Music Gripes: Celebrating the Life of Michael Jackson, On the Anniversary of His Death

On this date one year ago, the world was rocked by the news of the passing of the “King of Pop”. In my post, Death of A Legend, I expressed the shock that I felt when I first heard the news of Michael Jackson’s death. I still feel some of that shock today that this truly international, larger-than-life superstar is no longer around to grace us with one more hit. But when we look at what he’s already given us, it doesn’t seem so sad. I, like all his other fans, will be remembering the life of Michael Jackson through his music and through the tributes that will be held in his memory throughout the weekend. I will be popping in the CD when I get home but you can check out your favorite songs on the Michael Jackson Channel on YouTube. Happy remembrance!

Music Gripes: Introducing Michael Franti & Spearhead

Why haven’t I heard about Micheal Franti & Spearhead until about a week ago? As repetitive as I think Pandora radio is sometimes, they occasionally surprise me and introduce me to artists that I hadn’t heard about before. Such was the case when I first heard Micheal Franti’s Say Hey (I Love You) for the first time. When the tunes first started straining through my earpiece, I remember unlocking my phone so that I could see the info and commit the artist name and song title to memory for future listening. I was instantly captivated and as soon as I could, I took to YouTube in hopes of finding more by this “new artist”. There, I was rewarded in the form of another great song, Nobody Right Nobody Wrong and still I want to hear more. But why haven’t I heard about him before now? He’s fresh, interesting, soulful and more, basically everything that translates into good music. And, he’s been making those soulful tunes for about twenty years! From the way that Micheal explains it in a Billboard interview, he and his band adopted a grassroot approach where they took to the streets and brought their music directly to the people. And slowly but surely, the word is spreading one person at a time. I, for one, am happy that it’s finally reached me (consider this post as my effort to pass it on) and for the first time in a long time, I am contemplating buying CDs again.

Interesting Lyrics: Lyfe Jennings' "Statistics"

I was going to let this song speak for itself but I feel that it is appropriate to share a brief exchange that I had about it:

G: I'm tired of men giving advice to women. Basically they are saying, we will take advantage of you if you let us. How about men use some discretion and don't take advantage?

Me: Interesting idea. However, we are responsible for our own actions. We cannot dictate what anyone else does. As nice as it would be for men to actually be nice guys who do the right thing, we have to do our part to not have the bad things done to us, even if we do mess up from time to time.

"N" Word What?

This little guy is schooling grown folks on why the "n" word should be eliminated from our vocabulary. Love it!