Music
-
Meet the Mayor of Miami Gardens, Fla., One of the Largest Black-Run Cities in the Country
“Every night in my sleep, I need you beside me.” Imagine this line sung in the style of Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On,” off-key but with the same amount of confidence that Dion’s golden vocals boast. That’s how Miami Gardens, Fla., Mayor Oliver Gilbert started our interview. Clearly, I was in for a…
-
Watch SZA Bring Tears to Her Dad’s Eyes in This Video That Will Drop You Off Straight Into Your Feelings
If you’re thirsting for a sappy cry (it’s Wednesday; sometimes you have feelings), have we got a treat for you. SZA brought tears to her papa’s eyes in a recent video posted on Twitter. In the video, Daddy SZA is proudly rocking a cap from SZA’s Ctrl Tour and listening to her song “Broken Clocks.”…
-
Mary J. Blige Says She Made No Money From Oscar-Nominated Performance in Mudbound
In court documents filed ahead of Mary J. Blige’s upcoming divorce trial, the singer revealed that her Oscar-nominated turn in Mudbound netted her no income. Despite being met with acclaim for both her acting in the film and her performance of the film’s theme, “Mighty River,” Blige said that her expenses outweighed what she was…
-
6 Jobs That People Don’t Think Require Real ‘Work’
I’m a creative. I like to think that I’m good at it. At the very least, I’m good enough at it to get paid to do it like I’m doing it for television. Do you know what this means? I’ll tell you what it means: It means that while it brings home the bacon, it…
-
On Prince and Painting Outside of Black and White: Janelle Monáe’s Inspiring Thought Process on Dirty Computer
The first matter of business, if you haven’t already, is to treat yourself to Janelle Monáe’s latest video offerings, which the singer released today. The visuals for “Make Me Feel” and “Django Jane,” the two lead songs off Monáe’s upcoming album, Dirty Computer, are rich and stimulating—an entire 2018 mood board is captured in those…
-
Snoop Dogg Doing Gospel Confuses the Hell Out of Me, but I’m Not Mad at These Bops for Christ
When I got a press email announcing that Snoop Dogg had a gospel project, a double album titled Bible of Love, on the horizon, I immediately took a screenshot of the message and forwarded it to a few friends and posed the same question: “When did that nigga get saved?” Granted, perhaps I was a…
-
10 Things I Know About You if You Didn’t Cry Watching Drake’s ‘God’s Plan’ Video
Earlier this month it was reported that Drake, aka Canadian Screech, walked into a Miami grocery store and announced over a bullhorn that the patrons could get whatever they wanted and it was on him. It was a moment. What no one knew was that Drake had actually taken the money that was supposed to…
-
Perfect Music Moments in Black History: Nina Simone’s ‘4 Women’
For a certain segment out there, I imagine that Jay-Z’s song “The Story of O.J.” introduced them to Nina Simone (born Eunice Waymon). The song samples her famous 1966 song “Four Women,” released on the Wild Is the Wind album. For those who were introduced to her through Jay-Z, I’m both happy and sad: happy…
-
Universal Music’s VP of Urban Catalog Andre Torres Talks New Editorial Platform, Urban Legends
Andre Torres is a vinyl and hip-hop head, who’s also a veteran of music journalism. With over two decades in the trenches, Torres, who founded Wax Poetics magazine and was also executive editor at the lyrics site Genius, is now vice president of the urban catalog at Universal Music Enterprises. And in his new role,…