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. […]

Why Gaza’s Latest Unchosen Trauma Reflects a Sad Day in America

Reflecting on the Flour Massacre Israel starved the Gazans, and then murdered scores of them two days ago for starving. The Israeli military’s version of the story is that the unarmed Palestinians’ desperate rush towards the humanitarian aid trucks posed a threat to the soldiers on the ground. And US President Joe Biden still ships […]

Questions in January

If poverty in America was treated like an invading Russian army, how much lethal aid would the poor receive to eliminate it? If former President Donald Trump is elected president of the US again, Should current President Joe Biden flee the country as if it were Haiti? Should Vice President Kamala Harris leave? If Trump […]

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 […]

Scene & Heard: “A New Day” by Vladimir Cetkar

“Sounds influenced by George Benson” was my commentary after hearing Jazz-Funk guitarist Vladimir Cetkar for the first time more than a dozen years ago. Cetkar has excellent taste in influences, by the way. His high-energy Post-Disco “Ocean of Love” track from the 2007 OM Vibes, Vol. 1 compilation remains a pleaser, and I’ve kept an […]

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 […]

The One Question No One wants To Ask (Or Answer) About the Current Gaza War

As the Palestinian death toll in Gaza from Israeli military strikes rises to more than 10,000, according to the Palestinian Gaza health ministry — with an estimated 4,000 of the dead being children — there’s a question to be asked among Israeli and US government officials that I doubt will yield any straightforward answers. How […]

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, […]