REVERENT NOSTALGIA FOR THE CULTURE
#MusicSermon is a storytelling series and content platform celebrating legacy soul, R&B and hip hop, created and curated by Naima Cochrane. The “ministry” grew from Naima’s viral weekly Twitter threads highlighting under-acknowledged and under-appreciated artists, moments and sub-genres primarily from the ’90s and earlier. Followers bonded over shared nostalgia and appreciation for lesser told stories that connect the dots between current music and culture and the foundations of the past.
THE CHURCH BULLETIN
Latest Posts
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Missy Elliott tweeted today that “Up Jumps Da Boogie,” from Timbaland and Magoo’s Welcome to Our World, will turn 26 this year. Welcome to Our World was part of the Blackground catalog re-released in 2021 after 20 long years being withheld from streaming and out of physical production. I had the honor of working withContinue reading “26 Years Later, “Up Jumps Da Boogie” is Still a Party”
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A reminder that #MusicSermon playlists are excellent for cooking, cleaning and family get-togethers. Get your Holiday soundtrack poppin’! Spotify and Apple Music playlists linked below!
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ON TEDDY RILEY’S BIRTHDAY, WE REFLECT ON SOME OF HIS ENDURING HITS. New Jack Swing technically turned 30 last year; that was the anniversary of the Village Voice article on then 20-year-old Teddy Riley in which Barry Michael Cooper (New Jack City, Above the Rim & Sugar Hill) coined the phrase (he told Riley, “You haveContinue reading “CELEBRATING THE KING OF NEW JACK SWING”
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#MusicSermon’s three central sermons from hip-hop’s Golden Age (late 80s — early 90s) ARTIST: Madina Design In preface to this Sermonic Trilogy I need to echo a point made it one of the sermons below, as it’s a through-line through not just all three of these conversations, but a key aspect to the growth of hip-hop overall: rap musicContinue reading “THE GOLDEN AGE OF HIP-HOP TRILOGY”
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Building from our earlier conversations about the beginnings of Conscious Hip-Hop and Gangsta Rap, we go back to the foundational days of hip-hop to look at the emcees still heralded as most influential and/or legendary. RAKIM and BIG DADDY KANE Starting with the two mc’s who changed the game with their lyricism and flow. LL COOL JContinue reading “THE GOLDEN ERA EMCEES”
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Fox’s Thursday night programming showcased the hip-hop generation in a new and necessary way. Throughout the ’80s and into the late ’90s, NBC owned Thursday nights. From the days when the Huxtables were part of America’s collective extended family until five Friends hung out in Central Perk, the network’s “Must See TV” was the undisputedContinue reading “FOR US, BY US: How Fox’s Answer to ‘Must See TV’ Validated Hip-Hop Culture”
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Wherein We Give Robert Barisford Brown His Propers If you’ve followed me/ #MusicSermon for any significant amount of time you already know that I am unashamed of the gospel of Bobby Brown. I passionately evangelize about the kang…of stage. Bobby might be a punchline for drugs and bad behavior now, but your man ain’t pull WhitneyContinue reading “TAKE ME TO THE KING…OF R&B”
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We need to talk about Uptown Records, because the legacy is worthy, but doesn’t get nearly enough love. Uptown was founded in 1986 by Andre Harrell, formerly of the rap group Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and it took a couple of years to find its groove. The original label kicked off with female rap duoContinue reading “UPTOWN! UPTOWN!”
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We’ve talked quite a bit about love with #MusicSermon. We talked about love not being proud or boastful, and putting ego aside when you need to with Beggin’ Ass R&B. Then we talked about recognizing when someone’s season in your life is over and getting them out the paint with Bye, Ashy R&B. We’ve evenContinue reading “ADORATION R&B”
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As an unanticipated result of Aretha Franklin’s passing, Tevin Campbell has become a hot topic. We take a moment to give Tevin him his props. Young Tevin grew up in Texas singing in church (of course). Through a series of auditions and meetings, he met Benny Medina, head of Black Music at Warner. Q then introducedContinue reading “CAN WE TALK…ABOUT TEVIN?”
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Celebrating one of the most underrated artists in mainstream hip-hop In 2011 we lost an artist I consider criminally underrated and under-acknowledged in hip hop conversations. We’ve touched on him in previous #MusicSermons: looking at the book of Uptown and remembering how hard we danced in the 90s, but today we’re going to properly focusContinue reading “REMEMBERING HEAVY”
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