Music
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30 Days of Musical Blackness With VSB, Day 19: Joi, 'Freedom' x Various Artists, 'Freedom'
Since today is Juneteenth (in celebration of June 19, 1865, the day the slaves in Texas learned they were freed), I decided to drop a two-fer in the name of freedom. The song is “Freedom” but there are two versions and they’re both getting their due today. Most people of a certain age might remember…
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What Is the Best and Blackest Movie Soundtrack?
It’s African American Music Appreciation Month (lovingly known as Black Music Month) and what better way to celebrate than to honor just how much music affects another celebrated medium? That’s right, we’re talking film. While Bill Cosby and O.J. Simpson were attempting to make this the most bizarre week in celebrity social media history, Jamie…
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30 Days of Musical Blackness With VSB, Day 18: The Temptations 'Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)'
As a child, I grew up hearing The Temptations, but I don’t recall really listening. Of course, I knew of Motown and thus I knew some of their biggest songs, some by heart, even if I wasn’t entirely up on game. “Papa Was A Rolling Stone,” and “My Girl,” and “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg,”…
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With Blanco Brown’s ‘The Git Up Challenge,’ 2019 Is Truly the Summer of the Yee-Haw Agenda
Where TikTok goes, so do the Billboard charts. This was true of “Old Town Road,” Lil Nas X’s ubiquitous smash, which has been sitting pretty atop Billboard’s Hot 100 for the past 10 weeks. And it may soon be true of Blanco Brown’s “The Git Up,” another impossibly catchy country tune that has quickly been…
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The Marathon Medal: Nipsey Hussle to Be Honored With Humanitarian Award at 2019 BET Awards
Along with his business acumen and music, Nipsey Hussle (born Ermias Asghedom) was known for his humanitarian spirit. Locals lovingly called him “Neighborhood Nip.” It’s one of the main reasons why the marathon shall, indeed, continue. As writer Sonya Magett perfectly expressed in her April list of hip-hop artists carrying Nipsey’s legacy through their own…
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30 Days of Musical Blackness With VSB, Day 17: Intro, 'Funny How Time Flies'
Intro might literally be the most unsung group ever. They’re so unsung, they don’t even have an episode of TVOne’s Unsung and their contemporaries like Troop, Hi-Five and Silk, who are way less unsung than Intro, have episodes. They have one of the most recognizable ’90s R&B songs in “Come Inside” (waaaaaaaaaaay too long intro…
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30 Days of Musical Blackness With VSB, Day 16: Gladys Knight & the Pips ‘Daddy Could Swear, I Declare’
Happy Father’s Day! You know what’s difficult to find? Positive songs about black fathers. I’m not saying there aren’t any, I’m just saying that the genre, as it were, could stand some more entries. So today, I decided to go with a song by Gladys Knight & the Pips. The song celebrates dads, or Gladys’…
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30 Days of Musical Blackness With VSB, Day 15: Fela Kuti ‘Lady’
I’d heard of Fela Kuti before I heard Fela. But when I finally made the discovery of Nigeria’s Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti aka Fela Anikulapo Kuti aka Fela, I was done for. Actually, that’s a little untrue. After being told to check out his music I went out and bought the Best of the Black…
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30 Days of Musical Blackness With VSB, Day 14: Sister Nancy, 'Bam Bam'
I literally have zero recollection of the first time I heard Sister Nancy’s “Bam Bam.” I don’t remember it at all before college though, so I’ll just go ahead and assume I heard it at the same place I heard so many dope songs during my college tenure: (what we called) “Fashion Fridays” at Spelman…
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Forbes’ 5 Richest Rappers and What They Should Buy With Their Money
Forbes released its list of the five wealthiest hip-hop stars topped by Jay-Z, who Forbes recently declared the first billionaire rapper if you don’t count Donald Trump, whose multiple rap beefs, criminal history and love for the “stop snitching” movement technically qualifies him as a gangster rapper. Plus, we can’t forget that time Trump spit…