997. A few of the students in the program were from D.C. and they all stood out for their fashion…
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If Chaka Khan Had Heard Kanye West's Final Sample of Her Song, She Would've Said 'Hell No'
Once upon a time, there was a man named “Old Kanye,” born Kanye Omari West. After suffering a terrible accident, which led to his jaw having to be wired shut, the young rapper released a single titled, “Through The Wire.” That single would launch one of the most compelling careers in hip-hop. Then, several years…
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30 Days of Musical Blackness With VSB, Day 26: Roy Ayers Ubiquity 'Everybody Loves the Sunshine'
I don’t know where you are, but where I’m at it’s hot as hell outside. It’s been in the 90s and a weather notification on my phone this morning mentioned the words “heat wave.” Well, you know what song somehow manages to work perfectly in hot ass weather, even if it’s one of the coolest…
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Press, Press, Press, Press, Press: Cardi’s New Music Video Is a Perfectly Timed Court Drama
The visual for “Press” is here! While I didn’t exactly bop with this song as I have her other hits, I do have to acknowledge the strategic timing of Cardi B’s video release for “Press,” which dropped one day after her arraignment hearing in connection with a 2018 strip club altercation. The 26-year-old rapper is…
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30 Days of Musical Blackness With VSB, Day 25: New Edition, 'You're Not My Kind of Girl'
New Edition is one of my favorite groups ever because of course, they are. “Can You Stand the Rain” is one of the greatest songs of all time because of course, it is. There’s a reason why BET’s The New Edition Story was such an event. Ronnie, Bobby, Ricky, Mike, Ralph—and Johnny, too, have been…
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30 Days of Musical Blackness With VSB, Day 24: Ari Lennox, 'Night Drive'
J. Cole has quietly amassed a hell of a roster over at Dreamville. One of his current artists, Ari Lennox (who in May released her debut album, Shea Butter Baby—seriously, how fuckin’ awesome of a title is that?)—is really starting to make noise, as she should be. Lennox, who is a singer/songwriter from Washington, D.C.,…
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30 Days of Musical Blackness With VSB, Day 23: Deep Cotton, ‘We’re Far Enough From Heaven Now We Can Freak Out’
Have you ever heard a song that totally had you at hello? Well, for me, one of those songs would be Deep Cotton’s “We’re Far Enough From Heaven Now We Can Freak Out.” Deep Cotton is the duo of Nate Wonder and Chuck Lightning, Janelle Monae’s longtime collaborative partners responsible for much of the production…