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 […]
Read More Sly Stone — A Beautiful Prince of BlacknussPrince w̶a̶s̶ is a Rocker. And Prince w̶a̶s̶ is Black music. No contradiction at all. Prince: Question — You like Rock & Roll? [Audience cheers] Prince: Me too. One difference though, I like Rock and Roll — Fun-kay. —Prince, live in Montreux, Switzerland; July 15, 2013 Can’t forget Prince’s birthday today! We all miss him. […]
Read More Happy Born Day, Prince!The fried-rice-and-chicken-wing-theory of Blackness gets too much shine at times. We’ll dig deeper into that point later. I want to continue my thoughts from earlier today about Bruno Mars and cultural appropriation by asking a silly question: what is Blackness? Also, what credentialed person or process gets to determine someone else’s Blackness? No, this isn’t […]
Read More Bruno Mars and cultural appropriation, part 2: the bakeTo the folks who continue to drone that performer Bruno Mars is guilty of cultural appropriation — leave him Alone. Yeah, I always thought Bruno Mars played Cruise Ship Funk — the safe stuff that’s deodorized to a sucralose state of Middle-American acceptamce where listens invoke Peoria-grandma-approved happy faces, trying hard to keep a beat. […]
Read More Bruno Mars and cultural appropriation, part 1: the shakeAbout a year after the release of Prince’s Dirty Mind album, Music industry publication Billboard attempted to answer the question “What is Black music” by creating a Black Singles chart. Reductionist tactics like Billboard’s are worthy of a lengthy post, but I’ll say only this for now: Black creatives and their output over the years […]
Read More 9 PRINCE ALBUMS I PLAY THE MOST
mentalunrest.com 