Jaded, My Tummy

Let me stay on Africa for a little bit with these Black Music Month posts. This music here, highlife—West African dance/funk/pop medley galore—is what Fela grew up on. As did I. Prince Nico Mbarga was probably the most popular of the genre ("Sweet Mother" was his biggest song and, I believe, highest selling record by an African artist.... don't quote me on that). "Simplicity" is one of my favorites.

Societies never know it, but the war of an artist with his society is a lover’s war, and he does, at his best, what lovers do, which is to reveal the beloved to himself and, with that revelation, to make freedom real.

I'm still behind on my reviews (please forgive me OKP!), so I'm still posting up already published pieces for the time being. This is one of my favorite reviews. For Okayplayer, I reviewed the Fela compilation The Best of the Black President, which was released around the start of the incredible Broadway play Fela!. I would give more info on what Fela's music, Afro-beat, is and whatnot, but I introduce those things in the review. I'll have some more Afro-beat related posts coming too, which will fit in nicely with the whole black music month thing. Enjoy!

Fela Kuti - The Best of the Black President (2009)

There are several labels that have been ascribed to Nigerian Afro-Beat king Fela Kuti: visionary, trailblazer, misogynist, revolutionary, genius, etc. However, "prolific" has to be the most indisputable. Timed with the Broadway debut of the biographical musical Fela!, Knitting Factory Records will remaster and reissue nearly all of Fela’s back catalog...

I was all types of broke when I was in college, but somehow I still managed to collect all types of CDs and occasionally vinyl. Now, I'm all grown up, and I'm broke..... but I'm broke for real. In no particular order, I want to share my list of albums that I'm still eager to cop, despite how late I am on picking them up. If anyone who reads this has more suggestions, please post them up.

Esperanza Spalding - Radio Music Society

I love me some Hope, i.e. Esperanza, although I find myself frustrated that I lean more towards her R&B-leaning cuts than her pure jazz tracks. She's a badass bassist and interesting composer/improviser, so I would like to see more of that. However, if the Algebra Blessett duo, "Black Gold," is indicative of this "radio" album, then it's going to be more of the former. Still, can't be mad at that.


Big K.R.I.T. - Live from the Underground

MC of the hour right here..... at least for me anyways. I won't say too much here, because I'm working on a write-up for him (á la BBNG).


Killer Mike - R.A.P. Music

Since I've already given this project props, I should already own this. But alas, I do not. I still believe it MUST be good. There's no way it's not.


Alabama Shakes - Boys and Girls

A new garage-y rock band on the scene. I see you all's collective eyes roll, but this band is special. They are heavily influenced by the Stax, Memphis, and Muscle Shoals soul sounds, and the lead singer Brittany Howard's voice is painfully wonderful (think female Otis Redding). I want to marry her love it. The band is based out of Athens, AL, which is about an hour's drive from that legendary soul-recording city, Muscle Shoals. The few tracks I've heard on Spotify of this debut LP have me a little discouraged, but I still want to check this out.


The Black Keys - El Camino

I'm embarrassed to say I've yet to pick this up. When did this come out? Anyways, The Black Keys seem to be one of the biggest bands in America right now (ironically maybe?), so I don't need to say much about this.


Georgia Anne Muldrow - Seeds

Now, all these albums are good picks, at least in my opinion, but this might be the most intriguing album of all. I'm not a full-fledged fan of the cerebral, post-neo-soul of GAM, but mainly because I simply just don't understand many of her otherworldly projects. Every now and then, she releases a track or album where I recognize her brilliance, be it her atmospheric production or lyrical creativity. Seeds is entirely produced by Madlib, and I've heard too many good things about this to pass it up. So, I'm definitely going to cop this. Problem though? It's not something you can find at Best Buy or major retail store—but also, apparently, some local record shops, as I've failed to find it at my usual spots. I still like the feeling of going into the store and buying it, but I may cave and order it online.

I was playing an old Bob Marley mix CD I made in college, and this popped on. I used to love this song so much, and now realize that I still do. I can't even explain why. I'm definitely not religious at all, let alone Rastafarian, but this song always spoke to me. Maybe it's because it's about perseverance or having strong faith in the face of despair and opposition. Wikipedia has some interesting things to say about the song. I know now why I never found this on an actual album. Enjoy.

One good thing about music, when it hits you feel no pain.

I just learned via Wikipedia that Black Music Month was established by President Jimmy Carter in 1979. How executive of him, haha. Anyway, for my blog, I wanted to dedicate the month to those extremely talented artists who we tragically lost, either too soon (Jimi Hendrix, Marvin Gaye, Amy Winehouse [I know she's not black, so hush]) or still had time to make another impact (Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Don Cornelius). These artists all suffered from some form of mental illness, some combined with drugs, and it's something that I think about constantly.

But, one artist who I regard so highly and suffered from mental illness was Donny Hathaway. He is someone who I believe, unlike fellow keyboard prodigy Stevie Wonder, whose singular brilliance was never fully recognized on wax. While alive, he was mainly famous for the softer, simpler duets he did with Roberta Flack. I just happened to be listening to his song "To Be Young, Gifted, and Black," a cover of Nina Simone, around Whitney's passing, and it makes me think of all these artists. Aretha Franklin and a few others also did a cover, but Hathaway's is the best and arguably better than Simone's original. This month, though, I want to post up some artists and music I like that are outside the triumvirate of black music-hip hop, R&B, and jazz-that will be tagged "black music month." So enjoy.

"To Be Young, Gifted, and Black" from Everything Is Everything (1970)

Ok. Ummmmm.... Wow, did I not see this coming. I stayed "Stanning" Ms. Badu even when she tripped out into left field with the brilliant, in my opinion, album New Amerykah, Part 1: 4th Wold War (2008). I didn't think too much of her second installment, Return of the Ankh (2010), but I felt like I began to understand her artistry more clearly than ever with those last two albums, believe it or not.

Well, in this VERY NSFW video, she performs a static, hazy noise-rock cover of one of my favorite Roberta Flack songs, "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face," with experimental alt-rockers the Flaming Lips. You must see the video for yourself, but it's disgusting. And I'm not talking about the nudity, so just watch. Note that I had to get this from the Perez Hilton site, because it was taken down by YouTube and many other sites. It was taken down by Perez Hilton too, so I found another link. I try not to get too wrapped up in the image of musical artists. I like to focus on the music. With that said, I'm not really feeling this cover.

UPDATE 6/10/12: Ok, so there's been some developments, which I'm as usual, a little late on. Badu went to Twitter and blasted the band for this leaked version, originally by Pitchfork, and Flaming Lips man Wayne Coyne issued a formal apology: OKP News: Erykah Badu’s Statement On “First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” Video.