The Family Way
 Kindred
the Family Soul gets real with the laundry and stuff. By Mark Anthony
Neal: "…it is just these everyday dramas—tiny pleasures
really—that make Surrender to Love, the debut release
from the wife and husband team Kindred the Family Soul, such a joy.
Drawing on the legacy of Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson, Aja Graydon
and Fatin Dantzler give the world… [more]
The Top Music (and Music Videos)
of 2003
 Goapele—Even
Closer
Sexy, passionate and committed—words that could describe any
number of R&B divas, particularly if their passions and commitments
are limited to the promotion of themselves. But Goapele is not one
of those divas. Sexy, for damn sure the Bay Area resident is, but
her passions and commitments, extend into… [more]
Our Michael
 "Can
you remember when we were babies?"
—Michael Jackson (Age 11)
"Can You Remember?" is an obscure little track penned
by Thom Bell and William Hart (of the Delphonics) that was recorded
by the Jackson Five on their first album Diana Ross Presents
the Jackson Five. The song was easily … [more]
Comfort Woman
 Me'shell
Ndegeocello talks about her new album Comfort Woman and her "outsider"
status. (And she has love for R. Kelly.) By Mark Anthony Neal… [more]
Also, a review
of Erykah Badu's World
Wide Underground.
On the Fly
 When
vocalist Ayanna Gregory rocked D.C.'s Blues Alley recently, she
displayed a stylistic versatility that carried her effortlessly
from jazz to funk to freedom songs. She conveys a depth of emotion
and range that allows her to be heard on subjects far and beyond
the latest hot or tired flame. She recently released her debut CD
titled "Beautiful Flower" and—not that we care about
bloodlines—yes she is Dick Gregory's baby girl. www.AyannaGregory.com
50 Cent: It's All in the Game
 Talk
about the commodification of the hip-hop gangster! 50 Cent has clandestinely
crept into our culture and created an iconic nightmare for many
parents across the country. No, I'm not talking about some new coinage
from the U.S. Treasury Department; I'm talking about Curtis Jackson,
a.k.a. 50 Cent, the 27-year-old, ex-dope pusher from Queens whose
hit rap album, "Get Rich Or Die Tryin"… [more]
On the Fly
 The
power of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, the father of afrobeat, endures. We
recently checked out the Antibalas Afro-Beat Orchestra, a multi-hued
band that celebrates the music, style and passion of Fela with a
driving musical energy and outspoken progressive politics. (Antibalas
is Spanish for "Bulletproof" literally "Anti-bullets").
They are touring the U.S. Check out more info at www.antibalas.com.
The New Museum in Manhattan presents until September
28 "Black President: The Art and Legacy of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti,"
a group exhibition and catalogue of painting, drawing, sculpture,
photography and other media by 34 artists. More information here.
A book of essays about Fela, From Africa to West Broadway,
was published by Palgrave Macmillan in June. More information is
available at www.felaproject.net.
 Honoring
Celia Cruz
Karen Juanita Carrillo on the celebrated
and controversial "queen of salsa"… [more]
Nina's Choice
 She
was the voice of a movement. Deep blues, even darker hues, from
the Delta to Dakar. When the old guard (Stokely and Martin and Ralph
and dem)—in the days before Aretha—talked about the
"voice" of the movement, they always invoked Nina Simone,
Ms. Simone to all those who couldn't wrap their minds around this
woman… [more]
Post
here your own love letter to Nina Simone, our high priestess
of soul.
Criminal (Critical) Accomplice:
Writing About R. Kelly
 A
year after Pearl Cleage openly criticized Miles Davis for his gender
politics, Davis, the definitive Black male genius of the 20th century,
and an American cultural icon, was dead. Cleage had taken Davis
to task for his raw and uncut confessions—gleeful descriptions—of
physical violence against Black women in his autobiography Miles
(1990). I’ve thought a great deal about Cleage's Mad at
Miles as I’ve considered my own relationship to the music
of R. Kelly, the Chi-town bred R&B "genius" who was
indicted in June of 2002 on 21 counts for child pornography…
[more]
The Graying of Hip Hop
 More
than anytime in its 30-year sojourn in North America, hip-hop culture
is at a crossroads. The strongest evidence of this is the unparalleled
nostalgia that pervades so many sectors of commercial hip-hop. No
doubt, part this nostalgia is driven by corporate desires to provide
the so called hip-hip generation (particularly the back-packers)…
[more]
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