black music
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Rapsody's Upcoming Album, Eve, Pays Homage to Black Women; 1st Single 'Ibtihaj' Keeps It All the Way Live
Rapsody, the North Carolina lyricist known in hip-hop circles as a rapper’s rapper, has consistently delivered on both her individual releases and features. In 2017, Rapsody (born Marlanna Evans) dropped her critically-acclaimed and Grammy-nominated album, Laila’s Wisdom (Jamla/RocNation). The first record on the album—the title track—has been in my personal rotation nonstop ever since and…
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7 Thoughts About Chance the Rapper's 'Debut' Album, The Big Day
On Friday, July 26, after much leadup and life changes for one Chancelor Bennett, aka Chance the Rapper, he independently released his “debut” album, The Big Day. Boasting a shit-ton of songs, largely about relationships and the leadup to “the big day”—his wedding, presumably—he uses his “big day” (“debut” album release day) to focus on…
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'Hot Girl Summer,' Who? Drop Everything, Because Lizzo Just Dropped That 'Tempo'—With Missy Elliott
I been waitin’ for this one….Turn it up! Thought you were having a “Hot Girl Summer”? According to Lizzo, it’s “Thick Bitch Summer”—and we just got our summer anthem (actually, we’ll take both, please). They say never meet your heroes, but our favorite sangin’, rappin’, body-positive phenom Lizzo just teamed up with her sangin’, rappin’,…
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‘I Am a Champion for My Brown, Dark Women’: Living Legend Missy Elliott Covers Marie Claire
Fun, fly fact: Monday marked the 22nd anniversary of Missy Elliott’s debut drop, Supa Dupa Fly. If that anniversary astounds you, it’s likely because aside from the fact that we don’t feel 22 years older (that was legit half my lifetime ago, at this point), the song, “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly),” still slaps, proving…
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30 Days of Musical Blackness With VSB, Day 20: Phyllis Hyman, 'Be Careful (How You Treat My Love)'
There’s almost no way I could do a series like this without at least one nod to my second-favorite singer of forever, Phyllis Hyman. Turns out, almost four years ago, before VSB became part of The Root and before we started writing full time, I wrote everything I was going to write today in a…
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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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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…