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: New Jack Swing
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”
UPTOWN! UPTOWN!
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!”
REMEMBERING HEAVY
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”
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”
WE DANCED HARD AF IN THE 90s
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”