I put out an emergency call to choose a new feel good, throwback r&b anthem for 2023…and y’all answered! THE MISSION First it was “Candy Rain,” then “Poison,” and “If It Isn’t Love” and “Weak” both narrowly escaped severe injury. Now, “Can We Talk” has been worn out like a cozy but delicate vintage sweaterContinue reading “#SaveCanWeTalk”
Tag Archives: 90srb
Ghetto Fabulous: Andre Harrell Created a Culture of Black Excellence
The night Andre Harrell died, I DM’d my editor at Billboard and told him that whatever they were going to do for Dre, I was raising my hand. I knew a slew of outlets’ headers would read “… who discovered Sean Combs,” and Dre’s impact was so much bigger than that; larger and farther reachingContinue reading “Ghetto Fabulous: Andre Harrell Created a Culture of Black Excellence”
CELEBRATING THE KING OF NEW JACK SWING
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”
TAKE ME TO THE KING…OF R&B
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”
CAN WE TALK…ABOUT TEVIN?
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?”
I THOUGHT IT WOULD ONLY BE TWO MONTHS
REFLECTIONS ON #MUSICSERMON TURNING A YEAR OLD This is the story of the first year of #MusicSermon. One year ago today, I’d fallen down the deepest of rabbit holes, triggered by the 25th Anniversary of What’s the 411? and the “Real Love” video (specifically Big Lez’s choreography)… After immersing myself in 90s videos for hours, IContinue reading “I THOUGHT IT WOULD ONLY BE TWO MONTHS”
THE NEW (JACK SWING) TESTAMENT
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”
WHEN OLD THINGS BECOME NEW: NEO SOUL
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”
BEGGIN’ ASS R&B
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”