Black Reads: Issue 015
"I want some of your brown sugar"
Before we get started, let’s have a moment of silence for yet another great within the Black community who has transitioned into the ancestral realm.
Damn, D’Angelo, why did you have to leave us like this?
I remember when Brown Sugar came out; the song instilled the pride of having brown skin. He taught us to value Black women and our skin complexion, even if the video was meant to be a sex symbol. You can’t change my mind, blah blah!
For a while now, I’ve been wanting to do a Black Reads issue focused on highlighting the music writers within our community, and I think this newsletter is a great start to something special!
Enjoy, and remember showing up in community looks like hitting the like button, leaving a comment, and engaging with every writer’s work shared. We don’t have to overthink communion; it can start here, with the click of a button.
See, when I saw
’s restack with this piece, the first thing that came to my mind was, “My God, on today!” To kickstart No Skips Album Club with D’Angelo feels like one of those divine moments. You can’t explain it, there’s no need to; you are just glad you followed your intuition and documented the timestamp. I don’t know, Ebanē, you running this one back one more time?
We are all familiar with the wonderful work of
, so I know you might have already seen this post, but see it again. From a new lens, one with D’Angelo as our ancestor rather than a human peer.
Moments before I was wrapping up this newsletter, I felt this nudge to check my timeline. I didn’t know what I was looking for, to be honest, I felt I was wasting time, but then I saw
’s post. And all I will say is, baby, go read it!
Shifting just for a moment into some jams that will make you get up and shake some ass, well, at least the Playlist Park #019 had me shaking ass in my living room all day. I told
I love his writing style because he doesn’t just write about music; he takes you on the journey of what the music does to him, and through that, you find the commonality that music does to us as a culture.
“Don’t play with her, don’t be dishonest, still not understanding his logic.” Man, when I say
had me playing “Don’t” back to back after reading his essay. Mention Bryson Tiller and I’m bursting out full a cappella with that first line. It takes me back to a time when I decided to choose me, and I’ve not been the same woman since. Read this one and let me know what you think.
Editor’s Note
I briefly want to note that D’Angelo himself did not claim the title of a “neo-soul” artist, but an artist who made Black music. “Neo-soul” is an industry term that was coined by Kedar Massenburg, a Motown Records executive created in the late 1990s as a marketing category. Specifically, after the release of Brown Sugar in 1995 by our beloved D’Angelo, who stood ten toes on debunking the title.
Erykah Badu said she felt it was mislabeled and it should have been “neo-funk”. The point I want to make is this: in my efforts of decolonizing our minds, yes, I am going to preach this until I’m blue in the face, we have to respect the art of the artists we love so much.
Let me know if y’all are interested in an essay more about this. I’m trying to convince
to co-write the piece. I’m joking, he said yes, but we didn’t know D’Angelo wasn’t going to wait for us to write the piece, respectfully. So let’s call this the cliff hanger.Sampling is a form of preservation.
You know when the beginning of a song starts but it’s a sample of the same beginning of another song, and the older generation starts to jam thinking it’s their song. Some of us got a taste of that feeling when SZA and Kendrick Lamar released “30 For 30” having us thinking it was “Throw Some D’s” by Rich Boy at first. And honestly, every time I hear eit…
Sampling is like modern day alchemy.
Sometimes when I’m feeling good I might listen to a certain playlist, and when I’m in my work flow I will play another. The same goes on for most emotions as I’ve learned this adds value to my life enjoyment by curating a vibe that’s for me. Yes, days have sad moments, but the music in my headphones will allow the tears to flow while my body moves to th…
The music industry's efforts to segregate, label and gatekeep Black artists and their music has a long history. From "race records/music" to Billboard renaming it Rhythm and Blues. Or the racism surrounding the pop category, especially among Black female artists. The creation of different categories of gospel/Christian music. The Recording Academy just created a new "category" of country music after Beyonce's Country win. Hmmm, imagine that. Oh, can't wait for the piece y'all write.
I can’t wait to dive in! I knew Neo-soul as a category but not the politics around it. Feels relevant, as the proverbial “they” continue the practice of labeling new genres in a weak attempt to keep up with (control) Black artists and their genius. It also calls to mind Tyla and her comments about the afrobeats category at the VMAs or Tyler the Creator’s sentiments about his Grammy being in the rap category.