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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#MusicSermon spent the month of April celebrating the people behind the soundboard. The craftsmen of the songs our favorite artists bring to life: the writers and producers. PT I — Two of the urban music wunderkinds of the 90s: Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins & Jermaine Dupri PT II — One of the most underrated writers/producers in soul: Raphael Saadiq PT III — The drivingContinue reading “THE SCRIBES & ARCHITECTS”
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A bookend playlist to #MusicSermon’s Cookout Essentials, to pull out strictly once the sun has gone down and the kids are elsewhere. The playlist was exclusive to Patrons, but has been made public. ENJOY!
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This was originally posted to #MusicSermon’s Patreon during the 90s R&B #MarchMadness, where the two acts that changed the face of R&B and ushered in the Hip Hop Soul music era faced each other for the championship (Spoiler alert: Mary won). Let’s take a look at two of Uptown’s finest pound for pound. THE WARM UP:Continue reading “THE BATTLE OF UPTOWN: MARY J BLIGE vs JODECI”
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It recently came to my attention that there had not yet been a sermon specifically on New Jack Swing. Granted, #MusicSermon began with a thread about how we danced hard AF in the 90s. While that much of that was centered around New Jack Swing, it wasn’t all New Jack Swing. Then we went throughContinue reading “THE NEW (JACK SWING) TESTAMENT”
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EXPERIENCE THE ORIGINAL VERSION OF THIS SERMON VIA TWITTER We all know by now (I hope) that #MusicSermon is a B2K (before 2000)-centered ministry. However, I promised that at some point I would heavily relax those restrictions for a specific sermon topic, and I believe the time has come. The word says that old things areContinue reading “WHEN OLD THINGS BECOME NEW: NEO SOUL”
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Queen Latifah, MC Lyte and Salt n’ Pepa When I see the twitter “Best female MC” arguments, they ususally don’t go back further than Lil’ Kim, Foxy Brown, Lauryn Hill and Missy Elliott. They are the standard by which any female rappers that came after are compared. However, Lauryn and Missy weren’t the first to switchContinue reading “ALL HAIL THE QUEENS”
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The original #MusicSermon Thread I fell down a rabbit hole of 90s videos, and it inspired me to present…WE DANCED HARD AS F*CK IN THE 90s: A REVIEW This started with a friend posting a clip of Mary J Blige’s “Real Love” video in honor of What’s the 411’s 25th anniversary. Knee pads, ball capsContinue reading “WE DANCED HARD AF IN THE 90s”
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Pride is kind of killing modern love, and arguably modern music. No one wants to stick their necks (or hearts) out and clearly, unabashedly decalre undying love. Subtweets and meme posts pass as love letters (but only if you catch that they’re about you). And in music, there are plenty of songs about leaving yourContinue reading “BEGGIN’ ASS R&B”
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One night, some followers and I had a brief convo about the hip hop sub-genre of Jeep Music. I started pulling up songs and videos, but was led in another direction (although there’s some overlap), to a super specific era & niche of rap music… Let’s call it Bubble Coat, Leathers, Polo Boots & TimbsContinue reading “Bubble Coats, Leathers, Polo Boots & Timbs: NY BOOM BAP”
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