(ThyBlackMan.com) Aretha Franklin did not simply sing soul music. She carried it like a woman walking into church with a Bible in one hand and somebody’s broken heart in the other. Her voice had thunder in it, but also kitchen table truth, front porch memory, mother wit, and that deep ...
(ThyBlackMan.com) June is Black Music Month, and for anybody who loves R&B the old way, that means more than playlists and quick social media posts. It means remembering where the sound came from, who carried it, and why certain records still feel alive after the needle leaves the vinyl. Earth, ...
(ThyBlackMan.com) Jay Z is one of those artists you cannot discuss in a small way. Not if you really understand hip hop. His name brings up albums, arguments, business, Brooklyn pride, grown man ambition, public mistakes, private discipline, and a catalog that still makes people stop mid conversation when the ...
(ThyBlackMan.com) There’s something about James Cleveland’s voice that feels like home. Maybe it’s the way he blends sermon with song, or maybe it’s the unshakable honesty in every word he sings. For me—and for so many others—his music isn’t just gospel; it’s therapy, it’s church, it’s family, it’s healing. This ...
(ThyBlackMan.com) I have heard this debate in barbershops, at cookouts, around card tables, and in those long talks where somebody swears they are not arguing while clearly arguing. Put Michael Jackson and James Brown in the same sentence and you are going to wake up somebody’s opinion. One person will ...
(ThyBlackMan.com) The new Michael film has done more than sell tickets. It has opened up a fresh conversation between generations. Older folks who remember the moonwalk when it first shook living rooms are now sitting beside young people who only knew clips, memes, and short videos. That kind of passing ...
(ThyBlackMan.com) Peabo Bryson was one of those singers you did not have to explain too much to a certain generation. Just say his name around folks who came up on real R&B, and somebody in the room is going to nod before you even finish the sentence. That is how ...
(ThyBlackMan.com) How is it that the “Saxophone Colossus” Sonny Rollins lived to 95? Aren’t jazz musicians supposed to die at tragically early ages? Actually, that’s a myth that Rollins and others proved flawed. It’s true that Bix Beiderbecke, king of the cornet, was gone at 28, Charlie Parker at 34, ...
(ThyBlackMan.com) Sometimes a joke can tell you more about America than a serious speech ever could, and this whole Kevin Hart roast situation got a lot of Black folks sitting back wondering where comedy really ends once Black pain enters the room. Yeah, roasts are supposed to get disrespectful. Everybody ...
(ThyBlackMan.com) When the news broke that Sonny Rollins passed away at 95, it honestly felt like a piece of American music history slipped away quietly in the middle of the night. Some artists become famous. Some become respected. Then there are rare souls who reach a point where their name ...
(ThyBlackMan.com) When news broke that Rob Base had passed away after a private cancer battle, a whole era of Hip Hop memories came rushing back. Before social media. Before streaming numbers. Before rap became so polished and corporate. Back then, records had to move people physically. A DJ dropped the ...
(ThyBlackMan.com) The music world lost a real Southern soul giant with the passing of Clarence Carter at 90 years old. For many Black households, his records were part of everyday life. You heard Clarence Carter playing from somebody’s porch radio, inside an uncle’s old car, at cookouts, blues clubs, or ...