“It’s like BOOM, I gotta do what I gotta do, son…Shhii…Grown woman making decisions and choices, utilizing everything inside of me.”
-Jill Scott
Boss.
The Light of the Sunexceeded my expectations. Ms. Scott never, ever disappoints. Possibly 65 percent of the album sounds like “Imagination” (musically and lyrically), and words cannot describe how I feel about that one. With this album Jilly has inspired me in more ways than one. She was so honest on this album. She put it all out there in tracks like “Le BOOM Vent Suite” and “Quick.” One of my favorites, for sure is “Hear My Call,” a prayer to God to grant clarity and discernment about life and what it is and is not offering to us. She makes sure we don’t forget that she’s a writer and storyteller first. Her poem, “Rolling Hills,” sends a powerful message to women to look inside themselves for what’s real, instead of basing our lives and decisions off of our “fat asses.” She made me want to dust off my poetry journal. Uggghhh!!!
“Here am I again asking questions, waiting to be moved.I am so unsure of my perception.What I thought I knew, I don’t seem to…”
-Jill Scott
Have you ever heard someone do a poem or a song that makes you shout out all kinds of cosigns and foolishness at them even though you know good and well they can’t hear you? This is that all day!
Before I could plug my iPod up at work, I ran across this interview on Afrobella with Ms. Scott. While listening to the album, I noticed several themes tailored towards women, including having a spirit of discernment, which prompts us to make good or better choices in life and love and yes, even what goes on in our beds, and seeing the prize and value in ourselves. Her quote summed it up when she said this, “Now I have to look at myself and really pay attention to what I want out of life. And I don’t wanna be physically satisfied and emotionally lonely. That not good enough. Not for me.” Listen to the first two parts of the interview here.
The Light of the Sun gets my stamp of approval. Can’t wait to see her for Essence Music Festival.
It’s felt like it for weeks now, but today summer has finally arrived today. Summer makes you feel free and playful, and nothing takes those feelings to another level more than music. Here’s a random list of songs that have always reminded me of summer. No, there are no new songs or rap songs on my list, but that new Jeezy does go hard though.
From one of my first concerts (Rhythm Nation 1912) to screaming like a teeny bopper during her performance at Essence Music Festival last year, Janet Jackson still one of my favorite entertainers. She makes me look forward to my 40s. That’s a bad chick!
I’m happy for Prince William and Kate Middleton. They seem cool people, and I love her style, but why does the media care so much about this wedding happening thousands of miles away? In one morning, I saw atleast three segments on them. First, there’s the replica of Kate’s engagement ring, then there’s Barbara Walters trying on hats Kate would wear by an American couture headwear designer, then the anchors of Good Morning America are actually going overseas to cover this. Why? Every woman (just about) dreams of and gushes over a fairytale wedding fit for a princess, but I, personally, could care less. How did these “royal experts” become such, and why are they important? I’m over it, and it hasn’t even happened yet.
Everyone Else versus Tyler Perry
A few days ago, writer and pop culture critic Toure’, began a Twitter rant about filmmaker Tyler Perry, which I believe lasted for more than a day. I don’t follow Toure (and I don’t know why), so I don’t know where his motivation came from. The release of Madea’s Big Happy Family or just because? Just yesterday, the Internet blew up, reporting that Perry told Spike, Lee, iconic filmmaker and longtime critic of his work, to “go straight to hell.”
Though I’m not a “stan” for every piece of Perry’s work, I don’t turn into a poof of smoke whenever he makes a move either. Here’s a tip: If you don’t like the work, don’t support it. Money talks. Do you really think ranting on Twitter to the movie gods about it will make him retreat? I doubt that. He’s too successful to stop. There are different lanes and genres in art, not to mention, people are making their own lanes. Agree to disagree and shut up. I’m over it.
Relationship Advice
Who doesn’t love a good debate on relationships? They’re entertaining, thoughtful and sometimes stupid and infuriating. This will probably sound crazy coming from a single girl, but please spare me on the advice. It’s not that it’s not needed sometimes, it’s that it’s coming from too many places and people. I could care less about what Steve Harvey, Tyrese and a gazillion bloggers and “experts” have to say about how and when to get a man and keep him. This rant is pointless since as long as men are living and breathing, women will always want advice about them. Honestly, I don’t think we’ll ever break the code, and vice versa. That doesn’t mean we can’t talk about it, but I’d rather Tyrese show me he can spell “conscious” correctly than tell me about men. I’ve over it.
Sales Calls and Visits
A friend mocked me when I told her I have a “house phone.” It’s a necessity in my eyes, though I rarely answer it or use it. Whenever I decide to check my caller ID, it’s full of sales and unknown calls that I’m never here to receive since I’m at work. For the past three weeks, this phone has been ringing off the hook! Who are these people? Not only are people calling all day long, they’re making visits, too! Last week, I played like I was asleep on my sofa as someone rang my doorbell repeatedly and peered through my door’s window. Another time, just as I was about to tell a girl who I thought was a Jehovah’s Witness that “I believe in the Lord,” she told me she had specials on roof shingles. Get me outta heah!!! Oh, the things that happen during the day. I’m over it.
Birthers
I won’t even get that deep on this one. Just know that Donald Trump has clearly shown how he feels about “the blacks” by continuously bashing and questioning President Obama’s citizenship. It’s damn ridiculous. He, Sarah Palin and anyone else who, two years later, still goes through great lengths to disprove his citizenship can go play in 5 p.m. traffic. I’m over it, and they should be, too.
Hey folks! A real post is coming soon, but in the meantime, check my piece in this week’s issue of Clutch, Have Black Women Been Reduced to the Booty? Who knew that story would have come from a plastic surgeon making a comment about the “ghetto booty” in the African-American community. Interesting comments there. Also, though I would love to keep it to myself (a friend called me a music elitist last week), I just can’t. this time You’ve got to hear this new trio from L.A., King. Erykah Badu tweeted about them this weekend, and ever since it’s been on (Did I mention that Ms. Badu, herself, is now following me? Too excited. It’s the little things.). Check out their website and get their EP for $3. I have not stopped listening to them since Friday night.
You have to know that Teedra Moses, my favorite underground and underrated artist is now signed to Rick Ross’ Maybach Music Group. It’s about time she was picked up by a major label, as she’s paid her dues (check out my latest interview with her) and continues to grind hard. I was scanning her website, only to find out that her debut album, Complex Simplicity. has been “chopped and screwed”!!! Rejoice!! I fell in love with “chopped and screwed” music, made famous by the late, great DJ Screw in Houston, after attending school in Louisiana. I was officially made “Third Coast” after living there for five years. Chopped and screwed makes everything better, trust. Here’s the link.
By now, you’ve heard of the “Christian Pole Dancing” story being circulated all over the Internet. Apparently, an owner of a dance studio in Houston is offering pole dance classes to women only the second Sunday of every month. The purpose is to help women to appreciate their God-given bodies. What better way to do that than to do tricks on the pole to Christian Rock songs? Items required for admission: comfortable clothing, sexy heels….and a church program. Check it out here via NewsOne.
I’m not questioning her motivation or methods–well, maybe a little. At the least though, I was most happy to know that my original thought that the pole dancing ”sister” was African-American was wrong. When I read the headline on Twitter, I immediately had visions of a group of women dancing to gospel songs like Mary Mary’s “God in Me” (You know it goes hard in and outside the church!) or the bounce version of God Property’s “Stomp” (Yes, I’m guilty of nodding to in the club in college). You can’t imagine the relief I felt when I saw otherwise.
In the meantime, if we’re going to pole dance, let’s swing to more appropriate music, yes? I’ve been to some classes and after my first, I gained a newfound respect for strippers. You have to be in shape, and it takes skill!! I think it’s safe to say that strip clubs make or break songs, especially those from artists from the South, and there’s no shortage of “strip club anthems” lately. If you have a choice of what songs to pole dance to, please, don’t choose Fred Hammond, choose these:
I’m missing a ton of songs. I imagine that a few of those aren’t been played at the “shake,” but I don’t “frequent the booty clubs,” as Big Boi would say, and perhaps my mind just isn’t in “strip club” mode right now. On top of that, the radio plays enough strip club songs that I don’t need to go. What’d I miss? Better yet, what do you think about pole dancing for Jesus?
So the good people on “Black Twitter” tell me today is “National Side Chick Day.” I assume you know what a side chick is, but I’ll let Urban Dictionary define it in all its glorious rachetness:
A woman that is one level above a jump off but always a step below the wife, wifey, girlfriend. A side b*tch must know her part. She does not get holiday’s, birthday’s (other than her own). While he may meet your family. You will never meet his. A side b*tch is a woman who will have sex on Feb. 1-13 and spend Valentines day alone.
OUCH!
Evidently National Side Chick Day is the “other woman’s” Valentine’s Day. Since the man’s with his “main” woman on Love Day, the side chick gets February 15th, when everything is 50 percent off. I usually wouldn’t make light of this because it’s indeed, sad, but it happens daily. How do I know? Because songs have been written and recorded about it for years. I present to you the top five songs by women who were knowingly the side chick:
Saving All My Love For You ~ Whitney Houston
“….You’ve got your family, and they need you there. Though I try to resist being last on your list, but no other man’s gonna do…”
Uh huh, Whitney was creeping way back in the day before Bobby.
I’m So Into You ~ SWV
“Friends ask how could I give myself to someone who belongs to someone else. They just don’t know, your love’s so good that they would want it for themselves.”
He’s Mine ~ Mokenstef
“He might be doing you, but he’s thinking about me…” *Slow blink* (I never got that one.)
As We Lay ~ Shirley Murdock
“I would never want to hurt her, no, no. She would never understand. You belong to me for just one night as we slept the night away…”
I’ll Be the Other Woman ~ The Soul Children featuring Betty Wright
“I’ll be the other woman all your life just as long as I’m the only one besides your wife.” (Well damn. *Gucci voice*)
To the women who are content being second, gold star for you. We all make choices, and we all have to live with them. If you think you’re the side chick, you probably are. Women’s intuition never lies. Lastly, people don’t like to admit it, but sometimes, side chicks become the #1 woman. Either way, it’s stressful at the least. You might as well enjoy some good music while you’re at it. Somebody out there feels your pain.
Love Day is here, and no matter how your day is going, you can unwrap the gift of great music from a real artist. Check out this exclusive interview.
When Teedra Moses, a New Orleans native, dropped Complex Simplicity in 2004, she became every woman’s “friend in their head.” She sings candidly about love and life in songs like her breakout single, “Be Your Girl” and fan favorite, “Backstroke.” Though she’s not on a major label, in the seven years since her debut album, she’s never left her fans waiting in the balance for music, releasing four mixtapes and several singles. From Twitter to music blogs, fans sing her praises while waiting patiently for her next album, The Lioness.
Moses released her second video for “R U 4 Real” today as the climax to her “10 Days to Valentine’s Day” promotion. For 10 days, fans submitted their best and worst Valentine’s Day stories, and Moses released new tracks, including the banger, “Fallin’ 4 U”. She talks to Because I Said So about why her fans will never go without quality music, her thoughts on love and why Valentine’s Day is just one day on the journey in love.
Last year you released the Royal Patience Compilation on February 14, now you’ve released the ”R U 4 Real” video on Valentine’s Day. Is Valentine’s Day your favorite holiday?
Not really. It just seems like maybe it takes me a year for me to get my head wrapped around what I want to give people. I always look at it like this: Well, this year, my Valentines are the people who like my music, so I’ll extend this to them and them appreciating it is enough to give me the “keep moving vibe.”
What are you thoughts on love?
I’m in a place right now where I think that love is one of the most beautiful things. And maybe I’m drawn to Valentine’s Day because in my heart I believe in love, and I believe that a lot of people are jaded and don’t want to love anymore because they’ve been hurt or people have ulterior motives or people are just afraid to put themselves out there, but love is something everybody needs. I don’t care who you are, how selfish you are, every human being needs to know somebody cares, they long for that, atleast. I just feel like that’s something everybody can relate to.
For those who may not be familiar with your music, how would you describe your music?
There’s something about my life… It’s really weird to say, but it really is, in a way, a complex simplicity because there’s something very hard about it, but some kind of way, I find there’s easiness, too. I think that’s the mood I try to put off in my music. It’s something that’s easy on your ears, but its’ still beating hard enough to pull out a little bit of the swag in you.
Fans love your music because the lyrics resonate with them. How are you able to be so honest in your songwriting?
Sometimes, it’s not as honest as I would like to push out of myself. When I connect with the track, it pulls at something that’s already going on in my mind or in my heart. When I’m honest with my myself—completely honest–when you get a great freestyle going, and the words are just coming out of your mouth, you know at that moment somebody else is going to feel that, too, because it’s honest. One of the songs I did like that was “R U 4 Real.” Which was a freestyle. The words weren’t super-profound, but the feeling and the emotion and honesty of how I felt at that time really connected to me.
You maintain a great relationship with your fans via social media websites like Facebook and Twitter. How has social media helped your career?
There’s a shift in music. Fans are reaching out for reality. It’s all in God’s timing. I feel like the impact of the Teedra Moses movement is reaching a peak right now of how hard I’ve been working because of social networking and the viral way you can move on the Internet versus three years ago.They should have never let the people be able to connect with the artist because we’re gonna keep moving. It’s getting easier.
Speaking of social media, if you read fans’ tweets about you, you’ll find they speak of a mood or a feeling your music provides. What’s your reaction?
That’s makes me feel good that people can connect with what I feel is a representation of me and what I’m giving at that time. I’m trying to connect with people, and even when I do put out an album, people will say, ‘Okay, she’s been consistent enough for me to deserve to go out and give my money to her.” People just assume that just because they put out music, that people are just supposed to continue to just support them, but times have changed. People can get music for free. So, I figure if I can give some good music that you can vibe to for free, in the end when I say, ‘Hey, can you give me $10 for this album?’ people won’t have a problem doing that.
What are your favorite love songs?
Teena Marie’s “Cassonova Brown.” That’s one of my favorite love songs because she’s singing about love, but she tormented. She loved a foul ass man. She loves him so much…but her baby’s fine. He always keeps her guessing, never second-guessing. She wrote the hell out of that song. “Ribbon in the Sky.” It’s just so basic and pretty and a beautiful love song.
You get this question often, but when will the album drop?
I always give a date that I’m shooting for, so this year, I’m shooting for around August (2011), but until then, you always get music from me. My thing is this: I’m gonna keep giving music consistently, but now I’m giving visuals. I’m gonna give you visuals and music until I can make the album the way I want it, and that takes a certain amount of finances.
The fans of this music that I’m doing—I want to please you, but in order to please you, I have to really please myself enough to give it to you comfortably. [.....]is never losing interaction with the fans. I continue to try to do shows, I try to continue to give away music to the fans. Before everybody was doing it, I was giving away music on mixtapes. Hopefully, this is enough for fans to understand that I’m really working hard. In order for me to get the quality of what I want to extend ,because I do care, I just need little more help, but that’s just the unfortunate truth, and I’m not worried about because I’ve worked hard all year because of social networking and the music change.
Lastly, any words for fans on Valentine’s Day?
As human beings, we should know that February 13, 14, 15, no matter what day is, it’s a precious day. We should be grateful for it, even if we’re celebrating someone ele’s love or thinking about a past love, or looking to the future to say, ‘When I have a Valentine..’ Those are the sort of things I do because I haven’t had a Valentine, you know? I don’t really get caught up with the fact of not having a Valentine. You know what I think?: If I had a Valentine, this is what I would do, and I when I get a Valentine’s this what I’m gonna do.
You just have to be optimistic, and understand what we want. Once we understand what we want, maybe we can understand how to get what we want. First thing is, you want more than just a damn Valentine. You just want that real thing. Don’t get caught up in the whole Valentine’s thing because you have to know that it’s going to come. It’s a blessing.
Visit http://www.teedramoses.netto check out her new video, “R U 4Real,” information on shows and other music downloads.
If you were born after 1984, I weep for you because it’s possible that you don’t understand the magnitude of what Omarion has done. It actually hurts me that I have to present this award to him. I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m a fan (a fan who hasn’t purchased any albums, but will try to learn all hot dance routines. *Cue “Touch.”* Then there’s that hair envy thing). Anyway, I found this while reading the Loop 21 and was instantly disappointed before even listening.
Omarion has “remade” Jodeci’s classic, “Come and Talk to Me.”
I know, I know. You’re shocked right now. You’re horrified, as am I. But, to his defense, I wouldn’t exactly call it a full-blown remake. It seems to be a snippet (thank God) from a mixtape. He’s changed some words (“Come and fuck wit’ me,” instead of “Come and talk to me.” Oh, you’re a regular ol’ genius, huh, O?) and along with that, completely butchered K-Ci’s flawless riffs. I mean, this a song that, for my generation, will forever be THAT song. The original version was beyond sexy, and the remix??? What???? That intro still sends me. What I wouldn’t have given to be one of those girls wearing that airbrushed denim jacket in the video.
Oh yes, somewhere the writer/producer DeVante’ Swing is spazzing out while trying to perfect his Pootie Tang ponytail.
Omarion, this is a no-no on so many levels, but moreso because this is a personal blow to my music life. A little background here: No one was a bigger Jodeci fan than I. At 12 years old, my two bestfriends and I would act like the entire Forever My Lady album. I had every appearance on BET, MTV and any other show on tape (yeah, I said tape). No one could tell me, me and Mr. Dalvin wouldn’t be together, even after I saw T-Boz on the “Love U 4 Life” video. I went to their concert and instantly noticed a new edgier sound on their Diary of Mad Band album. The Show, Afterparty and Hotel album is still in heavy rotation, and I can’t forget this, which is still tucked away safely in my old closet at my parents’ house:
So yeah, you can’t tell me nothing about Jodeci–cracked out and all. You can imagine how I feel after hearing Mr. B2k take what was so pure and good, and turn it into a mixtape snippet.
Omarion, I appreciate the effort and the attempt to pay homage. I sure you were a fan, too, but I feel like you said, ”F*ck yo’ couch!!” If you love us, you won’t release this as a full track. “Don’t do it, Miss Celie. Don’t trade places wit’ what I been through.”
Okay, don’t ask me how or why this song was in my head this week, but it was. The video for “Whoot, There It Is” by 95 South was shot in Atlanta at the 1993 Freaknik (RIP). Considering all the debauchery and ignorance that took place on the streets of Atlanta for so many years during Freaknik, I guess it was only right. Please, don’t confuse this with Tag Team’s “Whoomp, There It Is.” Everybody knows 95 South’s is better. So join me now as I do my best “Soul Train Asian Girl Pump” at my desk–ONEMOGIN.
