by Sekou | Nov 27, 2020 | Features
The Weeknd and Mac Miller were ROBBED!! Two of the best albums to come out this year and not a SINGLE Grammy nomination!!! That is some BS!!!! With that our of the way, let’s talk the Grammys.
The Grammys are the Super Bowl for music awards shows. That is the reason so many people care so much about the Grammys. It’s just like the Super Bowl or a championship game. You think, “My team (favorite artist) finally got the trophy!” Now, we as Black people need to treat our own awards shows with such prestige, but that is a conversation for a different time.
Today I am going to discuss the Grammy predictions and what I hope wins! Quick points before we get started: I won’t be covering every category, and I haven’t heard all of the albums so I’m coming in with bias. Here are the categories that will be covered: Record, Song, Album, Rap Song, and Rap Album. One last thing: this probably won’t be the most fleshed out of my pieces due to the nature of it, it will most likely be “Prediction and Reason/What I Want and Reason”.
With the preamble out of the way, let’s get into predictions!
Record of the Year
- “Black Parade” – Beyonce
- “Colors” – Black Pumas
- “Rockstar” – DaBaby ft. Roddy Ricch
- “Say So” – Doja Cat
- “Everything I Wanted” – Billie Eilish
- “Don’t Start Now” – Dua Lipa
- “Circles” – Post Malone
- “Savage” – Meghan Thee Stallion ft. Beyonce
What I Want and Why: “Don’t Start Now” because Future Nostalgia was one of the best pop albums of the year and this song is exemplary of a huge pop record
What I Expect and Why: “Savage” or “Say So” because of how huge they were, leaning towards “Savage” because of the tumultuous year Meghan had.
Song of the Year
- “Black Parade” – Beyonce
- “The Box” – Roddy Ricch
- “Cardigan” – Taylor Swift
- “Circles” – Post Malone
- “Don’t Start Now” – Dua Lipa
- “Everything I Wanted” – Billie Eilish
- “I Can’t Breathe” – H.E.R.
- “If the World Was Ending” – JP Saxe ft.
What I Want and Why: “The Box” because Roddy Ricch made a certified BANGER, got it to #1 over Justin Bieber, and had a fantastic album to boot. The man deserves it!
What I Expect and Why: “Cardigan” because it is a good song and this seems to be Taylor’s year to sweep the Grammys.
Album of the Year
- Chilombo – Jhene Aiko
- Black Pumas (Deluxe Edition) – Black Pumas
- Everyday Life – Coldplay
- DJesse Vol. 3 – Jacob Collier
- Women in Music Pt. III – HAIM
- Future Nostalgia – Dua Lipa
- Hollywood’s Bleeding – Post Malone
- Folklore – Taylor Swift
What I Want and Why: Future Nostalgia because it is a perfect pop album with songs that match the title of the album. We will be listening to “Don’t Start Now” and “Levitating” for a long, long time.
What I Expect and Why: Folklore because Christ it is so damn good, and like I said earlier, Taylor is going to sweep this year like Billie last year.
Let’s get to some RAP!
Rap Song of the Year
- “The Box” – Roddy Ricch
- “The Bigger Picture” – Lil Baby
- “Laugh Now, Cry Later – Drake ft. Lil Durk
- “Rockstar” – DaBaby ft. Roddy Ricch
- “Savage” – Meghan Thee Stallion ft. Beyonce
What I Want and Why: “The Bigger Picture” because… come on now! A trap artist made one of the best songs about racial tension in America that we have ever heard and the man proved himself to be more than a “insert transitional artist here” type with a phenomenal album in My Turn (which also wasn’t nominated… we’re going to be pouring into the NAACP Image Awards, brothers and sisters!). For more information on why I think this should win, check out this right here: https://musiqtherapymag.com/song-review-lil-baby-the-bigger-picture/
What I Expect and Why: “Savage” if “Say So” wins Record, just off the strength of Meghan’s year; or “The Bigger Picture” because awards shows have been giving us (Black people) all the awards as some kind of apology, so it would make sense for them to give the award to the song that actually addresses the tension.
Rap Album of the Year
- Black Habits – D Smoke
- Alfredo – Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist
- A Written Testimony – Jay Electronica
- King’s Disease – Nas
- The Allegory – Royce Da 5’9
What I Want and Why: Alfredo because y’all have seen my review of it. It is a perfect album, one of the best albums of the entire year, and it would be fantastic to see Gangsta Gibbs win a Grammy.
What I Expect and Why: King’s Disease because they would be trying to rectify the fact that Nas has never gotten a Grammy.
Hope you all enjoyed this predictions list! Happy Black Friday and be safe!
MT Out!!
Photo; Creator: Don Emmert
Photo Creds: AFP/Getty Images
Full Nomination List here: https://www.grammy.com/grammys/news/2021-grammys-complete-nominees-list
by Sekou | Nov 3, 2020 | Features, Reviews
I don’t envy the struggle of musicians. Seriously, always on the road, having to contend with fans that will flip on you if you say the wrong thing, and having to worry about your label screwing you over. But do you know what one of the hardest things has to be? The aftermath of you making a damn near perfect and universally acclaimed album. An album that is regarded as one of the greatest of all time, something that generations listen to, and something that is pleasing to the ears of every critic. What the hell do you do after you do that?
Well, the King of Pop was certainly in that predicament after making Thriller. If you don’t know what Thriller is, stop reading, build a time machine, and go back to your childhood to slap your parents, because Thriller is one of the greatest albums of all time. Seriously, it is an exercise in pop music. However, it did leave two problems… 1. It was one of the best albums ever made, 2. It solidified him as the “white meat babyface” to borrow from wrestling terms. As mentioned before, it is hard to follow up a perfect album, but as for the second point?
This pigeonholed Mike, who people had basically seen grow up from the Jackson 5 days, and it basically made him that cookie-cutter pop icon. However, MJ wanted to show that he had edge to him. He wanted to show that he wasn’t soft. He wanted to show that he was… Bad.
Music
In this album, MJ wants to talk about how he is a bad boy, and you know he’s bad. Like, really, really bad. Bad to the BONE! If I sound like I’m being repetitive, this is basically the crux of the title track. The fact that he is not on any bubblegum stuff anymore, the fact that he’s bad. And to be honest… it does work at some points! With songs like “Just Good Friends” and “The Way You Make Me Feel”, he has a very PG-13 air to him through the album, but it’s a great progression. With that said, he does have some stumbles…
For example, while “Bad” is catchy, it is MAD repetitive, and after a while, the repetition goes from fun to annoying. “Dirty Diana” is MJ’s take on a sex-crazed groupie, and it is honestly one of the best and funniest things ever. Best because the song itself is good, but it is super funny because it comes off as MJ trying to be a player-type, which he just didn’t portray (that COMMME OWWWNNNN at the end of the song absolutely wrecks me, because it is so funny). And then there’s “Speed Demon”… This man… trying to prove how BAD he is… Made a song… About SPEEDING… Bruh.
Of course, there are the standard love songs in “Liberian Girl” and “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You”, which are pretty good, but my favorite song, and my favorite MJ song in general? “Smooth Criminal”. Y’all… This man wasn’t human. How do you craft a song that good, with a video that good, with a LEAN that FRESH????? There is no question about how fantastic that song is. Now, you might be thinking, “MT, you are missing some BIG songs…” Don’t worry, I’m just about to discuss them.
THERAPY
In this new section, we discuss the music that had a message, as well as the overall message and feeling of the album. With that stated, let’s address the songs that aren’t “Man In the Mirror.” “Another Part of Me” is a song that basically is saying that we are all connected, and “Leave Me Alone” is technically about a crazy stalker-girl but it can also be about how he wants the press to leave him alone. Now…
“Man In the Mirror” is one of MJ’s most famous songs. It is to the level of Thriller where you just need to know it. He talks about how he’s going to make a change and how change truly starts with yourself. Making the world a better place starts with you becoming a better person. Let’s keep it real: this song is a masterpiece, and I don’t know how to say that it’s perfect over 20 times.
Also, another therapy aspect is that MJ seemed like he wanted to show how “bad” he was. This is a big aspect because it shows how being viewed as only one type of person (basically being typecast) can damage the psyche and make you try to be something you’re not.
FINAL THOUGHTS AND RATING
Well, how was this album as a whole? I’ve picked apart what works and what doesn’t work, and have been pretty harsh on MJ for trying to prove that he was a bad boy. Does this mean I think that the album Bad is… well,bad? Not in the slightest! This album is honestly the best follow-up to Thriller. It tries something new in the concept of being the bad boy type, which can be really good when done right, but it still has some Thriller flavor (“The Way You Make Me Feel” sounds like it could’ve been on Thriller). The title track may be repetitive, it may sound like MJ thinks speeding is living life on the edge, and he may be coming off as disingenuous separating his “goody-two-shoes” image, but I’ll be damned if it doesn’t sound beautiful.
“Man In the Mirror”, “Just Good Friends”, “Bad” (yes, I said it was repetitive to a point, but it is still a great pop song), “Smooth Criminal”, and plenty others make this album amazing. With several songs that define pop music and a thematic element that has the ability to work to either make you love the music, or make you laugh at what the King of Pop thinks as “bad”, this is an amazing album that you need to hear.
4.5/5
MT Out!
Photo Creds: Epic Records, Graphic Artists: Troy Lane/Nancy Donald
by Sekou | Oct 22, 2020 | Features, Reviews
It is GOOD to be BACK!!!!! I’ve missed you all so much! I hope you’ve all been surviving the best you can, as this year is the year that keeps on hurting. It’s time to come back to the positive side of the Internet, with MT leading the charge, and- hold up, what’s that title say???? I wanted to come back with something that has positive subject matter, and y’all just… Damn, Damn, DAMN!!
*deep breath*… Ok… This is one of my favorite songs of all time, an easy 5/5, hell, it’s a 10/5. With that being said, this song is… an emotional rollercoaster. When I tell you that after every time I listen to it, I have to go on a whole dopamine intervention listening to every single feel-good song I have… This is all to say that this will get sad, but sometimes we need that in our lives. The next review should be much happier!
The Rapper
So let me tell you about Immortal Technique. Immortal Technique is a legendary underground rapper that is relatively well known by hip hop heads, and his main themes in his rapping are usually centered around revolutionary thinking, politics, and the dangers of gang violence in some cases (“Dance with the Devil” is the song that introduced me and plenty others to him, and all I have to say is… JESUS). With a man who focuses on these dense topics, you would seldom find him rapping about love… And you still don’t exactly. This song isn’t about love exactly, but I’m getting ahead of myself, let’s discuss “You Never Know” by Immortal Technique.
Verse 1
The song starts off with Technique talking about a girl that was on her way to becoming a college graduate, a Latina who Tech would think about wifing up QUICK. However, she was not so quick to reciprocate that feeling, with any guy. It didn’t matter if you were a thug or a rich-kid, she would always display her disinterest. What’s interesting about these lines is the fact that he’s using past tense. This, of course, denotes it being in the past, but it’s also how he says it in the song. He says it less reminiscent of old memories, and more like he’s disappointed, which in my opinion is beautiful foreshadowing. He then goes on to talk about how the women in this college grad girl’s life talk behind her back because of jealousy of her, and the first verse ends with Tech saying, “She had a style all her own, respectful and pure; I was sick in the head for her and there wasn’t a cure”.
We then get the chorus from Jean Grae, saying that time waits for no man, and that we should hold tight to our loves because we never know. I love how this is left open to our own interpretation. We never know could mean we never know when they’ll leave, it could mean we never know when they’ll die, it could mean that we never know when they’ll change as a person. Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but… That’s kinda what I do…
Verse 2
The next verse talks about how Tech starts talking to this girl, and he doesn’t come to her like he’s a thirsty dude trying to get in her draws, and she notices that, so they talk for a little bit. A little bit turns into a lotta bit, and they are giving each other gifts (Tech wrote her a poem with flowers, and she got him books every few weeks), they went to her cousin’s baby shower, he even stopped talking to other women! It was to the point where he was either with her or his boys. She would always call him Cariño, instead of Technique. So he decided to tell her his true feelings, and… she cried… Not the good, “I’m so happy” crying, the “oh no” crying… and she left.
Verse 3
He didn’t see her for years, and he ended up going to jail for a year. When he got out, everyone was happy to see him. However, he didn’t see her. His mother was crying to see him, but it wasn’t her. He was messing around with plenty of other women, but they weren’t her. It was eating him up inside, so he went to her parent’s apartment, where he saw her cousin slinging drugs to make ends meet. When he saw her mom, she hugged him and was happy, bur then he asked about her.
Verse 4
Her mother got upset but directed Tech to her room. There was a letter for him, and she said that by the time he read it, she would already be dead. She fell in love with him and felt terrible, because she knew that they could never be together. She said that when he left for jail, she left as well. (MAJOR SPOILER FOR THE SONG: YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED). She had passed in ’97 (I won’t tell you how, listen to the song for that), but she wishes that he was the one that she could’ve given herself to, as her final wish was that he never forgets about her. Tech says that this is why he doesn’t fall in love with people and tells us that we should hold people that we love close to us, not just the person that has sex with us.
Thoughts and Rating
GOOD GOD. Where do I start? Well, first, the production was phenomenal. I’m personally a sucker for an acoustic guitar in a rap song so that hit the sweet spot. The story itself was wonderfully told and so easy to follow, Immortal Technique is a masterful storyteller. The way the song ends is amazing too, as he says that there isn’t a sequel to this. Throughout the whole song, he also uses his voice in a way that foreshadows the unfortunate situation of what will be happening in the song.
Delivery, story, and A1 rapping. This song is one of the best rap songs you will ever here. Like I said, 10/5 stars. MT Out! It’s good to be back!
Photo Creds: Unknown, Immortal Technique Album Cover
by Sekou | Aug 3, 2020 | Black Innovators, Features
Let’s talk about how crucial irons are. Seriously, have you ever left your crib with wrinkled clothes? You are an easy target to get roasted! With an iron, you can save yourself from getting joaned on into oblivion. But do you know what comes in handy with an iron? You guessed it, an ironing board! Ironing boards truly make ironing easier, otherwise you be ironing on an uneven couch. And of course, this innovation was made by none other than a Black woman. Let me tell you about Sarah Boone.
Born Sarah Marshall in North Carolina in 1832, Sarah was unfortunately born into slavery. However, she did obtain her freedom. Some say that it was due to her husband James Boone, who was a free man. They married in 1847 and had 8 children together. Right before the Civil War, Boone and her family migrated to New Haven, Connecticut using a network tied to the Underground Railroad. When they settled into a Black neighborhood near Dixwell Avenue, it was here where Mrs. Boone had her first career.
Sarah Boone first worked as a dressmaker, while her husband worked as a bricklayer up until his death in the 1870s. However, Sarah Boone made enough money to own her own house. I don’t think y’all understand how amazing this is. Not only is this a woman in the 1800s, but a Black woman in the 1800s, owning her own house. Simply incredible. What is also incredible is that she took steps to learn to read and write. Back then, it was illegal for a Black person to read or write, so she took the initiative to learn in her late 40s. Sources say that it could have been through her membership at Dixie Congregational Church. After this, Boone went on to create her famous invention: the improved ironing board.
Boone was facing touch competition in the dressmaking game, and was trying to find a way for her dresses to be more eye-catching to customers. In the early 1890s, she experimented with the ironing board. See at this time, dressmakers were usually ironing their clothes on a wooden plank that was placed across two chairs. This worked for wide skirts, but for tight material, this didn’t work as well. Boone’s idea? To create a curved and narrow board that could slip into sleeves and allow for clothes to be moved without getting wrinkled. This was padded, which eliminated impressions that would come from a wooden board, as well as being made into a collapsible piece to store it better. In 1891, Boone applied for a patent for her improved ironing board, and was awarded U.S. Patent No. 473,653 a year later. Sarah Boone is one of the first Black women to earn a patent, absolutely incredible.
On October 29, 1904, Sarah Boone died from Bright’s disease. She was buried with her mother and husband in the Evergreen Cemetery in New Haven. The roughest part about being an inventor back in this time period is the fact that you don’t really get to benefit off of your products. There were a couple factors in this: one is the fact that there were only 12 years between the patent and her death, and two, she was a Black woman in the 1800s, which meant there was no respect or recognition. Today, I am here to rectify that. Sarah Boone, thank you for your contribution, your legacy will not be forgotten. MT Out!
Biography.com Editors. Sarah Boone Biography. 2 April 2014. 2 August 2020.
Photo Creds: YouTube
by Sekou | Jul 31, 2020 | Features, Reviews
“Tryna be the greatest, that shit been dead, I’m tryna be the happiest I can be instead.” This is one of the lyrics from Logic in the album that we are reviewing today. His final album, No Pressure. I typically don’t start out with lyrics of songs from albums I’m reviewing, but this one is very important as it sets the tone of the album. This album serves as a victory lap, and a cathartic affair for Logic. In the words of Thalia, “Welcome to the No Pressure project.”
So, let’s put some things in context: Logic first gained popularity in the early 2010s with his Young Sinatra series of mixtapes (Note: he had Young, Broke, and Infamous in 2009, but YS is how he gained popularity), and when I tell you that they were dope… Do yourself a favor and find them on Soundcloud. Then, he released his first studio album in 2014, the precursor to the album I’m reviewing, Under Pressure. And Under Pressure is unbelievably good! It has a connected concept, the production is great, and it contains Logic’s best song, “Gang Related”. The party don’t stop there, though, as he released something each year after that, but something happened in 2017. This is when he released Everybody. Everybody is probably his most commercial album, as it has the song, “1-800-273-8255”, the Suicide Hotline number. While this was a very noble song to have, the album itself… paled in comparison to his previous works. Why? Well, there was an insane amount of redundance (I know y’all have heard the Logic is biracial memes), the concept was pretty loose, and, most crucial, he wanted to please everybody.
I say this to say that No Pressure is not like that. Logic’s work has been inconsistent over the past couple years, but this is changes the game. The album opens, welcoming us to this project, and Logic talks about how when he was growing up, he was seen as lesser, how he knew he wanted to see his crew next up, like cotton material, and how people are super nosy, telling you to do what you should do when they don’t even know half of what you know. And then, we get into “Hit My Line”. He talks about how it’s going to be a good day, how people stay bitchin’ on Twitter, how politicians lie, and how #slacktivism is at an all-time high. Then… GP4.
I… MISSED… THIS! For those that don’t know, Logic has a series of songs, called “Growing Pains”. This is the 4th installment, and goodness gracious, does it go HARD! He samples, “Elevators (Me and You)” from OutKast, the beat and the chorus, where he talks about how we’ve been in a perfect harmony and have come a long way since the projects. He talks about how he rhymes fast because of his anxiety, has a story describing a night for him when he was younger in Maryland, talks about how he hit up Erykah Badu for the blessing to use a beat for this album (man I is) even though she doesn’t own the sample, and two of my favorite lines off this entire album. “Trigger-happy police tend to trigger happy people.” This is a great line that sums up what happens when we see countless faces that look like us lying lifeless on the news and social media. It doesn’t describe everything, but that line still holds power. The other line is that he keeps it G, kickin’ in the door like Track 4 from Biggie’s Life After Death, and he tells us to do our research and we’ll find the key. So I did my research, on Genius and I found this. Kick in the Door is in the Key of G Major. YOO!!!!!!!!
“Open Mic/Aquarius III” is dope as well, the first half being where the opening line of this review came from. The latter half is about how he used to only care about his career, but now he has something even better to care about: his son. “Soul Food II” talks about how we’re not going back, just moving forward and about how people don’t love your new stuff until it becomes your old stuff. The 2nd half expands on the story he was telling in one of his previous albums, The Incredible True Story. (My personal favorite Logic album)
Production- wise, this album is INSANE. Using a “Dreamflower” sample, using multiple OutKast samples, and having beats that truly match the songs. “Aquarius III”, for example, sounds reflective. Lyrically, Logic is mature on this album, for the most part. Plenty of these songs have this message, talking about how we need to live our lives for ourselves and not for others, how there’s a reason he’s in a mansion, and the dude hatin’ and following him just to criticize is in a cot (this doubles as mature and immature), and of course, his current life. This is where Logic is his best and happiest. On “DadBod”, Logic talks about his everyday life, which is filled with diapers, feeding, buying food, and deciding between which brand of trash bags he wants. This is fantastic, because it shows how he has matured. He even says himself that he’s not a kid anymore, and he’s not about to rap about the “good ole days”, like people getting together talking about their fun times back in high school or college. He’s about moving forward, not back. “Dark Place” probably takes the cake for finishing out top 5, as he talks about how he still deals with depression and anxiety. He deals with not feeling good enough, Black enough, and worried about saying too much at times. He talks about his Peace, Love, and Positivity motto, but confesses that he still searches his name on Google, and just sees posts about how he is trash. A big thing about this song is the fact that he acknowledges that it’s okay to be sad and end this song sad, a powerful statement. Positivity has never been about smiling through BS. It’s about feeling your feelings, acknowledging them, and knowing that tomorrow is coming. We end the album with “Obediently Yours”, a song that apparently was meant for Ultra 85. (Heard Em Say’s outro technically concludes the No Pressure program and welcomes us to Ultra 85, 2 songs) It is the audio of Orson Welles, talking about equality and how we’re all in this together. And how the privilege need to use their privilege to help the less fortunate.
With all this said about the album, there are unfortunately still some rough spots. Logic has been pinned as repetitive at times, and… that unfortunately doesn’t change in this album. A lot of songs discuss the “rags-to-riches” theme, and after the first couple songs of it, you end up getting annoyed by it as opposed to endeared by it. Then, we get into some of the less desirable songs, in my opinion. “Perfect” will probably get the most hate, but it is just okay. Not good or bad, just okay since it’s only function is a breather and brag rap song. It’s sandwiched between two great songs so it is just a breather. “A2Z” is a song that I can’t get into. The idea of it seems to be one of those alphabet cyphers, but that concept falls flat on its face and makes it rough to listen to. However, the biggest issues aren’t the songs, but the repetitiveness within them.
Overall, this is a 3.75/5. This album is really good. Logic knew that he had to bring it for his final album, having been heavily criticized for the quality of his albums in the past few years. He came with something that felt like a love letter to his old fans, as well as advice. He brought back every era of his, and was able to make it sound fresh and fun. While he definitely had his repetitive moments, Logic made a fantastic sequel to Under Pressure. Now, let me say this: Logic was one of my favorite rappers several years ago. I listened to his mixtapes, listened to Under Pressure, listened to The Incredible True Story, and so on. I was waiting for this Logic to come back. Not Logic talking about the same subject matter, but Logic showing how damn good he was on wax. I’m beyond happy that we got this for his final album. Logic, it has been dope to listen to you, and I hope you are able to live your life like the title of this album: with No Pressure. MT Out!
Overall: 3.75/5
Favorite song(s): GP4, Dark Place DadBod
Least Favorite: A2Z
Photo Creds: samspratt
