OnMyRadio♥

I feel like music should make you fall in love again everytime you hear it... Or, at least your favorite music. Some stuff just serves a specific purpose. I have music that I only have on my iPod to keep me awake in the car when I have an early class or work shift, or when I have a long drive...I have stuff on there that I strategically add just to appease others who may ride in my car with me, because I absolutely refuse to subject myself to the radio, so I feel the need to compromise. Apparently everyone can't appreciate my mix of Jay-Z, Coltrane, Paramore, Jill Scott, Backstreet Boys, etc. That's fine, though. Lol. 
With that said, I love being at home because I have the freedom of my iTunes library. I don't have to pick and choose what I listen to... I just let it play. Of late, I've had a few things in heavy rotation:

♥Love Jones soundtrack
♥All of Raheem Devaughn's albums...yes, I'm officially addicted.

♥Alicia's first two albums (Songs in A Minor, Diary of A. Keys)
♥Boyz II Men's Cooleyhighharmony
♥Christina Aguilera's Back to Basics
♥Talib Kweli's Quality
♥Destiny's Child's Writings on the Wall (this is always in heavy rotation, and no one can convince me that this isn't the best album Beyonce & 'nem ever did.)
♥Hinder's Extreme Behavior
♥Jay's Black Album
♥Ne-Yo's In My Own Words
♥Pink's Can't Take Me Home
♥Lauryn Hill's Unplugged album (phenomenal, in my opinion!)

x0x0♥

Spotlight: Raheem DeVaughn♥♥♥♥♥

If you don't know who this man is by now...we'll let it slide for today, because it's Tuesday.
But you really need to get to know him. Or at least his music.
Raheem DeVaughn is amazing.
That is all.

PS: I've had his song "Bulletproof" on repeat for weeks. Love it. For those of you who haven't had the pleasure, here it is...

x0x0♥

The Best Love Letter I've Ever Read...♥

The video below pretty much speaks for itself, but for those who just don’t get it, this artist, Jasiri X, is dedicating this piece to Debra Lee, the current CEO of Black Entertainment Television. Jasiri X is ON POINT, if you’re into the whole truth-speaking, consciously lyrical thing. If you aren’t, you need to wake up.
Listen to the track. Support the artist. He embodies what real hip-hop was and still is, no matter how miniscule the mainstream attention is. Here's his YouTube. Google him. Whatever you need to do... You won't regret checking him out!


We spend so much time listening to what we’re TOLD is “hot”, instead of listening to real music and deciding for ourselves. I touched on the issue of conscious hip-hop artists not selling in a previous post, and this is why. It’s hard to hear what’s real in a world run by white corporate men who make their living off of making Black people look like damn fools on a network that’s supposed to uplift us and celebrate our culture. White men who stick a few token Black faces on their payroll but still remain behind the scenes making all the decisions that affect what we see on TV everyday (if you choose to watch the foolishness). I mean honestly, have you ever thought about the limited images of us that are presented on television? We can argue all day long that there are images of white people on TV that are pretty disgusting, but does that correlate with the number of hot-mess images of black people on TV? No. Especially when you can count on one hand the networks that actually represent us as a whole... and the images we put out are the Frankies, Neffies, and such... I know those are supposed to be representative of "real" Black people, but gosh...We could do and be so much more… yet we’re limited to what puts the most money into the pockets of certain people. Unfortunately, modern day shucking and jiving are the cash cow these people are banking on, and even more unfortunate is the fact that we’ve been too brainwashed to even want to see it.  Even the Black faces who have the power to change things seem to be content with these representations of our people, and there you have the above video dedicated to the lovely Ms. Lee.
We’ve bred a whole new generation of kids who don’t see anything past the surface, because that’s all today’s media shows them. Champagne-sipping, booty-shaking, money-tossing niggas, bitches, and hoes.
So who’s to blame? The networks for airing it? The artists for making it? Or the viewers for not knowing any better?…
x0x0♥

Who Are You? ♥

How often do people do things for themselves?
I’ve noticed that so many people do so many things to satisfy/attract/out-do others…
But how many people do things just for the satisfaction of doing it?
We get dolled up, dressed up…to impress others.
Not saying we should start bumming it out…
But when I get up and fabulosify myself each day, I have fun with it.
I have a process, filled with music, dancing in the mirror, sweet-scented shower gel and perfumes…
All to make ME feel good.
The music I blast in my car, or from my iPod are sounds that make ME feel good.
Not what Terrence and Rocsi tell me I should listen to. {Shout-out to AJ & Free, tho!}
I just see so much frontin’, so much fakeness…
Why can’t you just be YOU?
I think the world (or at least my world) would be so much more intriguing if people would just…be.
Who are we trying to impress?
And what makes us so impressed with certain things?
Ignorance and lack of ambition does not impress me.
Bad manners and misogyny do not impress me.
Squandering tuition money to drool on classroom desks does not impress me.
Rocking the latest urban gear does not impress me.
Having thee most exclusive weave and rocking plastic jewelry do not impress me.
Emulating what you see on the tube does not impress me.
Do people even know who they are anymore, or is it just a matter of who they try to portray?
Once we get rid of all that extra, what‘s left?
What are the makings of you?
x0x0♥

Bitches & Sisters (continued)♥

Artists quickly defend criticism of hip-hop, stating that it’s strictly for entertainment, and I agree. When people discovered they could make money off of hip-hop, the commercialization changed a lot of aspects for the worst. Few “artists” really make music for the sake of expressing emotion and thoughts anymore. Even aspiring rappers interviewed in Byron Hurt’s documentary pointed out that the reason so few artists make what we call 'conscious hip-hop' music is because no one buys it. Of course, there are people who purchase the works of Common, Talib Kweli, and the like...but commercially promoted artists sell much more. All this speaks to the financial security that the Black man has been stripped of since arriving in America, and has been fighting to regain ever since.
The almighty dollar is the bait, and it’s being taken hook, line, and sinker due to the “by any means necessary” mentality that is running rampant in the industry. The crazy part is that you can’t even place blame for this phenomenon. Yes, artists make the music. Yes, higher-up businesspeople run the financial and commercial aspects. Yes, we as consumers purchase the music. No one particular group is to blame…and the problem is that everyone wants someone to blame.
For awhile now, White people have pointed the finger at hip-hop for some of the negative aspects of today’s world. As if violence, drugs, and misogyny only exist within the walls of hip-hop. What’s funny is that today, their (White) children are the main ones purchasing hip-hop music. The same music that Mommy and Daddy are criticizing is blasting through their children’s earbuds everyday…tsk tsk…
x0x0...because despite all the B.S., I Still Lover H.E.R.♥

I Still Love H.E.R...♥

I've realized that I have a love/hate relationship with Hip-Hop music.

Hip-hop is like that uncle we all have, who we KNOW is a hot mess, yet we still love him dearly, despite all the foolishness that comes out of his mouth sometimes lol... The evolution of hip-hop music has spawned something that people either love, hate, or are indifferent to. The things I like aren’t always so appealing to my younger brother and his cohorts. So really, our perception of hip-hop music varies according not only to our own tastes, but to our era as well. I was born in '88...I consider myself an '80s baby and a '90s girl....and many consider this exact time period to be the 'Golden Age' of hip-hop. It's no wonder that this era holds a special place in my heart! Maybe this is the same way that today's kids (the 90's babies) feel about current hip-hop music? Food for thought... Hip-hop was born as our people came out of the Civil Rights era and began to find a voice in this world. That voice was filled with questions, political thought, and sometimes anger at the way we had been treated in this nation. There was substance and emotion in the art form that came to be known as hip-hop. With commercialization, we've seen this art form evolve according to the values that we as Americans have come to idolize. As our world became more violent, materialistic and misogynistic, so did our music. A couple decades ago, it was all about the violence, when gangsta rap emerged. These days, it’s all about the money, cars, clothes, and hoes... Again, it’s all a matter of perception, but I like to think that although this new sub-genre (whatever it’s called) of hip-hop isn’t too appealing to me, I can try to see things from a glass half full perspective. I won’t let my love for what I see as Real hip-hop be hindered by the emergence of what I see as whack rhymes over beats. Everyone is entitled to their own expression, and to each his own. My aversion to some artistry does not change my love for others.

x0x0♥

Get Me the Paddles....Stat! ♥

Why is it that crappy music is now the majority in the hip-hop world, while good, meaningful lyricism is fading into the background as the exception? When did this happen? There was a time when music was an art form, and club music was the exception...now the roles have reversed… Thank God there's a recession going on, it makes the decision easier--no, non-existent-- as to what music to buy and what to download/burn... I wouldn't pay a DIME for the vast majority of music that's hitting the airwaves these days! I‘ll drive in silence rather than listen to the radio in my car. If I don‘t have my iPod or a CD…forget about it.
I understand that hip-hop is evolving and all that, but gosh…I feel Martha Stewart could drop a better album than some of these artists…
x0x0♥