motown
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Icon, Unfiltered: Stephanie Mills Talks Michael Jackson, R. Kelly, and Why the Music Industry Doesn't Honor Black Artists
Stephanie Mills has got opinions. Lots of ‘em. The Grammy-award winning singer and actress best known for playing Dorothy in the original Broadway production of The Wiz is not one for holding her tongue. She’s now a woman of a certain age—read: She has no time for the BS. “I’m not apologizing about anything I…
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Jennifer Lopez's Motown Tribute at the Grammys Gentrified the Genre
During Black History Month 2019, the Recording Academy decided to gentrify Motown by having Jennifer “Don’t Be Fooled By the Rocks that I Got” Lopez do a tribute to an undeniably black-ass genre of music. Motown’s music has indeed touched the lives of many, but a performance from Lopez raised a few questions. Did they…
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Michelle Obama Speaks to Detroit Students About How to Deal With ‘Naysayers’
Detroit—Accomplished lawyer? Check. First lady of the United States? Been there, done that. Bestselling author? Three million checks. With a resume like Michelle Obama’s, its sometimes easy to forget that the beginning of her story is a lot more relatable than you’d think—a point that she hoped to get across to a group of students…
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In a New Interview, Smokey Robinson Says He Regrets Not Recording With Friend Aretha Franklin
They knew each other almost all their lives, but in the many decades that Smokey Robinson and Aretha Franklin shared a friendship and mutual admiration, they never made it into the studio to record. Anyone who heard the two briefly duet on The Miracles’ “Ooh, Baby, Baby” (penned by Smokey) on a 1979 episode of…
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Is Otis Williams of The Temptations the Pettiest Man Alive? An Analysis
The Temptations is one of my all-time favorite singing groups. I’m especially a fan of the “Classic Five” lineup (I like to call it their “Death Lineup”—no pun intended) of David Ruffin, Eddie Kendricks, Paul Williams, Melvin Franklin and Otis Williams. Dennis Edwards replacing David Ruffin and singing on their most iconic songs in the…
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Perfect Music Moments in Black History: Rick James and Smokey Robinson ‘Ebony Eyes’
I’m not saying that I embarrass my kids often, but I can’t lie; I rather enjoy the fact that I have a child who has already found it possible to be ashamed of things I do. One of those things that absolutely go Full-On Embarrassing Dad is singing Rick James and Smokey Robinson’s “Ebony Eyes”…
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10 Reasons I’m Glad I Was Raised in a Black Household
How you were raised largely dictates how you will turn out as an adult. I have zero science to back this up; nor do I have a link to a white paper from the Atlanta Conference of Negro Problems’ (that was a real thing, by the way) early writings that proves this axiom dating back…
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10 Best Christmas Soul Songs, Ranked (Also Known as the Hardest List of All Time)
What I’m about to do will possibly be THE most controversial and contentious list ever created. I want you to know that up front. Even as I was making this list, I started a fight with myself that didn’t end well, and I think Brick killed a guy. So let’s just get the most important…