black music
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30 Days of Iconic Music Video Blackness With VSB, Day 22: Jill Scott , 'Gettin' In The Way'
From the moment Jill Scott hit the scene nationally in 2000, she was a force. While she got dropped into the earthy-crunchy, neo-soul bucket of the late 90s and early aughts—I think being both from Philly, the epicenter of the movement if it had one, and the “sound” of her music helped this categorization—Jill to…
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30 Days of Iconic Music Video Blackness With VSB, Day 21: Will Smith, 'Just the Two of Us'
Today—June 21, 2020—is Father’s Day. My goal on today was to feature an iconic music video about black fathers and fatherhood. And you know what feels like damn near an impossible task? Finding a music video for a song celebrating black fathers and black fatherhood. In fact, there were so few videos in this particular…
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The Root Jams Weekly (6/19/2020): 'Juneteenth'
June 19, known as Juneteenth in the black community represents the day that the word about the end of slavery finally reached Galveston, Texas, which at the time was the furthest part of the United States. Today, we celebrate the holiday by sharing our favorite jams in the spirit of Juneteenth, freedom and blackness. “Juneteenth”…
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John Legend’s Bigger Love Wraps Black Joy, Nostaglia and More in a Pleasing Bow
John Legend’s latest musical offering Bigger Love couldn’t have come at a better time. The EGOT-winner’s 16-song album, which officially drops today, invokes the timelessness of his debut, 2004’s Get Lifted, with an updated flair fitting the vein of 2020’s versatile musical landscape. The 41-year-old says Bigger Love is a “celebration of love, joy, hope…
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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 16: 2Pac featuring Dr. Dre, 'California Love'
June 16 is Tupac Amaru Shakur’s birthday. Today—June 16, 2020—he’d be 49 years old. Since it’s Tupac’s birthday and one of his singles— “California Love”—happens to feature one of the most iconic hip hop videos of all time, it only makes sense to include him here. The video for “California Love,” which was directed by…
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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 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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30 Days of Iconic Music Video Blackness With VSB, Day 5: Missy Elliott 'The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)'
Let’s go ahead and get a few facts out of the way about Missy Elliot’s song “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly).” For one, the song is timeless—I believe if this song was released today, some 23 years after its original release, it would still be a hit. It’s so different and so unique, so special,…