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Mark Anthony NealFeatures
The Demise of Vibe Magazine and the Future of CriticismWith diminishing places for thoughtful criticism, black cultural critics exist as little more than commentators on the Obama White House. Blackness has been reduced to a news cycle. [23 July 2009] Should Black Radio Die?The idea of black radio has long been dead as companies like Clear Channel and Emmis have mined the field for “authentic” black on-air talent, while having little to do with the communities they exist to serve. [19 May 2009] Carrying the Water: On Michael Eric DysonIt is Dyson’s ability to make himself and his work accessible to lay audiences -- ironically much like grassroots activists -- that makes him a target for those folk within the academy and elsewhere, who don’t believe that his work is rigorous enough. [23 July 2007] The Last Soul Brother: James Brown (1933-2006)The humanity of the man -- with its funky and messy flaws and frailties -- could never sustain the myth, so much so that the image of the man who gave Black Power its soundtrack became a harsh reminder of its fractured legacy. [2 January 2007] (White) Male Privilege, Black Respectability, and Black Women’s BodiesThe case of some white Duke University Lacrosse team members accused of raping a black woman is all about immorality; but sadly, not the immorality of the violent act alleged. [14 April 2006] Kanye WalksBy making public his struggles with living a devout life, Kanye West makes such a lifestyle so much more accessible and valuable to the very folk that need spirituality to get them through the day to day. West becomes the receptacle for the folk to think of a 'Jesus' that is truly of the people. [2 February 2006] Gritty Soul Men: Remembering Lou Rawls and Wilson PickettGrit was not just about the 'sound' of soul, but also the grittier social and political realities that soul music offered transcendence from. The recent deaths of Lou Rawls and Wilson Pickett mark the passing of two of the grittiest Soul Men to walk the earth. [27 January 2006] A Nigger Un-Reconstructed: The Legacy of Richard PryorWith each epithet and curse, Pryor shed light on the humanity of those folks who live a reality defined by the dirty, nasty business of race, gender, and poverty in the United States. [15 December 2005] R&B Conversations: Rahsaan Patterson’s Slow BurnThe soul singer's career momentum has built slowly since he lost the major labels' love, but out of the spotlight he's been able to remain true to the unique promise of his singularly emotive voice. [25 August 2005] Rhythm and Bullshit?: The Slow Decline of R&B, EpilogueIf the best new artists are shut out from urban radio, what's an R&B fan to do? Here, some suggestions of where to look for the genre's current torchbearers. [22 July 2005] Rhythm and Bullshit?: The Slow Decline of R&B, Part Three: Media Conglomeration, Label ConsolidationThroughout the late 1990s, the Clear Channeling of radio and record-label Universalizing left untold numbers of R&B acts undiscovered. [30 June 2005] Rhythm and Bullshit?: The Slow Decline of R&B, Part Two: New Jack Swing, Mary J. Blige and the CominIn the 1990s, hip-hop and R&B cross-pollinated to create the crossover sound of hip-hop soul and conquer urban radio. But was anybody keeping it real? [10 June 2005] Rhythm and Bullshit?: The Slow Decline of R&B, Part One: Rhythm & Business, Cultural Imperialism andDoes the soulless sound of contemporary R&B really have its roots in a controversial Harvard study from 1972, an alleged blueprint for the corporate theft of black culture's heritage? Or was it all Clive Davis's idea? The first of a three-part examination of how R&B became big business on the way to becoming irrelevant. [3 June 2005] Best of 2004: The Midwest Reborn, Shades of Gray, and a Chakalicious ClassicNoted cultural critic Mark Anthony Neal picks the best hip-hop and R&B of the year. Yeah, he's a Kanye guy. [10 December 2004] Talib Kweli’s Beautiful StruggleOn his way to commercial breakthrough, has Talib Kweli sacrificed his social conscience? Or has he simply grounded it in the more fundamental matters of family and the love of the flow? [12 November 2004] Live From Planet SoulDonny Hathaway and Laura Nyro were both products of an era when Soul music had a transformative power and These Songs for You, Live! and Spread Your Wings and Fly capture their singular talents in the context most befitting of their power as artists and spiritual beings. [25 August 2004] Diddy-cizedFor all the fluff and blunder and dare I say 'brilliance' of Sean Combs, it's easy to forget why the cat is the very essence of hip-hop branding. [18 May 2004] Black Roots Renaissance: Robert Randolph and the FamilyRobert Randolph is on the cutting edge of a Black Roots Renaissance, on the strength of his mastery of the pedal steel guitar, or the 'Sacred Steel' as the folks refer to it. Playing an instrument with a long history, Robert Randolph is taking black music back to its roots. [23 March 2004] Soul ChristmasSomehow the voices of Otis Redding, Joe Tex and Clarence Carter, never seemed to conjure the 'White Christmas' dreams I thought I should be having. My sense of Christmas and Christmas music forever changed when my mother bought me a copy of The Jackson Five's Christmas Album. [19 December 2003] Can You Remember?For weeks I have tried to ignore the current unfolding drama of yet another charge of child molestation against Michael Jackson, but it was after reading Farai Chideya's touching piece 'A Open Letter to Michael Jackson' that I remembered the song and began to ask, as Chideya did and so many others have privately, '' when a still not teen-age Michael Jackson was one of the most important figures of our lives. [12 December 2003] . . . And Bless the Mic for the Gods: Rakim AllahWhen Greg Tate published his groundbreaking essay 'Diary of a Bug' the first 'text' he took up was none other than Rakim Allah, the Poet Laureate of the Hip-Hop Nation. Indeed there's never been a hip-hop artist who deserved top-shelf scholarly love from the camp of the Blackademe Niggeratti more than Rakim. [19 November 2003] The Tortured Soul of Marvin Gaye and R. KellyR. Kelly is no Marvin Gaye, nor should he be. But R. Kelly is a Soul Man, who seemingly for lack of any other recourse, has chosen to share his demons with us through his music as so many tortured Soul Men of the past have. [3 November 2003] Afterbirth: Me’shell NdegeocelloConceived in the months after the September 11th attacks, Me'shell Ndegeocello's new release 'Comfort Woman' finds the artist reflecting on life, death and the everyday struggles of surviving a world seemingly coming apart at the seams. [7 October 2003] She Put a Spell on Us (for Nina Simone)She was the voice of a movement. Deep blues, even darker hues, from the Delta to Dakar. This woman, Black woman, was the voice of a people. [1 May 2003] Criminal (Critical) Accomplice: Writing About R. KellyWhat if Kelly had been Justin Timberlake or Eminem? Would the conversation fall back so easily into one where a white man mistreated and exploited (raped?) a young black girl because of his racist views of black women? [8 April 2003] Not My NeighborhoodI didn't live in Mister Rogers' neighborhood. In fact the South Bronx was far removed from the white-bred and sanitized world where Rogers existed. [3 March 2003] The Thrill is Gone: The 20th Anniversary of ThrillerSince the off-the-chart global success of Thriller 20 years ago, Michael Jackson has been on the unenviable quest to top himself and unfortunately his out-of-studio antics have done just that, obscuring a musical career of some distinction. [3 December 2002] Royalty? (for Jam Master Jay a.k.a. Jason Mizell)[W]ithin the context of hip-hop music and culture the killing of Jam Master Jay is comparable to someone walking up to Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin and shooting them in the head. It is cultural treason. [2 November 2002] Sunday Singing: The Black Gospel QuartetThe intricate four-part harmonies that were the bedrock of the black gospel quartet tradition, were honed over centuries in the work songs that enslaved blacks incorporated into their daily activities as exploited laborers. These harmonies have always had a 'public' visibility that connected them more to the secular world, though so many of the narratives were 'other-worldly', which would also include visions of emancipation and a return to the 'homeland'. [5 August 2002] Hip-Hop and Beyond: Hip-Hop Comes to BerkeleyThe Jay Zs and Ja Rules of the world would no longer be role models to black youth if we all had a more prominent role in their lives. [6 May 2002] Soul Enigma: Lewis Taylor Comes to AmericaFind out why you've been missing some of the best soul music of the era. [1 January 1995] ColumnsTupac’s Book ShelfPrice drew on his own training as a Gospel musician and ethnomusicologist to examine Tupac's spiritual development, suggesting that the late artist had surpassed the legacies of John Coltrane and Mahalia Jackson as spiritual figures within the tradition of black music. [1 May 2003] (more Critical Noire) Confessions of a ThugNiggaIntellectualI share a space with them each time I'm profiled in grocery stores, or chillin' with my homies Gramsci and Jay Z at Starbucks. [27 March 2003] (more Critical Noire) Still a Riot Goin’ On: Fela Kuti, Celebrity Gramscians, and the AIDs Crisis in AfricaFela's emergence fits the profile of what has come to be known as the Gramscian or organic intellectual. [26 February 2003] (more Critical Noire) White ChocolateIn the past, it has been all too easy to identify many of these white artists under the rubric of 'blue-eyed soul'. But I'd like to argue for a separate category known as 'white chocolate' -- that which 'looks' different but contains all the flavor and the texture of the original. [17 December 2002] (more Critical Noire) Still Love H.E.R.. . . I've come across more than a few hip-hop generation artists and intellectuals who are beginning to show strains of gray in their locks, twists, beards, and fades. [30 October 2002] (more Critical Noire) Cosby ReduxThe root of hip-hop generation displeasure with The Cosby Show was not simply that the show wasn't 'political', but rather the show did in fact serve the political function of diverting attention away from the harsh realities of Reagan-era social policies. [18 September 2002] (more Critical Noire) Three the Hard Way: Black Art Outside the FlowAin't nothin' wrong with cats payin' the bills with their art. But there's always a real cost associated with stayin' true to your art, when market demands suggest that there's more money available following trends. [19 June 2002] (more Critical Noire) Revolutionary Soul Singa: Meshell NdegeocelloCritical Noire -- Revolutionary Soul Singa: Meshell Ndegeocello -- Ndegeocello has never felt a need to defend or explain the supposed ambiguity that is so crucial to her music . . . an admittedly complex and creative articulation of what it means to be 'blackwomanbisexualbassplayersentientbeingGramscianintellectualandrevolutionarysoulsinger'. [15 May 2002] (more Critical Noire) Nuyorican NostalgiaAs the post-9/11 politics of New York City threatens to force the city’s “people” into small self-interested enclaves, the music of Masters at Work is an all too timely reminder of the common vision that the Nuyorican spirit has forged with some many of New York City’s inhabitants. [23 April 2002](more Critical Noire) Lifestyles of the Rich and Tenured?: The Black Public Intellectual Under Siege. . . (T)o raise questions about black faculty who are 'intimidated' by gatekeepers within black institutions is to risk access to and influence within those very institutions. No politically astute black mainstream politician is willing to do that. [1 March 2002] (more Critical Noire) Bellbottoms, Bluebelles and the Funky-Ass White Girl. . . the collaboration between Nyro and Labelle . . . placed the issue of gender and sexuality in the mix alongside traditional critical musings about race. [15 January 2002] (more Critical Noire) The E-Double and the Trouble Man: Marvin Gaye and Erick Sermon “Turn on Some Music”Music aficionados and classic soul listeners are also likely up in arms at 'Music', Eric Sermon's digitized duet with the late Marvin Gaye, who was murdered by his father on April 1, 1984. [30 August 2001] (more Critical Noire) Big Pimpin’ Bourgeois Style: the Demise of Tavis Smiley’s BET Tonight: Like the surreal Laura Esquivel novel that Rashid 'Lonnie' Lynn invokes in the title of his brilliant new release Like Water for Chocolate. [29 March 2001] (more Critical Noire) Like Water for Chocolate: Common’s Recipe for Progressive Hip-HopLike the surreal Laura Esquivel novel that Rashid 'Lonnie' Lynn invokes in the title of his brilliant new release Like Water for Chocolate. [5 May 2000] (more Critical Noire) McGruder’s Follies: Playa Hatin’ BET in PublicIn my last two columns, I have come dangerously close to setting a trend in which I consistently attack the 'hick' culture. Not wanting to make enemies among people I don't hate, this time I'm turning the microscope on a general suburban blight of conspicuous consumption: the SUV. [15 February 2000] (more Critical Noire) Reviews
Common: BeElectric Circus pushed the boundaries of hip-hop -- a psychedelic trip to hip-hop's great beyond -- Be just finds a world-wide Common back home standing on the corner. But you can't go home again and no matter how much he wishes, the Common of Can I Borrow a Dollar? is not the same Common of Be -- and thank God for that. [31 May 2005] 
John Legend: Get LiftedLegend has fashioned a rather nuanced and sophisticated debut -- a Nora Jones for the R&B faithful. [4 February 2005] 
Gerald Levert: Do I Speak for the WorldA bold (and blatantly commercial) attempt to bring purpose to R&B -- and to bring soul music back to the world. [10 January 2005] 
Queen Latifah: The Dana Owens AlbumThe album is a tribute to Queen Latifah's talents and her musical tastes, and a an example of what the so-called hip-hop generation can produce, when we allow them to grow up. [11 November 2004] 
Stand & Deliver: Political Activism, Leadership, and Hip-Hop Culture by Yvonne BynoeBynoe reminds readers throughout the book 'all of this is about more than hip-hop. Hip-hop is simply the metaphor for our lives.'" [10 August 2004] 
Gerald LeVert: Stroke of GeniusLeVert has simply put in the work, rarely taking creative or stylistic risks, and easily becoming, if not the greatest, at least the most consistent male R&B artist of his generation. [5 December 2003]
Kindred the Family Soul: Surrender to LoveCall these the simple dramas of everyday life -- the one's that get lived on the regular, but never seem to get represented in Viacom-land or plantation radio. [25 April 2003] 
Aretha Franklin: The Queen in Waiting: The Columbia Years (1960-1965)Arguably one of the most important recordings done by a black artists in the post-Civil Rights era, throughout Amazing Grace Franklin seamlessly weaves through traditional sacred recordings. [18 October 2002]
De La Soul: AOI: BionixWith AOI: Bionix, the stakes are still high, except now De La are more concerned with safety and sustenance and their own mortality, or rather the things that mark the beginning of the transition into middle age. [4 December 2001]
Jill Scott: Experience: Jill Scott 826+Jill Scott steps up with some 'grown woman' music that is sure to further solidify her position as one of the most accomplished purveyors of what Sista Stone calls 'Real Soul Music'. [19 November 2001] 
Gerald Levert: Gerald’s WorldGerald Levert is arguably the most consistent R&B vocalist of this generation. [17 September 2001]
Macy Gray: The IdWhat Gray possesses is a distinct voice and even more distinct personality that has given her the kind of visibility that she could have never imagined-the gawky brown girl with the squeaky voice has perhaps “queered” our perceptions of “The Diva”. 
Gerald Levert: GGerald Levert is never gonna take the risks that say a D'Angelo or a Maxwell have and his music is never going to be mistaken for that of The O'Jay's and Gamble and Huff. [7 March 2000] 
I May Not Get There With You: The True Martin Luther King, Jr.Dyson illuminates the complexities of King’s identity and challenges the boundaries in which King and his legacy have been forced to inhabit because of desires on the part of the King family, traditional Civil Rights leaders, and the mass media to neuter (pun, absolutely intended) his persona and his politics. [1 January 1995] |
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