r.i.p. soul music?

Last night, I was blessed with a show from the most guerrilla artist in the game today. Bilal has not released an album since his debut, 1st Born Second, which came out in 2001. How can he still sell out venues and have the audience singing along vehemently to songs that have never seen an official release? Ponder on that for a second. We have had a two-term president serve his tenure and leave office before having heard another Bilal album, and he can still sell out places and headline. how is this possible you ask?

1st Born Second dropped during the Soulquarian era, which coincided with releases such as D'Angelo's Voodoo, The Roots's Things Fall Apart, Common's Like Water For Chocolate, Badu's Mama's Gun and the like. Black music was very well represented at that time. Every album under the Soulquarian umbrella had deep roots in soul music: music for the soul. When that period ended, it left a large void in the music scene. Common's creative career died and went to the Mainstream Afterlife. Erykah's music always dabbled around the soul moniker but she began her electronic movement afterwards. The Roots kept evolving their brand of hip-hop and one of the backbones of the Soulquarians, J Dilla, succumbed to a bout with Lupus in '06. D'Angelo pretty much faded into obscurity after Voodoo with thinly spread cameos...which leads me to Bilal.

Bilal's music has always had a unique hold on its listeners. His first album was a collage of styles and Bilal shined on Dr. Dre production with a Jadakiss cameo just as well as he did with Jay Dee, Mos Def & Common. He was truly a raw talent that hadn't quite yet been focused. That focus came on 2006's Love For Sale, which was shelved by his record label after being bootlegged heavily. He performs songs from this album and is often accompanied verbatim by the fans at shows.

Love For Sale was the album that fans of soul music have been waiting for ever since it was apparent that Badu, D'Angelo, nor Lauryn Hill was ever going to travel that route again, and is more than likely the reason that he remains as relevant as he is today to the scene. His music is beyond genre, but above all it is something you feel. Something that speaks to your soul. He is the last of a dying breed and is the sole filler of a large void left by the Soulquarian family. That is how he can sell out crowds without an album.

Plus...who else do you know can rock a show without background singers?
The destiny of soul music rests on the vocal chords of Bilal. get familiar.


make me over


all for love

(both from the unreleased: Love For Sale)

The Tiger/Barack Phenomenon.

Tiger Woods and Barack Obama have a very crucial factoid in common: People will NOT hop off their respective dicks. At all. Maybe there's something about being a creamy caramel successful "black" man that makes everything you do exponentially more important or acceptable.

Am I being retarded, or was one of Obama's primary goals as president to get us out of the middle east (I will refrain from naming specific country names for fear of being absolutely wrong)? +34,000 is a far cry from our full-fledged exeunt. Everyone on the news: "It's disappointing, but Obama says it's what has to be done..." He's on our bra strap, we're on his dick. I personally think this is not so discretely his first big sign of being a puppet. We were so swept up in his rhetoric and profligate use of the word "hope" that perhaps we didn't see a wolf in sheep's clothing. Just a hunch. Obama garners support from supporters and non-supporters alike. I doubt there's a straight man in this country who wouldn't bop him off if he asked. Just a hunch.

So, in the case of Tiger Woods, he hasn't lost a single sponsorship in light of his more than two year affair with some bunny. I'm not saying he should, but celebrity affairs seem to be a big deal. And the massive amount of news coverage for Woods' "transgressions" are surprisingly not negative. I guess we're on some shit like "Fuck his wife. She can't golf like ol' Tiger. She don't matter."

They got friends with money, and they got money too. Swinging golf clubs and shit. Giving national addresses and shit. Dollars and success seem to be a pass for virtually anything. Infidelity and dishonesty mean nothing when you're (cue the "grr") Tiger, or (drumroll please) Barack Obama.