Over the next four weeks, I’ve decided to focus on some of my generations most-beloved Hip Hop/Soul artists that up and disappeared on our asses! Why did we love them, why did they fade into oblivion, and is there even a snowball’s chance in hell that they’ll come back to us one day? These are the questions I’ll attempt to answer for ya’ll.
So without further delay, let’s get into this week’s cry for help.
An obvious one….
Lauryn Hill
It’s only March, but Mo’Nique is indeed the frontrunner for the Best Year Ever Award. In a little less than a week, the self-proclaimed queen of comedy and Golden Globe (and Screen Actors Guild) Award winner, will probably win an Oscar for her work in Precious, despite her reluctance to “campaign” for the little gold statue.
Talk about a come up. Read more »
Nneka is kind of like the perfect cross between Lauryn Hill and M.I.A.; she sings and raps with ease, and writes wonderfully empowering songs, while also speaking for a people largely ignored and invisible in mainstream Western culture (you know: that massive, ridiculously diverse group of people we Westerners refer to as, simply, “Africans”) . As her brilliant album cover suggests, Nneka fashions herself as the voice of the African Diasporic experience, recalling everyone from Ms. Hill and Erykah Badu to Bob Marley and Fela Kuti. Born and raised in Warri, Nigeria before leaving at the age of 18 to live with her German mother in Hamburg, it could be said that her very existence embodies a clashing of African and Western cultures, and so she’ll surely fascinate Afrocentrics and NPR listeners in the coming months. But I can guarantee you that no amount of intellectual masturbation and hype can outshine Nneka’s brilliant, and downright moving American debut album, Concrete Jungle. Basically a collection of songs taken from Nneka’s two previous albums (both unavailable in the US), the album is an eclectic and freewheeling, yet somehow 100% cohesive mixture of hip hop, soul, rock, pop, reggae, afrobeat, funk, and trip hop.
Concrete Jungle stuns, inspires and enthralls from beginning to end, and confirms without question that Nneka has the potential to be among the most vital and fascinating voices of pop music in the years to come. Believe the hype.
The best female artist of the 2000's
Of course, Beyonce is clearly not your average mainstream pop performer.
I had a bit of a family emergency last week that resulted in me spending several hours in New York Presbyterian Hospital instead of checking out that tree in Rockefeller Center, seeing Shrek before it leaves Broadway next month, and visiting my favorite sneaker boutiques. (To the folks who commented on last week’s blog, my apologies. Life happens and I didn’t have much time to engage.) As a result, I kind of have no idea what’s going on in the world. I do know, however, that Victor and Nikki got back together (AGAIN!) after his heart transplant. Thanks, Grandma Charlotte.
www.koffii.com/ImageDescription.aspx?photoId=38873
Over the Thanksgiving holiday, I swear I saw commercials for the movie The Blind Side more times than I caught the ads of those cats singing the free credit report jingle. (F-R-E-E that spells free/credit report dot com, baby…) Environmentalists could learn a lot from Hollywood; that place recycles scenarios more often than a tree hugger sneers at Hummer drivers.
The trailers for the movie indicate that The Blind Side is yet another addition to that long list of white savior movies. I haven’t seen it and don’t plan to (In grad school, we call this not being bound by the text.), but it seems that Sandra “I’m doing this movie to make up for playing a racist in Crash” Bullock saves a big black kid from the perils of blackness. (Crabs in a barrel. You know the deal.) I guess the Based on a true story tagline wants to goad me into not being critical of the movie, the genre. Whatever. The movie has provided an occasion to address the white savior film. Since I’ve seen every episode of Webster and Diff’rent Strokes and Dangerous Minds (twice), I’m going to provide a primer for Negro saving for any and all white folks with plenty of money and love in their hearts to adopt a hapless black kid. And for you black youth out there, pay attention. You might find something useful here to make yourself more marketable. Read more »
Homophobic Rapture
The homosexuality controversy in black faith communities has reached a feverish pitch, especially with Tonéx’s and Donnie McClurkin’s recent admissions. Probably most renowned for the rumors regarding their sexuality, these two black gospel singers have become the centerpiece to the debate of the role homosexuals should play in black faith communities. Unfortunately both men’s livelihood as pastors of their respective church has led them to depend financially on a community that by and large forces/prefers silence on same-sex desires and human rights. Yet, both these men have carved a space in gospel music to openly acknowledge their desires. Tonéx by stating that his preference is for the same sex; Donnie by (abstaining and) persecuting other homosexuals as not being willing to be delivered from “the perversion of homosexuality.”
Credit: ROBYN BECK, AFP/Getty Images / November 5, 2009
We’ve seen the Sammy Sosa picture(s) by now. The Michael Jackson jokes are stale and unimaginative. So I won’t make any here. Yet as a black blogger, I guess I have to say something. So I will mention just a couple of things. This is a mere sketch. Would love it if you all would fill-in and/or correct me. Read more »
Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry said Precious was awesome and that everyone should go see it. Since I am the most obedient of Negroes, I saw it last Friday. If Flavor Flav is the world’s greatest hype man, this duo is officially the world’s greatest hype machine. I found Precious slightly underwhelming, uninspiring, and lacking much of what makes the novel, Push by Sapphire, so powerful. Sorry, Ms. Winfrey. I had no “A-ha!” moment. Read more »
Growing up in a fairly religious household, I was never allowed to trick or treat. I never got to dress up as a ghost, goblin, or display any type of cute themed cartoon— the innocent ones like Winnie the Pooh or Mighty Morphing Power Rangers (The originals). Unlike my story, most little kids growing up in the 90’s saw Halloween as fun. To me, it meant spending another day of the week in church, which had potential for fun, but not really the same experience as other kids my age. I can remember my grandmother tearing old linen sheets apart, as she created multi-colored robes to dress me and my brother up as what was suppose to be “two out of the three wise men in the bible.” I can’t exactly say those were “good times” but I do recognize that my parents made an active effort to keep us away from what they thought to be this “devil holiday.”
This year, On my 19th Halloween I will be (for the first time) dressing up in a costume. (I know, I know, but better late than never right?)
However, just because I have been liberated from the conservatism of my family’s tradition, does not mean that this personal act is an accurate depiction of religious sects in our country. It’s actually quite the contrary.
The question is now surfacing, is “Halloween off limits in public schools?” Do Ghost, Witches, and Jackolanterns created in a 3rd grade art classes and displayed in elementary school hallways violate a separation of church and state? I believe the answer to be “of course not,” but that doesn’t stop many of these children’s parents across the country from accusing various public schools and libraries of “preaching witchcraft, promoting Satanism and leading children down the path of spiritual darkness.” This controversy finds it home from the consistent popularity of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books. One would think that we would be happy that children are reading. We would rejoice that words in books are still keeping a new technology driven generation interested—even when books have to compete with high-def television, state of the art lap tops, and $500 blue chip video games. A school district in Texas requires parental permission before children may read J.K. Rowling’s books.