It beggars belief that today will make it two years since Michael Jackson passed. It’s no less shocking even after all this time.
Once in a while I’ll get a hankering to listen to one of the three classic albums he made with
Quincy Jones between the late 1970s and late '80s. Recently it was the turn of
Bad: an album I’ve dubbed in the past as Michael’s best ‘pop’ album. And it is unabashedly pop.
Having shown signs on
Thriller of moving away from the pure funk/soul rhythms of
Off the Wall, with
Bad Jackson and Jones threw themselves wholeheartedly into the more commercial, synthesised sounds that characterised that particular decade.
There was a noticeable absence of the sweet soul contributions from Brit maestro
Rod Temperton with whom Quincy and Michael had made such beautiful music before. No doubt many saw this as selling out to a degree but if they were going to soften their sound, my goodness,
Bad was the way to go about it.
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” This is definitely something that singer Omar Lye-Fook can relate to. As a longstanding member of the UK soul community, since the mid 80‘s he’s been part responsible for putting the UK on the map musically. Not changing his delivery, creative mindset or his target audience, whether it’s his happy-go-lucky attitude to life or his passionate application to making music, you just can’t help but love him. Respected by everybody, hated by none, having him back after seven years is some what of a relief.
Eighty five minutes and twenty one seconds of artistic brilliance captured the minds of a generation.
September 28, 2011 marks the 35th anniversary of Songs in the Key of Life being released by Tamla Records, a subsidiary of Motown Records. This album is regarded as one of the most important recordings in the history of music.
The 21-song offering gives an introspective look into the many cycles of life from love found and love lost to hardships borne out of the inner city experience shared by people of color to hope for humankind. Wonder gave the world a once in a lifetime opportunity to explore the mind of an incomparable genius in his prime. And just to think it may have never seen the light of day without Stevie Wonder having a change of heart about his recording career.
Rahsaan Patterson is a name that is familiar with Soul music fans and could even be called a veteran, having worked with a young Brandy on “Baby” from her debut album before launching his own career. Together with one of his collaborators from that song, Keith Crouch and another frequent musical partner of his, Jamey Jaz, Rahsaan produces his fifth studio album Bleuphoria.
Before there was Hype Williams, Little X and Benny Boom, there was Lionel C. Martin.
From 1987 to present, Martin’s videography reads like a scroll of all of the great talents of the past 25 years in urban and popular music. Martin is responsible for giving urban music videos life and authenticity at a time where Hip Hop and R&B desperately needed a pioneer to deliver a quality product for the world to see. Martin has produced videos for TLC, Stevie Wonder, R. Kelly, Public Enemy, Bell Biv Devoe, Big Daddy Kane, Jay-Z, Keith Sweat, Toni Braxton, Boyz II Men, SWV, En Vogue, MC Shan, Jodeci, Mariah Carey, Jill Scott, Nas, Wu-Tang Clan, Notorious B.I.G., Father MC, Hi-Five, Tupac, N’Sync, Backstreet Boys and many more.
Martin, a native of Queens, NY, was a trailblazing force in the 1980s when he helped launch the Video Music Box channel with his childhood friend, Ralph McDaniels in 1984. The Video Music Box channel was only seen in the Tri-State area at the time. The Tri-State area consists of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Martin was one of the first hosts on the show and his moniker was (The VidKid). The channel would play every Hip Hop video from the popular artists of the time period.
After its inaugural year, Martin devised an idea to expand the channel’s brand and this move helped to make the channel achieve legendary status. Martin alongside McDaniels made the decision to travel extensively through the emerging hip-hop scene to cover parties and shows to illustrate the influence that Hip Hop culture was having on New York City and the surrounding areas. It would prove to be pivotal in shaping the career path of Martin.
During this time, the Video Music Box channel was the only Hip Hop program in syndication on public television in the United States. It gave a voice and face to a culture that would begin to dominate the mainstream in the forthcoming years. Whilst working on the Video Music Box channel, Martin would see the types of videos that would come in from the artists and thought that the Hip Hop culture needed to have better representation for the art form. This is where his voyage of directing music videos begins.
Recently, SoulCulture sat down to talk with Martin about his contributions to urban music videos, behind the scene stories and the importance of maintaining pride in urban culture.
At this wondrous time of the year, many of us worldwide become nostalgic about our youth when we looked forward to everything Santa would deliver underneath our respective Christmas trees. If you were like me, I'd leave cookies out on my living room table next to the wood stove and getting up every couple of hours to see if I could sneak a peek at old Saint Nick, but to no avail I would never catch a glimpse of the jolly one.
Alas, it wasn't until years later that I was told there wasn't a Santa Claus. I already had a clue that there wasn't one due to the fact Santa's handwriting resembled my mother's and father's cursive styles. Nonetheless, the joy of Christmas during my youth was inescapable. There were three main reasons why Christmas was my favorite time of the year. First, the anticipation of presents I was going to receive. Second, the amount of time my family would spend together eating good food and laughing at one another. Last, but not least, the classic music that we would listen to days leading up to Christmas and a couple of days after.
There is something special when you hear the legendary, incomparable vocals of The Temptations, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson among many others singing your favorite holiday tunes. Christmas music gives the holiday a deeper meaning especially if you're an aficionado of high quality recordings. Below are my top 10 Christmas offerings that still bring my soul indescribable joy. 
There are a handful of artists who, on discovery, change the way I listen to music. Without question the first one to start the trend was Steveland ‘
Stevie Wonder turns 60 today. I don’t need to tell you how hallowed a figure he is in the world of music, or his Grammy tally. His legendary status speaks for itself. His career has been phenomenal and his reach is far further than just ‘Black’ music, influencing countless artists from a variety of genres. What I do need to tell you, is what I feel is most important about Stevie. 