Sly Stone — A Beautiful Prince of Blacknuss

Departed and Beloved Rahsaan Roland Kirk’s “Blacknuss” was more than a song and catchy title. it represented a glowing aesthetic. A unique language — never rooted in hate. A conveyance of history, struggle, creativity, and joy. Hell, Kirk even played the black notes on the piano when he performed the song live. “Blacknuss” represents a […]

Strange Brew: Smartphones are Shaping Our Lives

Are you living outside your screen? Hannah Arendt warned us that technology can cut both ways — open new doors while narrowing important ones. A walk through Chelsea a few years ago made me see her point. While on my way to watch legendary bassist Melvin Gibbs give a free performance at an art gallery, […]

Spotify Antics — It’s Not Payola, But Still Funny …

The curious case of Feg Hero I could easily pile on the legit concerns of musicians and writers about Spotify looking like a Trojan Road to a long-devalued destination called “exposure” … I mean, if Spotify’s paying creators chewing gum money, what other reason would bands have to stay on this platform? It’s the reanimation […]

Tyrese’s Ignorance of the ‘Asian Hate Crimes Bill’ — Symptom of a Disease Too Big for Him To See

Even stars chase clout for more shine, but that’s not the real problem. After shrugging my shoulders and giving a gas face while watching The Shade Room’s Instagram reel of singer and actor Tyrese Gibson blasting the Biden-Harris administration for signing the so-called Asian Hate Crime Bill while ignoring the safety needs of Black and […]

In Defense of André 3000 Grabbing His Flute and Changing on Us

C’mon, it’s 2024. Date: Nov 17, 2023 — “Apologetically unapologetic”. Those were the first two words I wrote while listening to Rapper André 3000’s track “I swear, I Really Wanted To Make A “Rap” Album But This Is Literally The Way The Wind Blew Me This Time”, from his flute-driven New Blue Sun album. Some […]

Scene & Heard: Bilal — Live With Robert Glasper, Questlove, and Burniss Travis

Social media friend “Bart” — I’ll leave it at that since I don’t know how much he wants y’all to know about his kind and generous self — hit me with a Bilal vocal performance video that features Questlove playing drums, Robert Glasper on piano, and Burniss Travis keeping the pocket fresh with bass duties. […]

An Album (Or Two) In My Head 0069

A rocker who sounds Alternative by being traditional; and 1970s Astral Jazz from the African diaspora. sabattaknow my nameSelf-released2014 Deep in the recesses of your grandparents’ record collection lies the murky, smelly, swaggalicious style of Rock and Roll that managed to bend genres while still making you understand Rock’s reason to exist. I don’t call […]

Aural Dive: “To the Moon” by Richard E (EP)

An ode to crypto — and other modern-day shibboleth Richard E’s “To the Moon” is a tripped-out, timely metaphor of building a digital stairway to success riches — built on Atridean cobblestones, while escorted through the star lanes by at least five decades of savory musical flavors. Richard also mentions on his Bandcamp page that […]

An Album (Or Two) In My Head 0068

I’m listening to fresh-from-the-factory Soul Jazz that hits from another decade and planet, and a Fania release from even further back … Nicholas PaytonDrip2023Paytone Records Payton pulled off transtemporal travel when his album took it back to ‘79 — peace be unto O.D.B. I plead to the headz: let’s not re-ignite debates about Jazz purity, […]

Aural Dive: “Perfect Day” by Al Green

Last week, I digested my weekly two-hour assortment of new tracks to possibly like. I always listen to all of them at least once, except I stumbled upon Al Green’s “Perfect Day”. And when I say stumbled, you can probably interpret it more like “I goofily tripped”. I was like, “Is that Al Green?” It’s […]