Rihanna’s “Man Down”
Reading actress Gabrielle Union’s tweets this morning about her attempt to kill her rapist at the tender age of 19 bought Rihanna’s video for “Man Down” right back to center and in living color for me. Please don’t let the beautiful rural Jamaican backdrop, pulsating beats, or Riri’s rude gyal rumpapapums fool ya, “Man Down” is about rape and more specifically, the very real and possible psychological fallout from such a crime. Rihanna, I feel, Read more...
Ledisi’s “Pieces Of Me”
“People just don’t know what I’m about/ They haven’t seen what’s there behind my smile/ There’s so much more I’m showing now,” sings Ledisi on her new single Pieces Of Me from her forthcoming album of the same name. Last night at the Samsung Experience in the Time Warner Center Ledisi sang “Pieces” with a conviction that made her lean hard on the mic stand towards the audience all awhile her eyes remaining wide open. Read more...
Who is Esperanza Spalding?
“I’m not gonna sit around and waste my precious divine energy trying to explain and be ashamed of things you think are wrong with me.”
-Esperanza Spalding
Without having to arrive in an egg, without having to don Betty Rubble’s Flinstonesque leopard print costume, and without having to shake her as$, Esperanza Spalding stunned most of America and nabbed the Grammy on Sunday night for Best New Artist.
In March 2009, thanks to my Read more...
The Game: The Baby Mama Speck
The premiere episode of The Game on BET attracted 7.7 million viewers, making it the biggest premiere in cable television history. The love of the fans, which seems stronger than ever, brought the show back after cancellation. Even after a loopy, at times, disappointing premiere– Tasha Mack smoking Black-n-Milds and leaving Rick Fox for 106 & Park’s scrawny Terrance, the miscasting of lil’ Brittany’s character and the most dubious of revelations, that Melanie aka “Med Read more...
Black Girls Rock!
Honestly when I went to the Paradise Theater in the Bronx for the taping of the Black Girls Rock! Awards show three weeks ago my expectations weren’t very high. I had attended the last two awards ceremonies where previous honorees included cultural groundbreakers like Iman, Erykah Badu and Sonia Sanchez and featured uplifting performances by singers like Janelle Monae, Faith Evans and Bilal and I was quite impressed. But this was BET and I’ve seen Read more...