black music
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Seven Singers That Black People Swear Can Sing, But We Know They Can’t
Can we have a frank and honest conversation? It is time we told the truth.
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Exclusive: Rhino Records to Release Iconic Classics on Limited Edition Colored Vinyl Throughout Black History Month
Black History Month is on the horizon and there are many ways to celebrate the unmatched contributions the Black community has gifted the world. Today, we’re going to focus on one of the best—music! Despite the mainstream industry’s constant attempt at erasure and appropriation, there is no doubt that Black folks are the architects and…
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Mic Drop: Music Releases From the First Week of January to Get You Ready for 2021
2021 started off with a bang, literally and metaphorically. From the insanity that happened in D.C. last Wednesday (January 6th, 2021) to KimYe’s split to every other random act in between, it was hard for me to stay on top of the new music that I was dying to hear as it dropped. Because we’ve…
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Richard 'Dimples' Fields' 10 Simple Rules for Successful Living 'Straight from the Dimples' Mouth
I’d bet good money that it’s been quite some time since you’ve heard the name Richard “Dimples” Fields if you know who he is at all. That isn’t to say he isn’t a somebody; he had a few hits back in the ‘80s and the albums with those hits aren’t available on streaming services. But…
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9 Artists I Cannot Be Objective About Because All They Make Is Beautiful Music (and Things)
On December 17, 2020, Scott Mescudi, professionally known to the world as Kid Cudi, dropped a sneaker collabo with shoe and apparel brand Adidas called the Vadawam 326, so named after his daughter, Vada—the 326 is a reference to her birthday, March 26. Cudi’s shoe looked like it could have EASILY been a Yeezy shoe…
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9 Songs That Are Basically Beyoncé Songs…For Dudes
Even if you are not a fan of Beyoncé—I don’t understand how this is a real thing, but do yo’ thang—you have to admit that Mrs. Knowles-Carter has some jams. If she never makes another record, she will always have a wedding, revival and club jam in “Single Ladies,” and her catalog is full of…
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The Root Jams Weekly (9/18/2020): 'Lost Ones'
Sometimes you don’t know what you have until it’s gone. Sometimes you have to remind people that if they had just zigged instead of zagging, everything would have been alright. You’ve got to live and learn as they say, I suppose. So in honor or the Los Angeles Clippers epic collapse on what should have…
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The Root Jams Weekly (9/11/2020): 'Auntie Jams'
This Sunday, the good folks at Verzuz are bringing a “battle” most of us didn’t even know we needed: Gladys Knight and Patti LaBelle. The stories alone should be amazing, but the jams, oh the jams! These two women have been present at cookouts, graduations, breakups (to makeups) to church and back. In honor (and…
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8 Reasons Why The Five Heartbeats Are the Best Fictional Black Movie Music Group of All Time
The Five Heartbeats, the 1991 movie written and directed by—and also starring—Robert Townsend (Keenan Ivory Wayans was a co-writer) is easily one of my favorite movies of all time. For my money, The Five Heartbeats is the greatest fictional Black music group of all time, and that is indisputable. Sure, there are other fictional groups…
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A Line-By-Line(s) Breakdown of Alleged Foolywang Jam, Donnell Jones' 'Where I Wanna Be'
In October 1999, singer/songwriter/producer Donnell Jones released his second album, platinum-selling Where I Wanna Be. The first single featuring Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes was a hit—his highest-charting hit, in fact—landing inside the top 10 of Billboard’s pop charts. Interestingly, the first record I remember hearing from the album was “Shorty (Got Her Eyes On Me),”…