Payn's Ponderings Black History Month Music Edition

Sepulchrave II · Feb 4, 2022

Taste is all very subjective, of course. That said, if we're doing requests, I'd nominate:

O.V. Wright
Robert Johnson
Bill Withers
Nina Simone
John Lee Hooker
The Ohio Players
Cab Calloway
Muddy Waters
Parliament-Funkadelic
Ella Fitzgerald

and Stevie Wonder. And then some more Stevie Wonder.

Ryujin · Feb 4, 2022

This is on my Daily Drive play list, further cementing the weird mix that it is.

Probably the most recognizable of The Time's songs and my favourite of theirs.

payn · Feb 4, 2022

2/4 Kendrick Lamar
I really enjoy the 90's jazz influenced style rap and dont mind sample culture. Not so much gansta and especially not the autotune stuff. So hearing Kendrik Lamar was a breath of fresh air. This cat can lay it down, speaking of cats, he also had Thundercat playing bass on his album and thats just next level cool.

Mannahnin · Feb 4, 2022

I don't think Gary Clark Jr. has gotten a mention yet in this thread, and he's a pretty amazing current musician.

payn · Feb 4, 2022

Mannahnin said:
I don't think Gary Clark Jr. has gotten a mention yet in this thread, and he's a pretty amazing current musician.

Really great, deserves another mention. This one definitely feels Prince influenced.

dragoner · Feb 4, 2022

Like Ryujin, I have Billie Holiday on my player in the car. Others, such as Lead Belly, Otis Redding, and the Supremes; for sure Motown still is massive. More modern music is diverse, as one doesn't see a segregated music scene, though here is one song, shares the title with what is happening in my Solis setting:

Snarf Zagyg · Feb 4, 2022

Skunk Anansie. Frontwoman is Skin.

One of many amazing and mostly-forgotten hardcore bands (admittedly, this was 90s hardcore revival).

Dannyalcatraz · Feb 4, 2022

Skin, as I recall, is a Brit. Damn talented though!

Not only is she a powerful vocalist, I saw her judging on the Italian (?) version of one of those talent contest TV shows. There was a contestant in the process of being booted, but instead of simply letting him walk off stage, she stopped him and asked him to sing some more.

And after he did so, like a good vocal coach, she broke down WHY he was voted off and what he needed to do if he wanted to be a professional singer.* It was tough love, but he left with a blueprint for how to improve his singing.

* he absolutely couldn’t hold a note more than a couple seconds without using vibrato, and it negatively affected his ability to stay on pitch. That gave his singing a kind of seasickness-inducing quality.