Today is, February 28th, which means it’s the last official day of Black History Month. Although Black history should be celebrated every day, I always love dedicating an entire month specifically to, Black excellence. We are truly magical people, and I always look forward to learning about my history, as well as, educating others on Black history. Read More
"Strange Fruit" – Nina Simone
There isn’t much to say except, it’s February a.k.a Black History Month, and Nina Simone is always the answer. You can feel the chilling anger and hurt in her voice as she sings her own rendition of “Strange Fruit”. She had a voice that was unmatched.Read More
"War"- Nas feat. Raye
Yesterday, Donald, signed an executive order banning Muslims from specific countries from entering the United States of America. In case anyone is wondering, yesterday was, Holocaust Memorial Day too. I’m beyond livid. I’m livid at how many abundantly ignorant prejudice, and racist, people there are in this country. I’m livid that 60 million people allowed and supported this happening. Donald has been making these promises his entire campaign trail and it still never stopped people from putting him in the highest office of this country. Read More
"Glory"
Tomorrow, January 15th, is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday. He would’ve been 88 years old. Isn’t it crazy to think Dr. King could still be alive had his life not be STOLEN from us so soon?
A few years ago the movie Selma was released. This song “Glory” was the official released track on the soundtrack for the movie. To this day, this song gives me chills, and gives me a feeling I can’t really explain. Since visiting the National Museum of African American History and Culture back in October, this song holds so much more weight.
But I won’t get into too many emotional details on this post. I’ll save all of the emotions and words for my Dr. King tribute post on, Monday evening. Until then, enjoy this song. Listen to the words. Let it resonant with you and really hit you deep in your heart. Although the song was written for a March years ago, this song very much so is for today, and how far we still have to go.
Have a safe (long) weekend everyone!
Brie <3
[01.14.17]
Mr. Sandman
Today is Monday, October 24th, which means we’re exactly a week away from Halloween. With all of the Halloween festivities and parties going on throughout this week and upcoming weekend I can’t help but to get excited for some Halloween movie themed movie nights. Read More
Maxwell: 1990x
Happy Soulful Sunday folks! This summer Maxwell released his much anticipated blackSUMMERS’night album. Y’all know I absolute LOVE me some, Maxwell, right? This man has women ranging from ages 20-65 fangirl-ing over his music and smooth demeanor.Read More
“In A Sentimental Mood”
Happy Music Monday! This is one of my all time favorite instrumentals. I mean, how can you ever go wrong with the collaboration genius of, Duke Ellington and John Coltrane? There is something about the arrangement of this song that screams “cozy fall weather”in my mind. It’s probably becauseRead More
R.I.P. Prince Rogers Nelson
Today, I’m actually speechless. I’ve known since I found out this morning about Prince’s passing I was going to write a blog post, but about what? Who in the world doesn’t know how important he was to the music industry? Who doesn’t already know how he single handedly transformed music as we know it. Who doesn’t know how unbelievably talented he was? Who doesn’t know the musical GENIUS he was to so many generations? WHO DOESN’T ALREADY KNOW THESE THINGS?
Every comment thread I read today from Billboard to Fox News to CNN there was not one negative comment about Prince. All the comments consisted of were people meeting up in one place to mourn the loss of a legend, and tell personal stories of the first time they remember a Prince song changing their lives in some way shape or form. This in itself is a testament to how important Prince was to this world.
I watched Purple Rain this afternoon, I’ve been watching the Prince marathon on MTV since the movie ended, and I’ve been listening to my favorite Prince songs in between commercials of the video marathon and nothing will ever be enough. However, my daughter has been dancing her little heart out to Prince’s upbeat songs and it’s been putting the biggest smile on my face. She WILL grow up listening to and knowing the musical genius and importance of Prince Rogers Nelson.
My heart hasn’t hurt this badly for a celebrity/person I don’t personally know since Michael Jackson back in 2009. I’m still not over Michael’s death and here we are 7 years later mourning Prince. I was doing pretty okay not crying today until the actual performance of Purple Rain in the movie took place and the tears started flowing. Prince always talked about his belief in the Lord, he knew the Lord was real, and there’s no doubt in my mind he is putting on a great show for Him, tonight.
We lost a legend today and although we’ll never get over the passing of someone still so young, we can make peace with knowing he changed so many of our lives, and his music will live on forever.
R.I.P. Prince!
Brie <3
[04.21.16]
R.I.P. Doug Banks
It’s interesting how as we get older, and major life changes such as death occur, we’re reminded how influential many people have been in our lives. Some of these people we’ve never even met before, but we can remember certain points in our lives when their presence, however they presented themselves, changed our emotions and maybe even our lives.
I say this because reading the news about Doug Banks passing away this morning truly broke my heart. Growing up in the surrounding Chicago suburbs I remember listening to the Doug Banks Radio Show daily, on v103, in middle and high school. As if his voice and laugh weren’t memorable on their own, his sense of humor and ability to connect with his audience are what made him one of the legends of radio personalities. I remember going through the typical teenage drama back in the day and feeling like his jokes and music selections were specifically picked for me and my issues at the time. I’ve also always been raised listening to and appreciating old school music. His show allowed me to hear the best old school music on a daily basis without having to search and listen to it myself.
Since reading about his passing this morning, I’ve been reading the captions and comments on the photo memories of Doug Banks, and I’ve learned that he made A LOT of people feel like the friend they never met, but always knew what to do and say to make life better. A lot of people are already missing hearing him on their after work commute.
I will pray for Doug’s family and their healing throughout the process. Thanks for the great memories, quality personality and radio, and more importantly the laughs.
R.I.P. Doug Banks.
Brie <3
[04.11.16]
Happy Birthday, Billie!
Today, Billie Holiday a.k.a. Lady Day, would have been 101 years old. I have always liked Jazz music, but my love for Jazz music really bloomed about 5 years ago. Naturally, Billie became one of my favorite jazz singers, ever. There is something about her music where you can feel the passion and/or pain in her voice, but she makes it sound like the most beautiful sultry voiced passion and/or pain you have ever heard. I am only 27 years young so Lady Day was well before “my time” as the older folks like to say lol, but quality music knows no age. I wish I could say I got to see a legendary musician such as Billie perform live, but I thankfully have her collection of beautiful music to listen to until the end of time. I will share my favorite Billie Holiday song with you called, Good Morning Heartache, below. I’m sure I’ve probably shared this song before at some point in time of my blogging history, but you can never have too much Billie in your life, especially this song. 😉
Happy birthday, Lady Day! I hope you’re resting easy.
Brie <3
[04.07.16]