soul food: erykah's 'window seat'

more new music of awesome.
here's 'window seat' by erykah badu, from her forthcoming release new amerykah pt. 2: return of the ankh.
over the past year or so: new k'naan, john forte, maxwell, sade, common, mos def, q-tip...and now erykah. at this point...all i need is lauryn and d'angelo to come back and i'll be complete. next up...groove theory!!!

soul food: erykah's 'window seat'

teddy pendergrass

we have a lost an incredible talent and a true legend.
may his soul rest in eternal peace.

Teddy Pendergrass first gained notoriety as a member of the Philadelphia group, Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes.



in 1977 he begun his solo career, and went on to become the first African American to have five consecutive platinum albums. in 1982 Pendergrass was injured in a car accident, which left him paralyzed from mid-chest down but which did not stop his momentum. two years later, he returned with his next album, which featured this single (and which is when i first fell in love with his voice):



you will be missed, Teddy. truly.




Teddy Pendergrass
1950-2010

teddy pendergrass

writer's block

...so...

...hmm...

...err...

source 1
source 2
source 3

writer's block

soul food: afropolitana: nneka & j.period's 'the madness (onye-ala)'

j. period is currently rocking my world. here's his latest mixtape effort featuring the beautiful, powerful afropolitan vocalist and lyricist, nneka egbuna (nigeria/germany). we've been asking where the formidable female emcees are at.... here's one to be reckoned with. she's been on the scene for years, but her music is just being introduced to US audiences.

download the full mixtape here.

soul food: afropolitana: nneka & j.period's 'the madness (onye-ala)'

soul food: afropolitana: blitz the ambassador

today brings us new music from afropolitan emcee, ghana's blitz the ambassador. check out his poignant track with the beautifully talented john forté.

soul food: afropolitana: blitz the ambassador

soul food: afropolitana: shad k and zaki ibrahim

on his latest album the great escape, louwop collaborates with two of our favorite canadian afropolitans (tm phiona of afripopmag), shad k (rwandan/kenyan/canadian) and zaki ibrahim (south african/canadian) on the songs 'one2check' and 'get up', respectively. in anticipation of his album release, louwop posted an live video that blends both tracks. awesome talent.

soul food: afropolitana: shad k and zaki ibrahim

soul food: sade's 'soldier of love'

sade's first single from her forthcoming album, soldier of love, has made its debut. i loved it at first listen. once again, sade adu is working with stuart matthewman, andrew hale, and paul spencer denman--her longtime band (who also make up the band, sweetback)--and, once again, they have produced soulful perfection. she consistently gets better with time. i am amazed that both she and maxwell have been out of circulation for this long, and can effortlessly bring the awesome upon their return. truly, she need not make a lot of noise to make a grand entrance. i cannot wait for the rest of this album.

...listen...

soul food: sade's 'soldier of love'

lady in my life (redux)

this song, in its original incarnation, is truly one of my favorites.
this tribute is simply beautiful. that is all.

'lady in my life' as performed by maxwell at the nomination concert of the 52nd grammy awards.

lady in my life (redux)

t.i.a in umricka: wale's attention deficit

wale's album attention deficit drops today, after much anticipation (hyped by a tour that has spanned much of this year). it's hard to believe it's his first album, since his mixtapes have had so much impact. saturated with rather awesome and clever collaborations, i am rather loving it, so far.


the jewels so far: 'shades' with chrisette michele; 'diary' with marsha ambrosius; 'world tour' with jazmine sullivan; and the crazy ridiculous show-em-how-it's-done 'tv in the radio' with fellow afropolitan, k'naan.

t.i.a in umricka, killing it.

tv in the radio--wale feat. k'naan

well played, mr. folarin, well played.

t.i.a in umricka: wale's attention deficit

wavin' flag: the world cup 2010 anthem

k'naan has adapted his powerfully inspirational song 'waving flag' for the FIFA world cup, which will be held in south africa in 2010.

give me freedom;
give me fire;
give me reason;
take me higher.

wavin' flag: the world cup 2010 anthem

assata shakur

thirty years ago, today, Assata Shakur--an American political prisoner--escaped from detention in the US and was granted political asylum in Cuba.

"Like most poor people in the United States, I have no voice. The Black press and the progressive media, as well as Black civil rights organizations, have historically played an essential role in the struggle for social justice. We should continue and expand that tradition. We should create media outlets that help to educate our people and our children, and not annihilate their minds. I am only one woman. I own no TV stations or radio stations or newspapers. But I believe that people need to be educated as to what is going on and to understand the connection between the news media and the instruments of repression in America. All I have are my voice, my spirit and the will to tell the truth. But I sincerely ask those of you in the Black media, those of you in the progressive media and those of you who believe in truth and freedom to publish my story.' -Assata Shakur



hear Assata in her own words, here.

image courtesy of the martyr index

assata shakur