BET can actually get some accolades from me on their awards show for bringing out some of the finest singers in music to offset the rest of their mess. I wish they would have shown some international acts & their new award category to globalize their audience a bit & not have it always be more of the same monotony -as they had the same performers performing several times that night.  Hello BET- Black Entertainment is bigger than just a few artists from a few States- let’s broaden our scope & horizon just a bit so we can try to catch up to the rest of the world. The legends of Black & really world music came out , showed out & left the message for our young people to step up their game & as lifetime acheivement honoree Prince said “I was pretty wild in my younger days & you don’t have to do what I do. You don’t have to make any of the mistakes that I made. The future is in your hands“. I wished Prince would have graced us with a performance & possibly had a Wendy, Lisa, Sheila E, Morris Day & The Time tribute, but I was happy to see BET showcase something new to their audience with Esperanza Spaulding & Janelle Monae- who were handpicked by Prince along with Alicia Keys & Pattie Labelle to pay tribute to him. I must say the one thing that BET always does right is taking us to church with the gospel, hence the longest running show on BET being Bobby Jones Gospel. Kim Burrell is just beyond amazing to me & Fred Hammond, Marvin Sapp, and Yolanda Adams brought their Sunday Best.

Pattie Labelle, Deniece Williams & OMG- El Debarge were simply amazing in reminding us that June is Black Music Month! Nia Long & Larenz Tate bringing us back to our “Love Jones”  was magically delicious because hearing “Brotha to the Night” was more than alright! I must say I was less impressed with the slew of new rappers who were heralded & could only shake my head while saying in my Jay Z voice “a million Kanyes”, which seems to be what we have to look forward to from rhyme style, production and even fashion, but just like there is only one Beyonce there is only one Kanye -so hopefully all the imitations will be weeded out soon after Kanye comes back to take his throne which he failed to do at the awards show-C’mon son-what was that? As for Mr. “I invented sex” Trey Songz, super #fail on having the audacity to do “Purple Rain” in front of the man who really invented sex, while knowing that Pattie Labelle was going to come on after you to do the same song- You get a million plus Prince side eyes for plain old being disrespectful to your elders-Please stay in your lane youngin’-SMH!

Diddy -really? You are becoming exhausting with the constant self promotion-if you are really the best then you wouldn’t have to keep reminding folks to notice you-Damn! Do you think you can ever replace Total, Biggie & Lil Kim with Dirty Money, Rick Ross & Nicki Minaj- get real! We all know you are the king of the remix, but you can’t remix talent -what next a new Mary J. Blige, Faith, Craig Mack etc.- let’s just say your new era midas touch is only working for the new era of auto-tuners who don’t really know any better. I love me some sexy chocolate Tyrese, but would have preferred to hear Jaheim to do the Teddy Pendergrass tribute because his soul no doubt can be heard thru Jaheim’s voice.  Eminem to me continues to show that he will forever be a staple in the rap game no matter how many imitations come along & also should wake rappers up that if you don’t want history to be re-written years from now where hip-hop is said to be invented by White rappers like Eminem, like Rock N Roll & Elvis Presley-then you better step up your games & not let Eminem show that he’s the best lyricist in the building because he’s not Afraid- Drops mike & walks away! The only dirty south rapper I can really stomach for the long term is T.I. since Outkast seems to not want to come back to the foolishness of today’s hip-hop. I was glad to see T.I. back as a man who accepts & apologizes for his mistakes, can laugh at himself & is on a comeback to be better than ever in doing his best to utilize his gifts & opportunities in every aspect of his life, from family to business & just plain old being a better human being who can fall down , pick himself back up & keep it moving in style. I love his clean grown man style that is not bedazzled, pants hanging down so low to expose his underwear to the world and just being able to be a rapper who has some class about him that debunks the usual stereotypes. I am surely rooting for him!

BET gave us what many say was Chris Brown’s comeback moment when he finally was able to get out from the dark cloud of forever being labeled an abuser to do what he does best, in hopes of truly turning his life around, repentance, seeking & getting forgiveness and changing his ways by making that change, as he ended his Michael Jackson tribute with those very words in an emotional break down of tears. His Michael Jackson tribute was fantastic & the tears at the end although questioned by many whether or not they were genuine or a very well thought out & brilliantly executed publicity stunt, made many hearts bleed for a young man who who deserves another chance just as we have given many other artists who have done the same wrong & still get our celebration (James Brown, R. Kelly, Miles Davis & the list goes on). In an era where all we seem to talk about is the breakdown of the Black family, the lack of Black women getting married and cheating spouses -BET chooses to honor a 4 months pregnant Alicia Keys whose “Baby Daddy” & soon to be husband just barely had the ink dried off from his divorce papers a month ago, leaving yet another Black woman to be a single mother who was cheated on to add to the statistics- I’m just saying-things that make u go hmmm!  The hypocrisy in our community continues to cause the type of confusion that repeats the deafening cycle of statistics because at this point who is really listening or caring when we pick & choose who we want to praise with a clearly biased moral compass. Many still refuse to forgive Chris Brown, but lest no man who has never done any wrong  & sought forgiveness place judgement & be the judge & jury of another man. We all need to look at the (wo)man in the mirror. At least Chris Brown has admitted he did something wrong & apologized for it, has pro “Superwoman” Alicia?

Diddy YAWN!

Yes-That’s alright baby that’s alright-LOL!

All Hail His Purple Badness! Still a Sexy Mother F@Ker

One can only imagine the celebration in heaven today as Miles gets on his horn & Michael comes in the his sweet soulful vocals & electrifying dance moves! ♥ ♥ ♥ this. To see MJ & Miles performing this is purely a witness that only Heaven can create! Rest in Power Michael Jackson-4ever the Global King of POP!

Heed Michael’s words
[1st Verse]
When The World Is On Your Shoulder
Gotta Straighten Up Your Act And Boogie Down
If You Can’t Hang With The Feeling
Then There Ain’t No Room For You This Part Of Town
‘Cause We’re The Party People Night And Day
Livin’ Crazy That’s The Only Way

[Chorus]
So Tonight Gotta Leave That Nine To Five Upon The Shelf
And Just Enjoy Yourself
Groove, Let The Madness In The Music Get To You
Life Ain’t So Bad At All
If You Live It Off The Wall
Life Ain’t So Bad At All (Live Life Off The Wall)
Live Your Life Off The Wall (Live It Off The Wall)

[2nd Verse]
You Can Shout Out All You Want To
‘Cause There Ain’t No Sin In Folks All Getting Loud
If You Take The Chance And Do It
Then There Ain’t No One Who’s Gonna Put You Down
‘Cause We’re The Party People Night And Day
Livin’ Crazy That’s The Only Way

[Chorus]
So Tonight Gotta Leave That Nine To Five Upon The Shelf
And Just Enjoy Yourself
C’mon And Groove, And Let The Madness In The Music Get To You
Life Ain’t So Bad At All
If You Live It Off The Wall
Life Ain’t So Bad At All (Live Life Off The Wall)
Live Your Life Off The Wall (Live It Off The Wall)

[Bridge]
Do What You Want To Do
There Ain’t No Rules It’s Up To You (Ain’t No Rules It’s All Up To You)
It’s Time To Come Alive
And Party On Right Through The Night (All Right)

[3rd Verse]
Gotta Hide Your Inhibitions
Gotta Let That Fool Loose Deep Inside Your Soul
Want To See An Exhibition
Better Do It Now Before You Get To Old
‘Cause We’re The Party People Night And Day
Livin’ Crazy That’s The Only Way

[Chorus]
So Tonight Gotta Leave That Nine To Five Upon The Shelf
And Just Enjoy Yourself
C’mon And Groove (Yeah) Let The Madness In The Music Get To You
Life Ain’t So Bad At All If You Live It Off The Wall
Life Ain’t So Bad At All (Live Life Off The Wall)
Live Your Life Off The Wall (Live It Off The Wall)

[Chorus]
So Tonight Gotta Leave That Nine To Five Upon The Shelf
And Just Enjoy Yourself
C’mon And Groove (Yeah) Let The Madness In The Music Get To You
Life Ain’t So Bad At All If You Live It Off The Wall
Life Ain’t So Bad At All (Live Life Off The Wall)
Live Your Life Off The Wall (Live It Off The Wall)

♥ ♥ ♥ this more than words can say. I will admit that I ♥ this version more than the Bill Withers version. Something about the super sweetness in MJ’s voice soothes the soul in indescribable ways. Thank U MJ – When the body has left the soul will forever remain eternal!

Africa is not a country it’s a continent-Wake up Journalist-MJ is king in all of Africa but he was bestowed the official honor of kingship in Ghana not AFRICA-we must tell our stories & histories correctly & factually if we want to be called journalists-SMH!

Imagine what it would have been like to have Michael Jackson’s musical Presence at the 2010 World Cup on African Soil for the first time! MJ healed the world in unity & ♥ like no other! FOREVER THE PEOPLE’S KING!

This is the Global Fusion playlist’s pick for the official World Cup Battle song for all of the African nations, players & fans representing on the continent for the first time on the world stage. Big Up Yourself because they don’t know how hot it is here. This is Africa (T.I.A)

I hope you got your passports, and vaccine shots. I take rappers on a field trip any day..They never been opposite real clip anyway..I know where all the looters and the shooters stay ..Welcome to the city we call Doomsday…When niggaz is just fried chicken like Tuesday..Oh you from the hood huh, who say? My Nigerian niggaz would call you Pussy..My Somali niggaz are quick to grab the uzi..Around here we only bumping Fela Kuti..Tupac, or Bob Marley, Lucky Dube…So we don’t really give a fuck about your groupies..This Is Africa, Hooray.…

Lord have mercy there are no words to describe Al Green’s hauntingly intoxicating seductive soothing voice & lyrics on this song except to say it’s SIMPLY BEAUTIFUL! Al Green has an intrinsic knack of making music that takes you to church and the bedroom all at the same time. The type of passionate love that brings many to shout out the Good Lord’s name in the type of pure ecstasy & loss of control that one finds when the holy ghost enters one’s body & takes over. Don’t really know if that’s considered sacrilege or not, but Al Green is not only one of the best soul, blues & R&B singers in the world but also an ordained Reverend, so he’s well versed in bringing all types of congegations to praise! On that note we say Amen & Enjoy because this right here is simply Beautiful!

If I gave you my love,I tell you what I’d do..I’d expect a whole lotta love outta you..You gotta be good to me..I’m gonna be good to you..There’s a whole lotta things you and I could do..Hey hey..Simply beautiful…

photo credit

“Dear momma don’t cry, your baby boy’s doin good..Tell the homies I’m in heaven and they ain’t got hoods..Seen a show with Marvin Gaye last night, it had me shook..Drippin peppermint Schnapps, with Jackie Wilson, and Sam Cooke..Then some lady named Billie Holiday..Sang sittin there kickin it with Malcolm, ’til the day came..Little LaTasha sho’ grown..Tell the lady in the liquorstore that she’s forgiven, so come home..Maybe in time you’ll understand only God can save us..When Miles Davis cuttin lose with the band..Just think of all the people that you knew in the past..that passed on, they in heaven, found peace at last Picture a place that they exist, together..There has to be a place better than this, in heaven..So right before I sleep, dear God, what I’m askin..Remember this face, save me a place, in thug’s mansion..”

“You know it’s funny when it rains it pours..They got money for wars, but can’t feed the poor..Say there ain’t no hope for the youth and the truth is..it ain’t no hope for tha future..And then they wonder why we crazy..Keep ya head up, oooo child things are gonna get easier..ooooo child things are gonna get brighter..”

“What y’all want?..Unconditional Love (no doubt)..Talking bout the stuff that don’t wear off..It don’t fade..It’ll last for all these crazy days.. These crazy nights..Whether you wrong or you right..I’m a still love you..Still feel you..Still there for you..No matter what (hehe).. You will always be in my heart With unconditional love..In this game the lesson’s in your eyes to see.. Though things change, the future’s still inside of me..We must remember that tomorrow comes after the dark..So you will always be in my heart, with unconditional love..”

Who exactly is Aubrey Drake Graham AKA Drake? No Seriously, I really want to know who he is because honestly I don’t know much about this guy & even his die-hard fans can’t seem to tell me much about him either other than just telling me how great they think he is & how he is changing the so called “hip-hop game” because he is so different. What I can’t get over because I know it’s about to reach epic proportions is the strange Messiah type of pedestal that so many people are putting Drake on. I mean the guy is good in comparison to what is out there right now in mainstream hip-hop, but is he really the new era savior of hip-hop that so many are making him out to be? Is he really your favorite rapper’s favorite rapper? I mean give me a break, Lil’ Wayne is in jail & Kanye West is just M.I.A on the music tip,so maybe this too shall pass very soon when they both decide to get back in the game, but the fanaticism for Drake right now is a bit outrageous. I actually can’t wait for Kanye to come back and let this newbie fall back a couple of notches because I really feel like he has “swagga jacked” Kanye  with less overall talent & even one upped him on the whole school drop out thing by dropping out of high school instead of college, but I still don’t see what the hype is all about.

There seems to be an extreme amount of hate & love directed at Drake, which I don’t understand either because I don’t think most of us really know much about Drake to love him or hate him that deeply, which is why I am basically just indifferent. This guy basically came out of nowhere, got with Lil Wayne’s Young Money crew & became hip-hop’s new darling thanks to Kanye’s public mental breakdown & consequent public ousting that made room for the new era of so called post-racial Obama inspired globalization where a Black Jewish Canadian actor can come off of a TV show that has gone into re-runs & be crowned the messiah of hip-hop’s new era!

The overhate & overpraise of Drake says alot about the acceptance of mediocrity in today’s hip-hop that has one side not wanting change & sticking to the formula & the other side so thirsty for change just accepting anything as change. So many have said that Drake represents the sensitive side of hip-hop that many have been longing for, but what is sensitivity without true substance in the emotion? All this “sensitive boo” type low riding skinny jean wearing new era type of hip-hop seems a little misguided for me & I suggest you all save your children now while you can, especially your young men because the world is getting tougher daily with some real serious issues & all this super emotional verbal spooning for the sake of cool with little substance really should not be what we are pushing as the future of hip-hop.

I actually really like the fist single off of “Thank Me Later” entitled “Find Your Love”, produced by Kanye West, which very much sounds like it was supposed to be on a Kanye album because when I first heard it I thought it was Kanye. Drake has decided to take the Kanye formula of putting out a so called hip-hop album where he does more singing than rapping & somehow hip-hop’s weed induced short term memory has embraced it as something so fresh, new & out the box. I have a feeling that Drake is just warming up the mainstream hip-hop throne until Kanye & Lil Wayne come back, but I hope the hip-hop world at large takes notice of the overall mainstream acceptance of mediocrity & embraces the type of global future hip-hop that has great lyrics, excellent production & a whole lot of substance in what artists have to say & share with the global hip-hop world. Blitz the Ambassador, M.anifest, Nneka, Talib Kweli & Hi-Tek & Nas & Damian” Junior Gong” Marley all have albums out right now that represent what I see as global future hip-hop. Get out of the mainstream box & explore something new because there is really some great music & great hip-hop all over the world that needs to be heard because Drake is far from Hip-Hop’s Savior & Future!

Our young people seem to be so lost these days with a world in turmoil that will have them facing great challenges in their future & to think Drake is going to be their leader with his album “Thank Me Later” as the soundtrack for their generation is a little scary, but that’s just me. As Jay Z said “he’s alright but he’s not real”. I really don’t see the hype over Drake, so I will reserve my right to thank him later as he gets a little more seasoned & gives me a real reason to believe the hype over his brand of hip-pop because right now I am just not buying it-figuratively & literally.

WOW-REALLY!

Welcome to The New Sensitive Era of HIp-Hop-Starring Drizzy -Drake-SMH

This is Africa..It’s Time for Africa! We are all hyped up & ready to cheer our teams on to victory for the World Cup. Shakira shows that the world is globally fused & connect thru the blood, spirit & rhythm of Africa. The game of football goes back to its roots this year in Africa as Shakira celebrates the occasion in her remake of a 1986 hit song, originally sung by a makossa group from Cameroon called Golden Sounds. This is an African classic song that is recognizable to most Africans as much as Sweet Mother by Prince Niko of Nigeria. This song serves as a battle cry for soldiers, scouts, sportsman and anyone readying for battle or to rally for a cause or celebration!
“It’s Time For Africa..We are all Africa”

“Tsa mina mina eh eh..Waka waka eh eh..Tsa mina mina zangalewa. Ana wam ah ah..Zambo eh eh..Zambo eh eh..Tsa mina mina..zangalewa..Wana wa ah ah”

Shakira remake

June is Black Music Month. What better song & group than love’s holiday by earth wind & fire to represent the goodness, passion and love in global Black music with a little Brazilian Rhyme for the over the top sweetness of soul. Enjoy!

“Would you mind.. If I touch, if I kiss, if I held you tight in the morning light. Would you mind.. If I said how I felt tenderly tonight. Again cause..I never ever felt this way in my heart before.. love has found a way in my heart tonight. Would you mind.. If I looked into your eyes till I’m hypnotized..and I lose my pride..Would you mind.. If I make love to you till I’m satisfied..Once again cause..I never ever felt this way in my heart before..Love has found a way in my heart tonight.. Once again.. Cause I never ever felt this way..In my heart before..Love has found a way in my heart tonight…”

We all need to stop, look & listen when great artists like Morgan Heritage speak truth to power with conscious lyrics that we should all heed to in order to truly reflect on what goes on in our world, so we can be proactive & not just strictly reactive. All my Global Fusionist in Jamaica -Stop, Look & Listen & Find your Peace – Is a human right! RESPECT!

“Tell me how come here in Jamacia so many people still a fight Rasta..Tell me how come down east west dem a neva charge Beenie Man but dem charge sizzla..Tell me how come people a support da street not enough to love the Prime Minister..Tell me how come those in power dont seem to care..Its cause life is so unfairin this sweet Paradise..and this is what we swear out a many one people..tell me can you see that any where everyone treated equal and this is why so many die leaving so many to cry…”