Have you ever had a hankering for food and watching TV or going on social media only intensified your cravings?!?! Because I worked on Labor Day, I missed my last opportunity for a summer cookout--not like I was invited to any cookouts, but still--and had a taste for some BBQ ribs. Of course, what was one of the first pictures I see on Facebook from somebody's cookout? That's right: a delicious looking slab of BBQ ribs sprawled across the grill--and the brother looked like he knew what he was doing. Add insult to injury, I DVR'd both General Hospital and Atlanta, watched them two days later and what did both episodes feature?? What else...ribs. In fact, they didn't even show the ribs on GH; all they had to do was mention ribs and I was ready to head to Port Charles. Sadly, it took me nearly three weeks to satisfy the basic craving and nearly a month to get a super-tasty half rack of baby back ribs. (MORE RANDOMNESS: as I typed that, I thought of Fat Bastard from Austin Powers in Goldmember singing, "I want my baby back, baby back, baby back, baby back, baby back...ribs." You did, too. Admit it.) As long as I don't have to see anybody post pictures of sushi anytime soon, then I'll manage with that craving for another week before I have to buckle down for a Volcano Roll. Now that I've made your mouth water--which is becoming the new theme over D.C. Metro and PBS Kids--let's get to the madness...
In the past week since posting Part 1 of "For Black People Who Think Voting Is Pointless", I have witnessed exactly how important this upcoming election is to a lot of people. Not only was the first part one of the most popular posts in New Problem Tuesdays history, but more important, the post garnered the most amount of meaningful engagement and discussion--much of it making cases for either Democratic candidate Hillary Trump or Republican candidate Donald Trump. However, perhaps the post-debate sentiments of San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick summarize how many Americans feel, especially within the Black community and among "millennials": "...to me it was embarrassing to watch that these are our two candidates. Both are proven liars and it almost seems like they're trying to debate who less racist. At this point, in talking to one of my friends, you have to pick the lesser of two evils, but the end is still evil." Although Kaep plans on voting regardless, I have witnessed an even bigger surge of Black folks over the past week who are strongly considering not voting in November because of the paltry choices for Commander-in-Chief or their ardent supporters shoving their agendas aggressively down the throats of the undecided. In the second and final part, I will outline the latter three reasons which note how simply having the power to choose fuels the importance of the Black vote in the most significant election in American history...
When I heard news of the passing of legendary music producer, songwriter, musician and artist Kashif Saleem (born Michael Jones) at the age of 56, I was heartbroken and could only think was, "Another person connected to my youth has died??? Seriously...2016 is the worst year of all time." It wasn't long ago when TV One profiled him on their critically-acclaimed Unsung series and took us R&B lovers down memory lane from his beginnings with B.T. Express to his unmatched production and songwriting resume to his solo recording career. So when I was figuring out what my favorite songs of his were, the top three choices were pretty easy. However, I felt some kind of way leaving out such great songs like the majority of his eponymous debut, "Are You the Woman" (featuring background vocals by two of my favorite artists in Whitney Houston and Lillo Thomas), his remake of Mother's Finest's "Love Changes" with Meli'sa Morgan, "Love the One I'm With (A Lot of Love)" with Melba Moore and arguably the biggest snub in "Love Come Down" by Evelyn "Champagne" King. Nevertheless, y'all know how my anything-but-typical countdowns work, so let's celebrate some of Kashif's best work New Problem Tuesdays style...
Although I'm not someone who vehemently resists change, my subconscious somehow didn't get that memo. Out of the ten songs from last month's countdown, five of them have returned for this month's list in their original form while another one has haunted me in an alternative form. Out of those six songs, the beginning of this month's cycle began with a three-horse race between Ralph Tresvant, Silk and Sherrick for pole position, but if Simone Manuel's historic accomplishment taught us nothing, the initial leaders or favorites don't always win in the end. (I know...hella dramatic.) Of course, we always have to talk about the losers. Mariah Carey's "Vision of Love" greeted me ferociously one morning as I reminisced about the summer of 1990, but she didn't make it past noon. Even with Jermaine Jackson's "Two Ships" hitting me at two different points of the month, perhaps the waves from the passing ships didn't make enough of a splash in my mind. "The Love I Lost" by Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes harassed me at work for a day or two, but my brain may have lost love for it. Finally, discussing Babyface's brilliance on the Waiting to Exhale soundtrack immediately brought Mary J. Blige's "Not Gon' Cry" to mind. However, her awkward rendition of Bruce Springsteen's "American Skin (41 Shots)" to Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in a promo for her upcoming series on Apple TV, The 411, may have quickly unseated one of my faves from the Queen of Hip Hop Soul from the rotation. So enough of the rambling about nonentities and on with the cut makers...
