(Photo/Mick Haupt) My relationship with jazz is complicated. Far from aficionado, I’ve had important encounters with pianist Ahmad Jamal, flautist Bobbi Humphrey and trumpeter Donald Byrd and his Howard University Blackbyrds. We’ve had meet and greets through acquaintances–time machines–J Dilla, Havoc, Q-Tip and DJ Premier. Over the years, I’ve been taking in sounds rather deliberately. […]
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(Photo/Pexels) April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Before it comes to a close, it’s important to consider what moments in time and music can teach us about the issue. Cold case April 10, 2019, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police arrested a then-59-year-old LJ Bertha of Charlotte, NC after retesting a sexual assault kit first tested in 1996. The […]
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“10 Stack Commandments.” (Photo/Josh Vaughn) Receiving unexpected money is exciting. Moreover—more rousing—is discovering precious business strategy that can earn you perpetual dividends. Enter Detroit, Michigan, a city that in escaped bankruptcy protection in late 2018. In December 2018, enduring its economic revival, west Detroiter and rap artist Payroll Giovanni endowed the music world with pearls […]
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“Ay yo, god.” Some may hear that as a prayer. Indeed, it could be one.
It’s a greeting near similarly used as Judaism’s “Shalom” or Islam’s “As-Salam-u-Alaikum.” In effect, it’s a salute of one fellow community member by another.
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Everybody has a war story. Some are gorier than others, and each has a unique sequence of battlefields. Along his, Nashville rap artist Starlito has been involved in a summertime shootout—with his ego. The biggest fight of his life may be within fingers reach. At least that is what the album art suggests. At War […]
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