Scribbler's Rave & Favorite Five: R&B Bands, #4 Ohio Players

When I think of a band that epitomizes funk, you'd be hard pressed to sell me on many other bands than the Ohio Players.  Probably like most people from the tail end of the Generation X spectrum, my first introduction to the Dayton, Ohio band was "Fire" and, even as a young boy, I realized quickly that the song lived up to its namesake.  However, like everyone else in my "Rave & Favorite Five", I began digging deeper into their catalog, hearing more of their songs and falling more in love with their sound with each new discovery.  Not to mention that as a teenager with a growing penchant for crate digging as well as an eye for anything and everything aesthetically pleasing (or what can also be seen as "raging hormones"), I was convinced that no one was touching their album covers...well, at least "touching" in the sense of being as dope.  Ultimately, although they jammed on their most popular uptempo songs like "Skin Tight" and "Rollercoaster", I gravitated more towards their ballads as you will see in the revelation of my top five favorite songs by the Ohio Players.  Let's roll...

In Heavy Rotation: Black History Month 2016

Since a lot of my Black History Month celebration has been spent tackling some heavy, but necessary subjects, I decided to end this special month on a lighter note: music.  Now as you all might know, it's very easy for me to wax nostalgic about my favorite artists in R&B/soul and hip-hop/rap.  However, what will be commonplace in the "Heavy Rotation" series is that I'll always seek to give my musical palate more of a challenging taste test.  The best way to break down the four albums that I decided to give a spin for Black History Month is to begin each one with an "Honest Moment" to either highlight the ease or the difficulty in giving each album a fair shot.  With that, let's give it a go...