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Posts tagged as “Frank Ocean”

MUSIC MONDAY: “Bring It On Home” – A Famous Background Vocalists Playlist (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on May 15, 2023

by Marlon West (FB: marlon.west1 Twitter: @marlonw IG: stlmarlonwest Spotify: marlonwest)

Happy springtime from your friend and selector, Marlon!

Here’s a freewheeling playlist, and a seemingly random collection of tunes. Though what they all have in common is famous folks, sometimes uncredited, singing backup.

In some cases it is an established artist leading a hand, like Stevie Wonder contributing to Jermaine Jackson’s “Let’s Get Serious,” or a then-unknown protege like Lou Rawls singing behind his childhood pal Sam Cooke on “Bring It On Home To Me.”

In some tracks, you won’t be able to pick them out. Though in others you will never be able to hear the same again without recognizing them. Here is a breakdown of each song and who’s helping out in the background. Enjoy!

[spotifyplaybutton play=”https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Wiw3WvesSmopQpyuoTybK?si=7f4c79d723884010″]

  1. “Bring It On Home to Me” by Sam Cooke with Lou Rawls
  2. “Let’s Get Serious” by Jermaine Jackson was produced by Stevie Wonder (who also provided vocals)
  3. “Part-Time Lover” by Stevie Wonder with Luther Vandross and Philip Bailey
  4. “Don’t Lose Your Head” by Queen with Joan Armatrading
  5. “Step by Step” by Whitney Houston with original writer and vocalist Annie Lennox
  6. “Every Time I Close My Eyes” by Babyface with Kenny G, Mariah Carey, and Shelia E.
  7. “Somebody’s Watching Me” by Rockwell with Michael Jackson and Jermaine Jackson
  8. “Pink + White” by Frank Ocean with Beyoncé
  9. “State of Shock” by the Jacksons, with Mick Jagger
  10. “Young Americans” by David Bowie with Luther Vandross
  11. “Why Should I Love You?” by Kate Bush with Prince singing and playing guitar
  12. “There Must Be More to Life Than This” by Queen with Michael Jackson
  13. “This Is What You Came For” by Calvin Harris and Rihanna with uncredited vocals by the song’s author, Taylor Swift
  14. “Partition” by Beyoncé with Justin Timberlake
  15. “Chain Reaction” by Diana Ross with Barry Gibb

There are certainly others, but I’ll stop here. Though if there are glaring omissions, lemme me know, and I’ll make additions.

See ya next month, and as always: stay safe, sane, and kind.

Marlon West (photo courtesy Marlon West)
MUSIC MONDAY: “Close To You: Soulful Burt Bacharach Covers” (LISTEN)

MUSIC MONDAY: “Close To You: Soulful Burt Bacharach Covers” (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on February 13, 2023

by Marlon West (FB: marlon.west1 Twitter: @marlonw IG: stlmarlonwest Spotify: marlonwest)

Happy Black History Month, you all. Now it might seem counterintuitive to use my February offering to feature and honor Burt Bacharach, who died on February 8 at age 94.

The prolific composer, songwriter, record producer, and pianist is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential figures of 20th-century popular music. He was a six-time Grammy Award winner and three-time Academy Award winner, Bacharach’s songs have been recorded by more than 1,000 different artists.

However, no one would disagree that Bacharach’s (and his lyricist partner Hal David‘s) most popular success was with Dionne Warwick. They created a string of 39 consecutive chart hits including “Don’t Make Me Over,” “Walk On By,” and “I’ll Never Fall In Love Again.” Their collaboration would continue for decades including his production of “That’s What Friends Are For.”

[spotifyplaybutton play=”https://open.spotify.com/playlist/454iRyoXvDx8m6YjSs7MvX?si=632c3003460747b8″]

This “Close To You: Soulful Burt Bacharach Covers” collection features generations of Black artists who have collaborated directly with Bacharach (Ronald Isley), covered beautifully (Aretha Franklin, Love), and sampled (Mos Def, Masta Ace, Floetry) the work of Burt Bacharach.

Stevie Wonder‘s live performance in 1972, of “Close To You” and the Jackson 5′s “Never Can Say Goodbye utilizing the ‘talkbox,’ inspired Frank Ocean’s cover on his 2016 album, Blonde.

Bobby Womack and Isaac Hayes each spent ample time covering Bacharach while pushing against what they saw as limits of what was acceptable for Black artists.

The 5th Dimension, who were stung by being called “the Black group, with the white sound,” are present with “One Less Bell To Answer.” Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. perform it twice in this collection.

There are ample examples of hip-hop artists using Warwick and Bacharach’s work on “Recognize,” “Hold U,” “Must Be Bobby,” “Know That” and other tracks.

So please enjoy this Black History Month celebration of Burt Bacharach’s impactful work through the creation of these great Black artists.

Until next month, stay safe, sane, and kind.

Marlon West (photo courtesy Marlon West)
#BornOnThisDay in 1899: Duke Ellington, American Composer and Synesthete (LISTEN)

#BornOnThisDay in 1899: Duke Ellington, American Composer and Synesthete (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on April 29, 2022

by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (@lakinhutcherson)

Although we dropped in on Duke Ellington earlier this month on April 6th when we shared a quote from him and a snapshot of his career and contributions, today, on his birthday, this prolific composer and musician gets a much-deserved second look, because one thing we didn’t share last time about the Black, Brown and Beige maestro?

He had synesthesia, the neurological condition where sounds and colors blend.

To read about Ellington, read on. To hear about him, press PLAY:

[You can subscribe to the Good Black News Daily Drop Podcast via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, rss.com or create your own RSS Feed. Or listen every day here on the main page. Full transcript below]:

Hey, this is Lori Lakin Hutcherson, founder and editor in chief of goodblacknews.org, here to share with you a daily drop of Good Black News for Friday, April 29th, 2022, based on the “A Year of Good Black News Page-A-Day Calendar” published by Workman Publishing.

Although we dropped in on Duke Ellington earlier this month on April 6th when we shared a quote from him and a snapshot of his career and contributions, today this prolific composer and musician gets a much-deserved second look:

Born on this day in 1899, Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington made an indelible mark on American music for more than six decades. A pianist, composer and bandleader, Ellington created such now-classic standards as “Prelude to a Kiss,” “Mood Indigo,” and “It Don’t Mean a Thing if it Ain’t Got That Swing”– as well as full-length compositions such as Black, Brown and Beige and Jump For Joy and film scores for Anatomy of a Murder and Paris Blues.

Perhaps there were so many hues to Duke’s music because he had synesthesia, the neurological condition where sounds and colors blend. Other noted musicians who are also reported to be synesthetes are Pharrell Williams, Mary J. Blige, Frank Ocean and Kanye West.

To learn more about Ellington, check out our April 6th daily drop and its resources, and if you want to learn more about synesthesia, check out the links provided in today’s show notes and in the episode’s full transcript posted on goodblacknews.org.

This has been a daily drop of Good Black News, written, produced and hosted by me, Lori Lakin Hutcherson.

Intro and outro beats provided by freebeats.io and produced by White Hot.

Excerpts from Black, Brown & Beige, Part 1 composed by Duke Ellington are included under fair use.

If you like these Daily Drops, follow us on Apple, Google Podcasts, RSS.com, Amazon,Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Leave a rating or review, share links to your favorite episodes, or go old school and tell a friend.

For more Good Black News, check out goodblacknews.org or search and follow @goodblacknews anywhere on social.

Sources:

#AAMAM: “Black and Proud” – Celebrating Black LGBT Musical Pioneers (LISTEN)

#AAMAM: “Black and Proud” – Celebrating Black LGBT Musical Pioneers (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on June 28, 2020

by Jeff Meier (FB: Jeff.Meier.90)

As June is both African-American Music Appreciation Month and Pride Month, and today is the anniversary of the beginning of the landmark Stonewall Riots marking the unofficial launch of the gay rights movement, Good Black News today brings you a musical playlist celebrating some of the Black LGBT musical pioneers of the contemporary music era.

Just last year, rapper Lil Nas X made history in multiple ways when his genre-bending country/rap tune, the infectious ‘Old Town Road’ (which, in remixed form, included country star Billy Ray Cyrus), launched on TikTok and headed straight to #1, where it stayed for 19 weeks.

In the process, the 1:53 minute song (which was the shortest song to hit #1 since the mid-1960s), literally became the longest running #1 in chart history, outlasting the 16 week #1 runs of  Mariah  Carey & Boyz II Men’s ‘One Sweet Day’ and Luis Fonsi/Daddy Yankee/Justin Bieber’s ‘Despacito’.

One year ago during Pride Month, in the middle of the song’s #1 run on the charts, Lil Nas X revealed himself to be gay and joined what has become a burgeoning scene of LGBTQ artists among the Gen Z crowd, many of them African-American. Frank Ocean, Kehlani, Brittany Howard, Azealia Banks, Janelle Monae, and Big Freedia are just some of the other artists that have broken through the pack in recent years, publicly claiming their respective LGBTQ identities even as their careers were still on the rise. 

And musically-talented TV personalities such as one-time reality star Todrick Hall, the now notorious, but nevertheless pioneering ‘Empire’ star Jussie Smollett, ‘Glee’ co-star Alex Newell and ‘The Flash’ co-star Keiynan Lonsdale have also helped pave the way, bringing Black, openly LGBT faces into millions of homes.  

Hopping around Spotify in the search for Black LGBT artists now leads to not just these artists, but dozens of other openly LGBT independent artists making it happen in rap, dance, soul, and pop.

It wasn’t always this way, however. So in today’s playlist, we are celebrating 15 significant, pioneering LGBT artists who got their starts between the late 1950s (when the contemporary pop/rock music era began) and the end of the 20th century. The truth is that we’ve always been watching and listening to LGBT artists – the general public just may not have known it at the time.

[spotifyplaybutton play=”spotify:playlist:4yKQ0sDG4PrmMLcjYVDPl6″/]

Some of these artists we’re celebrating in our list were loud and proud right from the start. With others, we didn’t publicly know they were part of the LGBT community until after they passed away.  

The goal with this list is not to stir up controversy, but rather celebration and re-interpretation – so we’re steering away from the numerous popular artists about whom there are simply rumors.  Perhaps time and the history books will reveal more about the stories of many other artists from an era of music in which most prominent artists remained in the closet.  

For now, it’s interesting to look back at these 15 Black artists and see the array of musical and personal journeys, and examine them anew. We present the artists in roughly chronological order of their career prominence, and feature five songs from each – trying to include early work, a big hit or two and something recent if they are still making music.  

We hope this playlist will both introduce you to some talented but unheralded artists, and help you re-evaluate some artists you may already know and love – and can now see in a new light.  

Meet Kayla Robinson, the Teen Who Made Frank Ocean's Powerful Panorama Tee via Green Box Shop

By goodblacknews on August 5, 2017

Green Box Shop creator Kayla Robinson (l); Frank Ocean (r) [photos via mtv.com]
by Hilary Hughes via mtv.com
Since launching Green Box Shop in 2016, social media has played a huge part in how Kayla Robinson, 18, runs Green Box Shop: She heavily relies on Instagram and Twitter to promote her line of T-shirts bearing progressive, all-caps messages, and she’s found inspiration for some designs by connecting with people online and checking her feed, too.
A couple of famous fans have snapped up Green Box Shop shirts — including Zendaya, who posted an image of a Green Box tee on Snapchat before saying she’ll snap up a few shirts (or all of them) herself — thanks to their popularity on these platforms, and it was one of these well-known customers who let Robinson know that Frank Ocean was rocking one of her shirts for his headlining set at the Panorama Music Festival on July 28.
“Well, Jessica Williams, she DMed me,” says Robinson of the moment she realized her shirt was about to go viral. The star of The Incredible Jessica James and former Daily Show correspondent has been a Green Box shopper for a minute, and was all too eager to share that Ocean was broadcasting Robinson’s WHY BE RACIST, SEXIST, HOMOPHOBIC, OR TRANSPHOBIC WHEN YOU COULD JUST BE QUIET? design to a thousands-strong crowd.
“She texted me in all caps, all excited, like, ‘FRANK OCEAN IS WEARING ONE OF YOUR SHIRTS!’ I was like, ‘That’s not true! You’re lying!’ I didn’t believe her at first, but then she sent me some pictures, and I was like, ‘That’s crazy.’ I just started freaking out. I just remember doing something in my kitchen, and I just immediately started running around.”
Robinson’s reaction is completely understandable given the intense surge of interest in Green Box. During a typical week, Green Box sees a daily average of 50 orders. On July 29, the day after Ocean’s set, Robinson says that 3,500 orders were placed (though not all for the shirt he wore, specifically); an additional 1,000 orders came in before this article went to press on July 30. That means that Green Box sold ten times what they typically do in a week in a single day thanks to the exposure Ocean provided — and it also means that Green Box has a chance to give back more than they already do.
For Robinson, the focus of Green Box has always been more about freedom of expression than about fashion, as she launched the company to sell tees with activist messages she’d actually wear (and raise money to fund her yoga teacher certification in the process).
“I never really had an interest in fashion — you know, as in being really trendy or fashionable,” she says. “I was already in the phase of tie-dying a lot of shirts, and so I decided to put my ideas on shirts and sell them to raise money. I first started doing this through GoFundMe, and then the business grew. It basically came from a passion of speaking my mind and tie-dye.”
To read full article, go to: Meet The Teen Who Made Frank Ocean’s Powerful Panorama Tee – MTV

Meet Cat Frazier, the Woman Responsible for Animated Text – the Hottest GIFS on the Internet

By goodblacknews on February 9, 2016

Cat Frazier (Photo courtesy of Ms. Frazier)
Cat Frazier (Photo courtesy of Ms. Frazier)

article by via John Walker via fusion.net
As the internet continues to streamline itself down to an increasingly uniform, minimalist aesthetic, many young people are pushing back against all that sans serif black on white. One of those young people is Cat Frazier, a graphic designer from Oakland who just might be the patron saint of this retro-maximalist aesthetic movement.
You might not know Cat Frazier by name, but I can almost guarantee that you’ve seen her work. The 24-year-old is the creative genius behind the Animated Text Tumblr, where she creates intentionally tacky-looking gifs of rotating text that occupy some tonal void between “Feeling Myself” and “Teenage Dirtbag.” Aesthetically, the gifs—each one requested by a follower—look similar to the kind of animated welcome banners you might have seen on someone’s personal web site circa Y2K. (Maybe your own?) According to Cat, that GeoCities feel is totally intentional.
“My background is in graphic design, where you’re told to make it clean, make it pretty, make it legible, and make it generic so it appeals to a lot of different people,” Frazier told me over the phone. “But the internet I grew up with—like GeoCities and Myspace and Blingee—was always really personal, as tacky as it was. You didn’t need a degree in design,” to claim ownership over your corner of the web, she explained, and that empowerment-through-DIY is something she wants to bring back with Animated Text.
Cat, who works by day as an instructional designer for California’s Pacific Gas and Electric Company, says that the point of Animated Text is not so much the retro-’90s aesthetic itself, but rather her “relationship with the followers.” Every gif was specifically requested by one of her fans, so she sees each post as a collaborative process, rather than one where she’s the “keeper of the keys” or whatever.
Thinking back on that “Rihanna/Azealia Banks stole seapunk!” moment from 2012, I asked Cat if she was worried about being cool-hunted out of commission by larger brands. “I see a lot of clothing sites [use my gifs without attribution],” she told me. “But it doesn’t upset me… It’s, like, more power to them! Someday, I hope to see an entire internet of animated text.”

Cat Frazier/Animated Text
Cat Frazier/Animated Text

Animated Text’s follower base has grown substantially since its launch in 2012—thanks, in part, to a crucial March 2013 reblog of a “ur not gucci lol” by Frank Ocean. While more followers is obviously a good thing, Cat says that one particular problem keeps coming up.
“Literally everyone assumes I am a straight white man,” she said. That’s why Cat started posting pictures of herself along with the Animated Text gifs in recent months, to “prove I am female, that I am black, that I am gay,” and not that unholy trinity of falsely presumed neutrality: straight, white, and male.
By injecting more and more of herself into the Animated Text project, she became more and more comfortable with being vulnerable on the internet, something she did not expect when she was designing ostentatiously disaffected gif mantras like “lol nothing matters” or “blog the pain away.” That newfound comfort with being vulnerable online also inspired Frazier’s latest venture: Ask Cat, an “advice column for the smartphone age” that you can submit to by texting 510-962-9372.
To read more, go to: http://fusion.net/story/263103/animated-text-cat-frazier-ask-cat/

NYT MUSIC FEATURE: Can the Weeknd Turn Himself Into the Biggest Pop Star in the World?

By goodblacknews on August 1, 2015
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The Weeknd (Photo Credit: Peter van Agtmael/Magnum, The New York Times)

The scene backstage last November at the American Music Awards, that annual gathering of pop perennials and idiosyncratic arrivistes, was carnivalesque: Niall and Liam of One Direction toddled about trying to snap a picture with a selfie stick, while Zayn, their bandmate at the time, smoked coolly out of frame; Ne-Yo was there in a leopard-­print blazer two sizes too small; Lil Wayne was wandering around, alone, wearing absurd shoes. In the middle of it all, Abel Tesfaye, better known as The Weeknd, remained calm, slow ­motion to everyone else’s warp speed.

Allergic to these sorts of scrums, he found his way to his trailer to hang with his friends, five or so fellow Canadians, all of them art-goth chic, wearing expensive sneakers and draped in luxurious, flowing black. Tesfaye, 25, was dressed down by comparison, in a black corduroy jacket and paint-­splattered jeans (Versace, but still). He stands 5-foot-7, plus a few more inches with his hair, an elaborate tangle of dreadlocks that he has been growing out for years, more or less letting it go where it wants. It spills out at the sides of his head and shoots up over it, like a cresting wave. Casually, Tesfaye did some vocal warm-ups and sat indifferently as his underutilized makeup artist dabbed foundation under his eyes and balm on his lips.

Abel Tesfaye, a.k.a. the Weeknd, at his apartment building in Toronto last December. (Credit: Peter van Agtmael/Magnum, for The New York Times)

He’d just had his first flash of true pop success: ‘‘Love Me Harder,’’ his duet with Ariana Grande, the childlike pop star with the grown-up voice, cracked the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. He was scheduled to make a surprise cameo here at the end of a Grande medley. Until that song and, in a sense, that moment, Tesfaye had been a no-hit wonder: a cult act with millions of devotees and almost no mainstream profile.

When Tesfaye came out from the shadows midway through Grande’s performance, the crowd screamed. For two minutes, the singers traded vocal riffs and unflinching eye contact, Grande playing the naïf and Tesfaye the aggressor. The performance was quick and sweaty, and seconds after it was over, Tesfaye was already speeding for the exit, stopping only for a quick embrace from Kendall and Kylie Jenner. When he reached the parking lot, a yappy talent wrangler for an entertainment-­news show sensed an opportunity and asked for an interview. Tesfaye gave him an amused half-smile and kept walking. ‘‘Hey!’’ the guy shouted in desperation, fumbling for a name before landing on the wrong one: ‘‘A$AP Rocky!’’ Tesfaye turned his head and said, ‘‘C’mon, man,’’ arching an eyebrow, then picked up the pace.

Even though he had just performed for an audience of millions, Tesfaye was still, to many of them, a total stranger. When he began releasing music in 2010 — murky Dalí-esque R.&B., sung in an astrally sweet voice, vivid with details of life at the sexual and pharmacological extremes — Tesfaye chose to be a cipher. The only photos of him in circulation were deliberately obscured; he didn’t do interviews. His reticence was an asset — fans devoured the music without being distracted by a personality. Their loyalty was to the songs and, in a way, to the idea of the Weeknd. He was happy to stay out of the way.

NYT MUSIC FEATURE: Can the Weeknd Turn Himself Into the Biggest Pop Star in the World?

By goodblacknews on August 1, 2015
02weeknd1-superJumbo
The Weeknd (Photo Credit: Peter van Agtmael/Magnum, The New York Times)

The scene backstage last November at the American Music Awards, that annual gathering of pop perennials and idiosyncratic arrivistes, was carnivalesque: Niall and Liam of One Direction toddled about trying to snap a picture with a selfie stick, while Zayn, their bandmate at the time, smoked coolly out of frame; Ne-Yo was there in a leopard-­print blazer two sizes too small; Lil Wayne was wandering around, alone, wearing absurd shoes. In the middle of it all, Abel Tesfaye, better known as The Weeknd, remained calm, slow ­motion to everyone else’s warp speed.

Allergic to these sorts of scrums, he found his way to his trailer to hang with his friends, five or so fellow Canadians, all of them art-goth chic, wearing expensive sneakers and draped in luxurious, flowing black. Tesfaye, 25, was dressed down by comparison, in a black corduroy jacket and paint-­splattered jeans (Versace, but still). He stands 5-foot-7, plus a few more inches with his hair, an elaborate tangle of dreadlocks that he has been growing out for years, more or less letting it go where it wants. It spills out at the sides of his head and shoots up over it, like a cresting wave. Casually, Tesfaye did some vocal warm-ups and sat indifferently as his underutilized makeup artist dabbed foundation under his eyes and balm on his lips.

Abel Tesfaye, a.k.a. the Weeknd, at his apartment building in Toronto last December. (Credit: Peter van Agtmael/Magnum, for The New York Times)

He’d just had his first flash of true pop success: ‘‘Love Me Harder,’’ his duet with Ariana Grande, the childlike pop star with the grown-up voice, cracked the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. He was scheduled to make a surprise cameo here at the end of a Grande medley. Until that song and, in a sense, that moment, Tesfaye had been a no-hit wonder: a cult act with millions of devotees and almost no mainstream profile.

When Tesfaye came out from the shadows midway through Grande’s performance, the crowd screamed. For two minutes, the singers traded vocal riffs and unflinching eye contact, Grande playing the naïf and Tesfaye the aggressor. The performance was quick and sweaty, and seconds after it was over, Tesfaye was already speeding for the exit, stopping only for a quick embrace from Kendall and Kylie Jenner. When he reached the parking lot, a yappy talent wrangler for an entertainment-­news show sensed an opportunity and asked for an interview. Tesfaye gave him an amused half-smile and kept walking. ‘‘Hey!’’ the guy shouted in desperation, fumbling for a name before landing on the wrong one: ‘‘A$AP Rocky!’’ Tesfaye turned his head and said, ‘‘C’mon, man,’’ arching an eyebrow, then picked up the pace.

Even though he had just performed for an audience of millions, Tesfaye was still, to many of them, a total stranger. When he began releasing music in 2010 — murky Dalí-esque R.&B., sung in an astrally sweet voice, vivid with details of life at the sexual and pharmacological extremes — Tesfaye chose to be a cipher. The only photos of him in circulation were deliberately obscured; he didn’t do interviews. His reticence was an asset — fans devoured the music without being distracted by a personality. Their loyalty was to the songs and, in a way, to the idea of the Weeknd. He was happy to stay out of the way.

LIFESTYLE: GBN Picks for August 2015

By goodblacknews on August 1, 2015
by Lesa Lakin, GBN Lifestyle Editor
by Lesa Lakin, GBN Lifestyle Editor

It’s August, and summer is almost over, but I’m always on the hunt for fun entertaining things to do, read, watch and… enjoy! Here’s a few listed below:
IN ART
August 25th October 27th
Muse by artist Mickalene Thomas
mickalene
This gorgeous book is at the top of my list. It explores Mickalene’s inspiration of African American female beauty and identity through her photographs. We get lots of inspiring 70’s-themed shots. http://mickalenethomas.com
UPDATE: The release date of this book has been pushed to October 27.  To pre-order via Amazon, click here: http://www.amazon.com/Muse-Mickalene-Thomas-Photographs/dp/159711314X
IN SPORTS
August 31st
U.S. Open
serena
Photo: Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP
Serena will compete in the U.S. Open and may just make make tennis history.
IN TELEVISION
August 5th
Mr. Robinson
NBC premieres Mr. Robinson starring Craig Robinson as a musician (lead singer and keyboardist of the funk band Nasty Delicious) who takes a job as a high school substitute teacher to pay the bills. Craig is moved to inspire the kids.  This sounds like a pretty cool premise promising lots of laughter. http://www.nbc.com/mr-robinson
July 30
unnamed-2
L.A. Hair star Kim Kimble

Thursdays, catch the new season L.A. Hair on WE tv with celebrity stylist Kim Kimble and her staff. Famed hair stylist Jonathan Antin reappears this season looking to break into the lucrative world of wigs and extensions. http://www.wetv.com/shows/la-hair http://kimblehairstudio.com
IN CINEMA
August 7th
Fantastic Four
unnamed
Michael B. Jordan joins Miles Teller, Kate Mara and Jamie Bell as four young outsiders who acquire superhuman abilities after a trip to an alternative universe. Check out the trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAgnQdiZFsQ
August 14th
Straight Outta Compton
unnamed-4
I don’t know about you, but I’ve been looking forward to this one for a while. The F. Gary Gray-directed film about the revolutionary rap legends N.W.A. is steadily gaining rave reviews. Click here for the trailer: http://www.straightouttacompton.com/#/
IN MUSIC
August brings us Erykah Badu!
unnamed-5
Click for tour dates: http://www.livenation.com/artists/41646/erykah-badu
August 10th
Future
future
Future at the Observatory, Santa Ana CA http://www.observatoryoc.com/event/future-aug-10
August 12th
Earl Sweatshirt
sweatshirt
Odd Future member and solo artist and all-around talented guy begins his second leg of the U.S. world tour this month and I can’t wait to see him! http://earlsweatshirt.com

He will also be appearing at the Low End Theory Festival with Flying Lotus on August 8: http://www.shrineauditorium.com/events/detail/275496

August 21st
Method Man– The Meth Lab
Method Man
It’s been a minute since Method Man has released a solo effort. He’s done tons of collaborations but this will be the first album he has put out in a decade. This 5th solo effort proves to be worth the wait.

August 22 -23rd
FYF Festival
FYF fest
Los Angeles-based annual festival featuring music performances from indie and alternative bands. Frank Ocean, Morrissey and Solange are among the many premiere acts.
August 28th
The Weeknd – Beauty Behind the Madness
Finally! The highly-anticipated album is coming out this month.
unnamed-3
http://www.theweeknd.com/home/
August 30th – September 7th
Burning Man
unnamed-9
Explore the annual festival in the Nevada desert…features great d.j.’s, parties and communal harmony. http://burningman.org

Beyoncé Reveals Artistry, Herself on "Beyoncé" (REVIEW)

By goodblacknews on December 17, 2013

beyonce_beyonce
Beyoncé pulled off a coup late last Thursday night when she released a terrific self-titled “visual album” – containing 14 songs, each with an accompanying video – straight to iTunes with zero advance warning or fanfare.  The record is expected to easily top the weekly album chart despite being released midway through the stanza, and according to Apple, the album had already sold more than 800,000 digital copies by Monday morning. Not only does Beyoncé rank as the year’s most accomplished and engaging mainstream pop album by a rather laughable margin, but its calculatedly shrugged-off release strategy can’t help but read as an imperious kiss-off toward the singer’s competitors for the 2013 crown — Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake, Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry, and even her husband Jay Z — all of whom worked up gallons of sweat and employed every eyeball-grabbing trick in the book to move their product, only to be upstaged by Beyoncé’s abrupt digital data-dump.

“I’ve been climbing up the walls, ’cause all this shit I hear is boring,” she sings on the album’s second track, by way of explanation. “All these record labels, boring.”
Of course, like Radiohead’s “name-your-price” release of In Rainbows in 2007, this is the sort of trick that can only be pulled off by an artist who has already spent decades tirelessly feeding the publicity machine, and it’s unlikely Beyoncé’s December surprise will “change the music business” any more than Radiohead’s did. Competition is Beyoncé’s lifeblood, and coming off of the commercially disappointing 4, it’s easy to see this as a gauntlet thrown down. Far more personal, confessional, and flat-out filthy than anything the singer has released in the past, Beyoncé offers some striking windows into the star’s personal life, while audio archival snippets from her early years shuttling between beauty contests and kiddie singing competitions are sprinkled throughout, hinting at the lifetime of rigorously maintained perfection and pageantry to which much of this record is a reaction.