(ThyBlackMan.com) I hate R&B, for the most part. Of course, it sounds harsh and as a music lover and writer, discovering music old and new is always an interesting and joyous experience that can never be expendable. With well over 3000 songs on my iPad of all genres, I’ve became ...

(ThyBlackMan.com) The only way to change the radio format is to change ourselves. One day at a time. It is a far gone conclusion, that the radio format today is particularly garbage from top to bottom. For hip hop, guns, sex and drugs govern the airwaves. For R&B it’s more ...

(ThyBlackMan.com) Rap Mogul Jay-Z is one of the most respected hip-hop artists in the world.  His lyrical brilliance is second-to-none, and he does things on the mic that most of us could never dream of. But one interesting thing about money, power and fame is that it can make you ...

(ThyBlackMan.com) It seems the media is desperate for Janet Jackson to quit the industry. Despite Janet and her team admitting on various occasions that a new album is in the pipeline, the media just refuses to acknowledge it. Instead they repeat the same mantra: Janet has quit the industry, gone ...

(ThyBlackMan.com) The people have spoken, and the Carters have answered.  Shortly after the stinging public criticism of her husband’s diss verse against Harry Belafonte, there’s been an uptick in the activism category on the busy schedules of Beyonce and Jay-Z.  This week, as the world expressed its rage about the ...

(ThyBlackMan.com) Was on a talented writers blog one evening, he goes by the name of Derrick Jaxn (and his namesake is the title of the blog, too.) I soon, ran across an interesting piece he wrote a while back titled “Hailed then Nailed.” In short, he elaborated on how the ...

(ThyBlackMan.com) I’m not sure of the status of the relationship between the rapper Ice Cube and his fellow icon, Oprah Winfrey.  The last I heard, the two didn’t exactly see eye-to-eye.  But then again, Oprah has built a bridge with a fellow gangsta rapper, 50 Cent, showing me that she ...

(ThyBlackMan.com)  In my first 19 years of living, I had never, ever heard an Ahmad Jamal record. I once read he was a fantastic pianist and a stronger jazz composer, but that was just about as close to me being knowledgeable about him as a subject. I one day decided ...

(ThyBlackMan.com) Kanye West’s new album “Yeezus” comes out today (June 18). Because it was leaked awhile back, many people have already heard the new music and offered up their reviews. I’ve read everything from narcissistic and wildly experimental to “it’s pure genius” and bringing “real” hip hop music back. I ...

(ThyBlackMan.com) 2 Chainz continues to prove rap is entertainment. I was chatting with my boss the other week concerning a certain stigma hip hop has been trying to rid itself of, since the emergence of gangsta rap. That stigma I speak of, is of course, the “influence” the lyrics it ...

(ThyBlackMan.com) Hip-Hop music is an art form all unto itself.  Its unique rhythmic beat and craftily-packaged rhymes can be very catchy, entertaining and stimulating. Because listeners are often caught up by the beat and impressed with the artist’s literary creativity, and, perhaps are just happy to see one of their ...

(ThyBlackMan.com) In midst of all the hoopla surrounding the new songs rapper/producer Kanye West have debuted this month, some of those who’ve heard the new music (titled New Slaves and Black Skinhead respectively) such as critics, bloggers and mainstream writers have taken the time to point out the hypocrisy involving ...