BGC: Music

Check out my girl Dom Jones! Dope mixtape. Dope words. Dope person and artist. She is a force to be reckoned with! p.s. she's NIICCEE with the harmonies!!

http://domjones.bandcamp.com/
twitter.com/iamdomjones

BGC: Music and Words

I believe it is part of our job as artists to speak out against issues in our human community and speak to the human condition in all it's forms. Everyday is not a party or a romp in the sack.lol..sometimes very real things happen and we must be the documentarians, the archaeologists, the excavators of the heart; of what it means to be human;the joy and the pain.

I commend Marsha, for writing such a heartfelt song and being brave enough to visually represent it by spotlighting a very real issue in our human community; suicide and the unfortunate amount of people ending their lives because of persecution and beatings as a result of their sexuality. Too many young people have seen suicide as an option, I hope that the work being done in this world will take that option off the table for many young people. Life can be so full and to imagine someone cutting it so short because of something that is innately them and something that can serve as empowerment in their future is beyond sad.

Suicide from multiple issues, by a diverse group of young people, has continued to be too prevalent. While the news a few months ago would have you think something is in the water; it was and is an ongoing issue and we must talk about it and fight against it, even when it feels uncomfortable. The video below is by the artist Invincible. It was actually set to be aired on MTVU I believe, but they didn't air it because of the "subject matter" thank god we have the Internet and don't have to count on major outlets to send out our messages. I'm sure this video and Marsha's will help a lot of young people. Good Job and Thank you!

Monsterous

So...I used to RIDE for Kanye.. I can not ride for this video and frankly for his lyrical performance on the album. But, that's another post.lol.

Aesthetically there were some awesome things about this video, but I can not accept women dead and hanging in the first 30 seconds. Some male rap artist often show their blatant disregard, contempt, and subjegation of women in videos and songs, but this video has taken it to a whole other level. I know some will argue it is in the name of art, etc., which in some cases I can get down with. The different interpretations of a monsters in the video, shown by the portrayal of vampires, zombies, even the allusion of violence in the form of Rick Ross going into the room with a chainsaw; those images are a lot for something not on cable, but for better or worse they are now a very ingrained part of our pop culture and entertainment.

Yet, I don't think I will ever be ready to see a woman, any woman, but especially a black woman hanging as an artistic statement or to see a bed with two dead women being played with like dolls. It's been interesting and somewhat disturbing to see the reactions to the video, mostly by males who seemingly didn't even think to critique the video from any sort of lens, besides an aesthetic one. Besides Clutch(http://clutchmagonline.com/newsgossipinfo/kanye-drops-trailer-for-‘monster’-what-do-you-think/)

I haven't seen any woman bloggers comment yet. Also, Nikki Minaj's part was actually not bad, but I know the argument could be made that she condoned it because she was in it. I can't say that because I don't know her and the way things are shot, maybe she didn't know about the particularly disturbing parts. In any case, I think women must speak up in many ways, not just with our words, but in our actions and associations.

In the name of "art" which is up for interpretation; I feel like some people have excluded the blatant,violent misogny on display here and in other mediums. It needs to be critiqued and spotlighted because if not; as we already contend with in our lives, it doesn't just stay in our "art" it bleeds into how we treat and interact with each other.

We have enough real life monsters to contend with as evidenced by the recent news of the "Grim Sleeper" http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/f/lonnie_d_franklin_jr/index.html?scp=1&sq=serial%20killer&st=cse and

Thoughts?

The Originals

The original, tatted up, sisters for life, we are the start of BGC, Love you BE!! We just rocked it with art and education at Sarah Lawrence last weekend! Click the title to see all the dope performers.

Black Girls and everyone what do we think??

I will reserve my judgement until the video premieres,but..
How do u feel about this? The portrayal of women looks extremely problematic

BGC: Music

MC..that happens to be a woman

RAPSODY - IMAGINATION from Pricefilms on Vimeo.

BGC: Music and Words

So, I love all types of music, I mean all types! Anyone who knows me can tell you that. But, my bread and butter is soul and r&b and sometimes I don't need complex arrangements and esoteric or just plain obscure references.lol. Sometimes I need good music and a great vocal and a slight message, cause that's what good r&b does. I think Fantasia accomplished this on this song. She went through a lot, with a very private heartbreak being blasted in the public, one of the unfortunate prices of fame sometimes. But, in this song, she extols the virtues of putting yourself first,not being the "ride or die chick", not accepting someones bad behavior and staying with them. Even in her song "Bittersweet" she admits she still loves him, but the video and the song show she is moving on. Yet, a pet peeve of mine in a lot of recent r&b songs,with singers who can either sing very well or at least pass, has been the need to sing about being treated terribly and staying in that terrible situation. What R&B does best is talk about, spotlight, offer solutions to our struggles. And while that is a real struggle some of us have, it is not a healthy one, it is not one that should be a trend in songwriting, especially when the primary audience is young girls and women of color. Dysfunction should never be normalized, as much as I might like the song.

New Fantasia Vid: Doing Me
http://www.youtube.com/user/FantasiaVEVO#p/a/u/0/n0YrpnpaWSY

Jasmine Sullivan: Circles
It's a great song, just wish their was light at the end of it's tunnel.lol



And my least fav.lol. Melanie Fiona




a writer at Clutch also talks about it here
http://clutchmagonline.com/lifeculture/feature/holdin%E2%80%99-you-down-the-circle-of-insanity/

BGC: Music

One of my fav singers,Muhsinah, doing a Kings of Leon cover. BGC at it's finest. She's a singer/ songwriter/ producer/ dope individual :) Check it!

Use Somebody
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9y2M0Cyy-vU&p=7A4154ADB8F5B15B&playnext=1&index=10

And this is an interview and performance of her
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Y4idd_6764

This is a new chick I just discovered from the UK, Szjerdene. She sounds pretty good on this live song below. Not sure what I think yet, but she's worth a watch.
http://soulukblog.com/2010/10/14/video-pinboardblog-com-presents-rehearsal-rooms-with-szjerdene-lead-the-way/

Black Girls what do we think??

Hmm..to this article.It's about what the writer coins as the "Black Box" the "box" black people, specifically black women find themselves being placed in, climbing out of, or half way entrenched.

While I think the article jumped all over, I was heartened by this sentence at the end, "Thankfully, women like Zora Neale Hurston, Audre Lorde, Ntozake Shange, and a myriad of others, have given us examples of Black girls who’ve broken out and have claimed their freedom.Instead of giving our quirky sistas the side-eye, we should celebrate their fierceness and jack a little bit of their fresh. By being themselves and pushing the boundaries of what it means to be Black, they help us all get just a little bit more free."

I have discussed this issue extensively on my blog, in my life, with my work, as I am probably a Black girl outside of the box :), but I am still very proud of being a Black woman,and everything I am is intersected, I cant separate one from the other and I don't just because I'm "quirky."

As this is the first post I have done in a while, I wanted to open it up to my peeps to weigh in. So, what do you think?


http://clutchmagonline.com/lifeculture/feature/the-black-box/

Last vid in Cool Kid Series

This is the last video in The Cool Kid Series on youtube. I will of course be making more videos, but now these songs will be on a actual mixtape! I'm in NY and prob won't be able to record, but I'm going in when I come back! So, stay tuned, it will be FREE, so spread it around! More info to come on the mixtape and my happenings in NY soon!