In Heavy Rotation (Black Music Month 2016)

When Momma Scribbler, Big Little Brother Scribbler (when he was actually Little Little Brother Scribbler) and I moved to Halley Terrace in Southeast D.C. in the summer of 1988, it took my mother about six months before she broke down and purchased cable for the first time.  One of the channels that my brother and I gravitated toward was BET and among so many awesome aspects to the only channel at the time that was owned by and featured Black people, I remember always looking forward to Black Music Month in June.  You would think that a predominantly Black network couldn't do it up any more for a month dedicated to our musical legacy, but with more throwback and world premiere videos as well as a few specials, they managed to drum up the excitement regardless.  While BET has channeled more of their Black Music Month energy into the BET Awards, I've decided to keep that initial legacy going in my own way and specifically dedicate this month's edition of "In Heavy Rotation" to my fellow brothas and sistas with a mixture of the old and the new.  Flipping one of Ol' Dirty Bastard's opening lines from "Triumph", let's take it back to '89--although none of these albums were made in '89, but you get the point...

SOCIAL MEDIA PICK OF THE MONTH: PATH P, Indigo (PATH P Music, 2016).  Despite being chosen for my "Social Media Pick of the Month", I have the most personal connection of anyone in this month's lineup with PATH P.  As part of a talent showcase in Brooklyn back in 2013, I watched this brother control the crowd and the vibe with his standout lyricism, delivery and presence.  After that, we became like a band of brothers as we have enthusiastically supported each other's artistic endeavors.  So when he finally released his long-awaited Indigo album, it couldn't have come at a better time.  As this sonically-intergalactic journey of love, life and liberation produced by longtime collaborator Thre3 kicks off, "Gone" sets the tone as P spits lines like "Food for thought, but it's too many pseudo cooks in the kitchen" and "No more young brothers writing wrongs in their loose leafs/Just righting wrongs with every song so they can soothe streets".  On "Lightyears", P gets introspective about pushing through the common artist and human struggle:

When the sun rises/I am constantly reminded how hands and eyes are divinely guided/Even days when I feel like giving up/And I ain't enough, stoppin' at the buck when it gets tough/I look to the sky, eyes wide, yelling "I AM"/And from there on, I proceed with a new plan/I know that all that glitters ain't gold/But I'll be damned if I ain't diamond times over when the story is told...

Perhaps the greatest highlight of Indigo is his stop-and-go, rapid-fire flow on "Slumber" (feat. Merc The Big Body Benz) where he sheds light on the plight of the Black community and calls for an awakening:

We're complacent losin' our place in the spaces we created/Who's really to blame for the degradation and defamation/Created in basis of the status of/How we really see us/But they wanna be us/We could be the leaders/Deeply plant the seed of/Change in the mainframe of the worldwide brain/Full reversal to the hurt and worldwide pain/Cast the fears into the sea to replenish believers...  

All-in-all, the combination of moving lyricism over solid beats as well as via powerful spoken word interludes propels Indigo to not only be a great follow-up to 2014's LifeInTheRealestHue, but also one of PATH P's best and most enjoyable projects overall.  OTHER NOTABLES: "Stand Up" and "Cheers".

HOMETOWN HERO OF THE MONTH, ODDISEE, The Odd Tape (Mello Music Group, 2016).  Although D.C./Largo, Maryland hip hop producer/lyricist Oddisee has been active in the music industry for nearly 20 years, my first contact with him came ten years into his career through Diamond District (with yU and Uptown XO) and their much-celebrated debut joint venture, In the Ruff (2009).  Since that point as well as putting his Odd Seasons series in the hat, I've been a fan of his work.  Taking my cue from other fellow fans unbeknownst to them, the grapevine suggested The Odd Tape and I gladly jumped at the chance to listen.  The mixture of hip, hard-hitting drum syncopation and string-driven, melodic mayhem on "Out at Night" holds the ear and attention span hostage to the point where Stockholm Syndrome is inevitable and welcomed.  Although Oddisee has always had a knack for creatively turning something old into something brand new, the sheer genius involved with deconstructing Aretha Franklin's "Ain't No Way" on "Brea" is absolutely masterful and one of the best sample jobs that I've heard in a very long time.  However, the relentless pursuit of "The Breakthrough" with its damp keys, pulsating synths and neck-jerking kick is the most unexpectedly pleasant journey of this entire album and my favorite among a plethora of heat.  If you're an avid fan of dope instrumentals like I am, then The Odd Tape will satisfy as it continues in the legacy of fantastic Oddisee instrumental albums.  OTHER NOTABLES: "Right Side of the Bed" and "Born Before Yesterday".

THROWBACK PICK OF THE MONTH: THE FUTURES, Past, Present and The Futures (Philadelphia International, 1978).  I love when I stumble upon "old school" music that I've never heard before because it might as well be a brand new act.  What made discovering The Futures even more rewarding is that they were associated with my favorite musical movement in the Philly soul sound of the 1970s.  Although they previously carved out a corner crooner classic with "Love Is Here", Past, Present and the Futures was my formal introduction to them as a group.  Although there's not as much singing as I expected from the opening monologue drenched in the flair for the dramatic, the music of "I Wanna Know/Is It Over" is enough to make this song worth mentioning with its regal horn and string arrangements to close out this short, but certainly sweet number.  The catchy "Deep Inside of Me" finds the quintet matching the gorgeous melody molded in classic Philly soul clay with soulfully-lavish harmonies, spilling out sweet gems like "I've learned...that love cannot survive/Unless...it lives deep inside".  The star of the show though is the song that, except for the very beginning, perhaps feels the least like a typical Philadelphia International record in the Earth, Wind & Fire-inspired "Ain't No Time fa Nothing".  Sharing the stage with each other on this groove, the group sings a cautionary tale about the importance of making the most out of life's most precious commodity:

Don't let those evil voices take your mind/Forsake His love and you will never find/The end of time is for real/Give yourself a chance and see/How wonderful your life can be/You've got so much time, you ain't got time fa nothing/I got so much time, tell me where did it go...

During a time when The O'Jays and Teddy Pendergrass were still clearly Philly International's bread-and-butter superstars, The Futures still managed to make an unheralded, but memorable piece of work for themselves as well as us lovers of classic Philly soul.  OTHER NOTABLES: "Come to Me (When Your Love Is Down)" and "(You're the One) Someone Special".

AGAINST THE GRAIN PICK OF THE MONTH: CORINNE BAILEY RAE, The Heart Speaks in Whispers (Deluxe Version) (Virgin EMI, 2016).  Confession Time, Part 1: until this month, I've never been interested in listening to Corinne Bailey Rae.  I don't know why because I actually like her voice and the songs that I do know by her, but in the ten years of her career, I've just never jumped at the opportunity to dig into her catalog.  With that said, her third studio album, The Heart Speaks in Whispers, makes the perfect candidate for my "Against the Grain Pick of the Month".  Although there are certain songs that stick with me more than others, they're all quality and make it tough to single out favorites.  Musically putting me in the mind of a classic Isley Brothers song driven by acoustic guitars, "Do You Ever Think of Me?" instantly spoke to me:

Somewhere in this crowded world/Somewhere we can be alone/We'd set the world on fire/Time burns down like birthday candles/Don't you want to go, my love?/We can make it all alright/Why does it have to end?

Another immediate impact song was "Push on for the Dawn" as it stole my attention; in fact, my first reaction was a general one: "Man, this is a really good album."  With the backdrop of more beautiful acoustics, Bailey Rae's soothing voice reels off sentiments about living the fullest life:

Midnight when the lake is black/The moon and stars are reflected back/Into the night sky/So is my life, Lord/Reflected back to you/The life that was never mine/A move on the water/A whisper into the night/Everyday is our adventure/Keep pushing on/For everyday I want to thank you/You're pushing me on/'Cause you bring me joy... 

Even with "Push on for the Dawn" garnering the aforementioned reaction, the totality of "Green Aphrodisiac" is enough for repeat status of just this song alone, let alone the entire album.  Melodically driven more by the sparkle of the Rhodes this time around, Bailey Rae taps into her inner Erykah Badu meets Minnie Riperton:

Just when I thought it was not to be/Holiest of mysteries; it's all green/And everything that I have planted has grown/And all it needed was time, earth, water, and the sunlight/Down to the middle/Lost in your wonderland/Green aphrodisiac/Kiss me, your lips taste of honey/Songbirds and bees start-a-humming'/Come to my wonderland/Green aphrodisiac/The same thing that grows in the garden/Flows in me and you...

If The Heart Speaks in Whispers has taught me nothing else, then I've learned this valuable lesson as a self-proclaimed music lover: if you're not clamoring to hear someone's music, check it out anyway because you just might be pleasantly surprised as well as bitterly disappointed in yourself for not getting hip much sooner.  OTHER NOTABLES: "Hey, I Won't Break Your Heart" and "Been to the Moon".

PERSONAL PICK OF THE MONTH: NINA SIMONE, Nina Simone Sings the Blues (RCA Victor, 1967).  Confession Time, Part 2: although I have heard Nina Simone's music plenty of times and know about her story and background, I have never sat down and listened to an entire album of hers.  Ever since her passing in 2003, Simone has somehow entered my consciousness on a regular-enough basis--most notably, my buddy and "partner-in-rhyme" cleverly sampled her.  Since I wrote a lengthy diatribe about Hollywood colorism playing a part in Zoe Saldana portraying Simone in a biopic that unexpectedly became the most popular post in New Problem Tuesdays history by a landslide, I figured that I owed it to her memory as well as to myself to choose one of her works and I went with Sings the Blues.  Although Ella Johnson first popularized it in 1945 and it was recorded at least 17 times before Simone touched it, her rendition of "Since I Fell for You" is convincing enough that she could've been the originator as she had the perfect voice to sing, "You made me leave my happy home/You took me leave my happy home/Since I fell for you."  On the co-written original with Abbey Lincoln, "Blues for Mama", Simone's candor rings in the ear like one's name on someone else's tongue:

They say you love to fuss and fight/And bring a good man down/And don't know how to treat him/When he takes you on the town/They say you ain't behind him/And just don't understand/And think that you're a woman/But acting like a man...

As I always say though, an album is often only as indelible as its beginning and ending and "Do I Move You?" most certainly fits the bill as it sets the tone for the entire album.  With a down-home sway ideal for the juke joint, Simone keeps her inquisition sweet and simple: "Do I move you?  Are you willing'?/Do I groove you?  Tell the truth now/Do I move you?  Are you loose now?/The answer better be (yeah, yeah)/That pleases me."  So how exactly do you say "no" to that mack attack?  It's like trying to say "no" to Nina Simone Sings the Blues as a connoisseur of fine music: fat chance.  Give in, enjoy and be moved; you have no other reasonable alternative.  OTHER NOTABLES:  "My Man's Gone Now" and "Buck".