NEW MUSIC 11/27

Solange is putting together quite a nice little musical catalogue with the music that she is releasing.  I personally am a fan of her work, and her ability to have a niche for herself outside of her sister, Beyonce.  Love her work, and she's a pretty nice DJ too! Google her, if you don't know!




Say... Omarion may be making a nice little move here.  This song is definitely different than the songs that currently run heavy airplay in most media outlets.  I put it on here because it is different... and I kinda like it.  The collaboration with Problem and Tank is nice look too. 



Raheem DeVaughn got this NICE track here.  I will admit, he's a little heavy on auto-tune in this track, but it's something that is definitely one for the slow jam fans.  Raheem is perhaps one of the most consistent "neo-soul" artists out.  His fans really love him, and he continues to put out of music that people enjoy, while staying true to his particular strengths within the genre. 

New Music 10/26/2012

So one of my favorite writers in the game is releasing new music.  This is her latest offering and single on her project due out soon, P.S. I Love You EP.  Stacy Barthe presents "Flawless Beautiful Creatures"

.. and just so you know... Every time Stacy Barthe puts something out, I will most likely post it on this blog.  This song, "To Be Loved" is definitely what I like about music.  The ability to take you to a moment/feeling that is truly unexplicable.  Watch out for her... she will be on your Pandora, IHeartRadio, local radio stations, etc. in her own voice.  She's definitely allowed enough people to sing her material.




So we all know that K. Michelle has inked a new record deal with Warner Brothers.  I am happy for her because I think she really has a voice.  She is supposed to be starting work on a new mixtape to build some publicity for the upcoming album... and these are some of the joints she got goin... NOT TO MENTION -- she addresses rumors about JR Smith in part of this little preview (a cover of "Don't Judge Me" by Chris Brown) .  Yeah... quite interesting if I do say so myself.


As previewed on the show, R&B Divas, Avant and KeKe Wyatt have teamed up again for a retro-feeling slow groove entitled, "You & I".  And I must say - Avant you did well... but KeKe sang her FACE off.  This woman is nothing short of amazing.  I hope that songs like this will help her career soar into the stratosphere.  Love her voice.  Check out the video.



Word is that JoJo will have a new mixtape on December 21st.  She goes hard... incredible talent, and incredibly consistent.  Here is the first offering of her mixtape, "We Get By".  It has a nice 90's groove to it.

New in Gospel (Must Haves in your Collection)

Bishop Paul S. Morton Sr. – Best Days Yet (Nov. 13^th)

• Bishop sings.  Those two words are synonymous with now Atlanta-based pastor/songwriter/author, Bishop Paul S. Morton Sr. As the leader of the Full Gospel Baptist Fellowship, Bishop’s style of singing has been revered for decades.  This latest project highlights the best of his singing and great collaboration.  Best Days Yet features his friend (and the voice that unlike any other in gospel music) Pastor Marvin L. Winans, the legendary Karen Clark Sheard, and Morton’s children – Jasmine and P.J.  (P.J. Morton is currently signed to Young Money and has been an award-winning producer and artist in his own right – a favorite artist of mine personally).  This album really needs no publicity; it speaks for itself.

Joshua Rogers – Well Done (Dec. 4^th) 

• Winner of the latest season of BET hit show, Sunday’s Best, Joshua Rogers readies his audience with the freshman release of his album Well Done.  The gospel community, at large is ready to hear strong yet controlled and mature album rendering.  I know that producers of freshman projects often recreate songs that we already have heard, at low quality. However, we hope that Joshua breaks this cycle and gives us something memorable and worth mention to close out this year’s gospel releases.

Tasha Cobb – Break Every Chain (Nov. 27^th)

• Labeling her sophomore project after monster California-based Jesus Culture hit, Tasha Cobb is continuing in the vein of remaining a worship leader.  One of the things that is most endearing about her gift is that she stays true to what she does, and does it with proficiency and excellence. She has far surpassed expectation with her debut project, Smile.  Worship leaders from all over have covered the title track – including Jonathan Nelson, when he infused it with “Better is One Day”. When you hear this album, expect a continuation of songs that are so on-time, yet remain authentically worship.

Post Election Thoughts: After the Election - Now What?

After the Election… Now what?

A big congratulation goes out to both candidates, President Obama and Governor Mitt Romney for a job well done.  Special shoutout goes to President Obama for being our incumbent 44^th President of the United States. 

But now that the election is over, now what?

Really – during the election, what was the issue?  Really if you think about it – what issues were on the platform? 

·        The LGBT community was appeased by the Obama camp saying that the president supports gay rights.  Be it clear, he did not say that he supported the lifestyle or embraced it – he just supported the rights.  Romney kept hush about that – although we know that his religious fervor as a devout Mormon prevents him from supporting homosexuality in any facet, as it is a “sinful behavior”.

·       The economy – perhaps the most talked about situation in the campaigning season – is the result of policies that are passed.  Policies are developed by all political affiliations and elected leaders.  Inasmuch as the presidential candidates talked about it, the real thing is this: the President does not control policy, and thus not the economy. Although the president supports certain legislation – it is impossible for him to control either.  Furthermore, the economy has seasons: season of plenty, season of not enough, and season of just enough. If we were conscious of that, we wouldn’t get so bent out of shape about the economy.  Regardless of the presidential nominee for this season, we still have to develop policies that encourage growth both in the public and private sector.

·       Taxes – (which is directly effects the economy) – were a much talked about subject area.  Taxes help the economy keep social programs.  The only issue is that the public has not been presented an accurate view of what social programs do. Furthermore, people do not understand what their tax dollars are spent, and how taxes support our nation-building projects.  Instead, people get a view tax lawyers and firms that help us get our money back, because we don’t understand the values that it really has. Therefore, we base our opinions off of hearsay rather than comprehension

·        Healthcare has been on the ballot for years.  However, during the Obama administration we were introduced to a universal healthcare system.  Most developing nations have already have a system in place that are even better than the proposed Obamacare.  As to why it became an issue, I have no idea.  Why not use ambassador skills to partner with the European Union to develop a healthcare plan that works and is tailored specific to the United States’ needs?  That was a bipartisan initiative anyway; it did not matter who proposed it, it just needed to have happened.

·       The War on Terror is “over”- in a manner of speaking, or at least on its way to being over.  But let’s talk about why we went in the first place and how America portrays itself as a self-righteous super power that interjects its way into issues that don’t concern its interest(s).  When terror happens, we should be concerned and we should defeat it with all of our might.   In no way does our interference warrant an attack on our soils.  However, we must come to grips that America has had a nasty problem of being passively-aggressive with a globalization message for quite some time.  It often puts us at odds with other countries and portrays us poorly in global media. We should be more focused into nation building and infrastructure repair than we do of creating more problems or being overly assertive.

So now what?

We have evaded talking about the major issues that have cracked our national substructure: education and skills building, lack of integral government, racial and cultural inequalities, systematic oppression and depression of the now majority, the pervasive and omnipresent entertainment machine, and the bipartisan collaboration across all social and political platforms.  We lack the ability to come together because the pieces haven’t been laid right.  If we want to be all the way honest, the United States of America has deflected the essential homeland concerns on to lesser important things. 

More importantly, my question is for my people… black people.  What is our agenda?  Every interest group has an agenda, a focus, and a necessary cause worth fighting socially, politically and physically for – if necessary.  The spirit in which my grandmother and her peers desperately fought to attain rights of any kind is nonexistent in today’s youth.  It is as if we have settled for living in the “right now” that we haven’t even begun to think of the “not yet”.  In fact, I am convinced that the black agenda is concerned with the right now, and predominantly with assistance.  Whether its public assistance or restitution (in act and deed), the vast majority of our black agenda is filled with personal goals instead of professional development for the entire race of black people focused on collaboration within a multicultural nation.  What do we even stand for? Who are we impacting? What needs to be done in our community and how do we collectively push toward that to achieve results?