Mark Anthony Neal's Blog, page 663

#UnderTheSoulCovers--“Curious”: Midnight Star + LSG + Rakim

#UnderTheSoulCovers--“Curious”: Midnight Star + LSG + Rakimby Mark Anthony Neal | @NewBlackMan | NewBlackMan (in Exile)
Cards on the table; Midnight Star’s “Curious” (Planetary Invasion, 1984) is one of those songs that’s still in the regular rotation. Can’t even think about the transition from teenagee to  young adult without thinking about “Curious” being bumped on  NYC airwaves courtesy of Kiss-FM or WBLS.  I imagine that the late Gerald Levert,  Johnny Gill (both born the year after me) and Keith Sweat, who was born in 1961, all had a similar connections to this obscure 1980s R&B classic, when they chose to record “Curious” for their LSG debut in 1997, joined by LL Cool J, Busta Rhymes and MC Lyte.   
If a brotha got a bit of NYC bias about a song that was initially recorded by a band that was formed at Kentucky State University, it’s because of the version recorded between the Midnight Star original and the LSG cover. As soon as Rakim opens his mouth with that oh, so, New York flow: “I seen her in the subway on my way to Brooklyn |  Hello good looking is this seat tooken | On the A train picking at her brain | I couldn't get her number I couldn't get her name” and I’m back on the  subway trying to run similar game, and at least in one of those instances it was successful; met my wife on the D train 33 years ago.



 

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Promo: The History of Hip-Hop 6.0 with 9th Wonder + Mark Anthony Neal

In advance of the Duke University course The History of Hip-Hop 6.0 (Spring 2016), the sixth iteration of the the pedagogical collaboration between Grammy Award Winning Producer 9th Wonder (Patrick Douthit) and Duke University Professor Mark Anthony Neal, the duo discuss what brought them to Hip-Hop and what students might expect throughout the semester.

The course is offered through the Department of African + African American Studies at Duke University.

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Anger in Baltimore as Mistrial Declared in Freddie Gray Case

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With Black-Ish Kenya Barris Creates An 'Absolutely Black' Family for Prime Time

"We're kind of taught to give your kids more than you had. But in giving them more, what do they lose?" asks Kenya Barris the creator of Black-ish. -- +NPR