JOVM celebrates George Clinton’s 80th birthday.
Category: R&B
New Video: Maria Isabel Releases a Sultry Banger
Maria Isabel is a rapidly rising New York-born and-based Dominican-American singer/songwriter and R&B artist. The New York-born and-based artist quickly exploded into the national scene with the release of last year’s EP Stuck in The Sky, which revealed an artist who while being influenced by Alicia Keys, Mariah Carey, Selena and Shakira could writer material that thematically touched upon mental health, her family history, her Dominican heritage and her romantic relationships with an unvarnished honesty and vulnerability — in both Spanish and English.
busy year: She released the “Buy Your Own Flowers”/”Love song” single earlier this year, which led to her performing in a COLORS session last month — and to her signing to Warner Records. Maria Isabel’s major level debut “No So Para Ti,” features a reggaeton inspired take on R&B centered around skittering tweeter and woofer rattling trap beats and glistening synth arpeggios. The song’s production serves as a silky and lush bed for the rising Dominican-American artist’s sultry vocals singing lyrics in Spanish.
While being a summery, club banger, the song is a bold feminist anthem with a wisdom and self-assuredness beyond her relative youth: The song’s narrator comes to the powerful conclusion that that loving and appreciating herself is much more important — and a much stronger love — than what she might find with most people.
Directed by Alfred Marroquin, the recently released video is a a sort of feverish yet intimate behind-the-scenes peak of the young artist’s life that sees her returning to her home and bedroom, talking to and hanging out with her girlfriends and coming to the realization that she doesn’t have to give a fuck about anything that doesn’t serve her in the way she needs.
Throwback: Happy 50th Birthday, Missy Elliott!
JOVM celebrates Missy Elliott’s 50th birthday.
New Audio: Edmofo’s Club Banging Remix of Emma Peters’ “Fous”
usic scene through her YouTube channel, which initially featured attention-grabbing covers of Lartiste’s “Clandestina” and Lomepal’s “Trop Beau” — with her cover of “Trop Beau” receiving over 40 million streams on Spotify. As a solo artist, Peters quickly established herself a songwriter, who writes heartfelt and lived-in material, based from her own life experiences and with an unvarnished honesty with the release of her debut EP Fous, etc.
don’t be a pleaser and most importantly, don’t lose yourself. Be you at all costs. Interestingly, EP title track “Fous” features the rising French artist’s coquettish yet self-assured vocals over a lush production featuring shimmering Flamenco-styled acoustic guitar paired with skittering, tweeter and woofer beats.
Recently, Edmofo gave “Fous” the remix treatment. While retaining the original’s looping Flamenco-styled acoustic guitar and Peters’ coquettish yet self-assured vocals, Edmofo adds harder-hitting, beats, bursts of twinkling keys, turning an earnest R&B/pop ballad into an urgent, club friendly banger.
Throwback: Happy 63rd Birthday, Prince!
JOVM celebrates what would have been Prince’s 63rd birthday.
Throwback: Happy 70th Birthday Luther Vandross!
JOVM belatedly celebrates Luther Vandross’ 70th birthday.
Throwback: Happy 52nd Birthday, Mariah Carey!
The first two weeks of Spring and of the astrological sign Aries is rather auspicious for music — Aretha Frarnkin, Diana Ross, Elton John, Damon Albarn, Lee “Scratch” Perry are all among an incredibly talented and legendary array of artists who were born between March 21-March, 31. Of course, we can’t forget Mariah Carey, who turns 52 today.
Carey is the voice of a ridiculous amount of smash hit songs — many which I know deep in your soul you love, and will happily sing along to in the shower or while doing karaoke. Personally, I’ve always adored her cover of The Jackson 5’s “I’ll be There.” So, to that end, Happy birthday, Mariah. May there be many, many more!
Throwback: Black History Month: Patti LaBelle
Today is February 21, 2021. It’s the 21at day of Black History Month. And as I’ve mentioned throughout this series, I’ve been featuring Black artists across a wide and eclectic array of genres and styles — with the hopes that it’ll be a bit of a primer on the Black experience and on Black music.
Of course, I hope that these posts will serve as a reminder of these very important facts:
Black culture is American culture — and Black music is American music.
America’s greatest and beloved contributions to the world are Black music styles — the blues, jazz, rock ‘n’ roll and hip-hop.
Black art matters.
Black lives matter — all of them, all of the time.
Patti LaBelle is one of the greatest vocalists to ever live. That’s pretty much the post. You’re welcome.
Throwback: Black History Month: Whitney Houston
Today is February 19, 2021. It’s the 19th day of Black History Month. And as I’ve mentioned throughout this series, I’ve been featuring Black artists across a wide and eclectic array of genres and styles — with the hopes that it’ll be a bit of a primer on the Black experience and on Black music.
Of course, I hope that these posts will serve as a reminder of these very important facts:
Black culture is American culture — and Black music is American music.
America’s greatest and beloved contributions to the world are Black music styles — the blues, jazz, rock ‘n’ roll and hip-hop.
Black art matters.
Black lives matter — all of them, all of the time.
It’s not necessary for me to delve into much background for this post — because it’s Whitney Houston. But I’ll say this: Whitney had one of the greatest voices in pop music, ever. It’s a shame that she’s not here with us right now. But that voice will live on forever.
Throwback: Black History Month: Teddy Pendergrass
Time does what it usually does: it flies by faster than what you’d expect or even want.Today is February 14. It’s Valentine’s Day and the 14th day of Black History Month. Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been proudly featuring Black artists across a wide and eclectic array of genres and styles with the hopes that these artists can guide you towards further understanding of the Black experience.
As the month goes on, I hope that you’ll be reminded of these urgently important facts:
Black culture is American culture — and Black music is American music.
America’s greatest and beloved contributions to the world are Black music styles — the blues, jazz, rock ‘n’ roll and hip-hop.
Black art matters.
Black lives matter — all of them, all of the time.
So because it’s Valentine’s Day, I felt it was necessary to feature yet another patron saint of love, the legendary Teddy Pendergrass, one of the kings of Quiet Storm R&B.
Throwback: Black History Month: Al Green
Time does what it usually does: it flies by faster than what you’d expect or even want.Today is February 14. It’s Valentine’s Day and the 14th day of Black History Month. Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been proudly featuring Black artists across a wide and eclectic array of genres and styles with the hopes that these artists can guide you towards further understanding of the Black experience.
As the month goes on, I hope that you’ll be reminded of these urgently important facts:
Black culture is American culture — and Black music is American music.
America’s greatest and beloved contributions to the world are Black music styles — the blues, jazz, rock ‘n’ roll and hip-hop.
Black art matters.
Black lives matter — all of them, all of the time.
So because it’s Valentine’s Day, I felt it was necessary to feature one of music’s patron saints of love and of heartache, the Rev. Al Green.
If you haven’t seen it before, check out the footage of Al Green on Soul Train in 1974. It’s one of the most transcendent and uplifting TV performances I’ve ever seen.
Throwback: Black History Month: James Brown
Amazingly, the month has managed to fly by: Today is February 13, the 13th day of Black History Month. Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been proudly featuring Black artists across a wide and eclectic array of genres and styles with the hopes that these artists can guide you towards further understanding of the Black experience.
As the month goes on, I hope that you’ll be reminded of these urgently important facts:
Black culture is American culture — and Black music is American music.
America’s greatest and beloved contributions to the world are Black music styles — the blues, jazz, rock ‘n’ roll and hip-hop.
Black art matters.
Black lives matter — all of them, all of the time.
James Brown is without a doubt, one of the most important and influential artists of the past century. Rock, soul, R&B, dance music, pop, funk and hip-hop all are indebted to the legendary godfather of soul, the soul brother #1. Sadly, I never got a chance to see Brown live — but if you saw him in the height of his powers, Brown was a transcendent performer.
Seriously, can you think of anything more righteous than James Brown playing “Say It Loud (I’m Black and I’m Proud)” in Kinshasa? Probably not.
Throwback: Black History Month: Stevie Wonder
The month is flying by: Today is February 11, the 11th day of Black History Month. And if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past month, I’ve been proudly featuring Black artists across a wide and eclectic array of genres and styles that I think can guide you towards further understanding of the Black experience. Of course, I hope that throughout this month you’ll remember — and appreciate the following:
Black culture is American culture — and Black music is American music.
America’s greatest and beloved contributions to the world are Black music styles — the blues, jazz, rock ‘n’ roll and hip-hop.
Black art matters.
Black lives matter — all of them, all of the time.
Simply put, Stevie Wonder is a genius and a treasure. We should appreciate him, love him and protect him for the rest of his days. This post is centered around live footage — and the live footage from the 70s is transcendent. Seriously.
Throwback: Black History Month: Aretha Franklin
February 10 is the tenth day Black History Month. And if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past month, I’ve been proudly featuring Black artists across a wide and eclectic array of genres and styles that I think can guide you towards further understanding of the Black experience. Of course, I hope that throughout this month you’ll remember — and appreciate the following:
Black culture is American culture — and Black music is American music.
America’s greatest and beloved contributions to the world are Black music styles — the blues, jazz, rock ‘n’ roll and hip-hop.
Black art matters.
Black lives matter — all of them, all of the time.
Tonight I thought it would be best to write about Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul. You can Google any pertinent biographical information but I have a story about ‘retha that I’ve mentioned on several occasions: I landed in Amsterdam Schiphol Airport early in the morning one mid-January Sunday. After going through customs and retrieving my suitcase — a suitcase that I had gratefully borrowed from a girlfriend — I took the commuter train into Amsterdam Centraal Station to discover that I had a couple of hours before anything was open.
A smiling, blonde waitress waved me in a few minutes before they were about to open. They had an oldies radio station on the air, playing familiar and beloved hits from a variety of decades. Within about two hours of being in Amsterdam, I was reminded of how ubiquitous Black music and culture are, and how important the Queen of Soul is when this radio station started playing ‘retha — and the waitress happily sung along in slightly accented English. Now, whenever I hear ‘retha, I think of that Dutch waitress singing along.
Throwback: Black History Month: The Supremes/R.I.P. Mary Wilson
Today is the ninth day of Black History Month. And if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past few days of this month, you’d see that I’ve been featuring Black artists across a wide and eclectic array of genres and styles that I think can guide you towards understanding the Black experience.
Through the month — and throughout the year, I hope that you’ll come to understand and appreciate the following:
Black culture is American culture
Black music is American music.
Black history is American history.
America’s greatest and beloved contributions to the world are Black music styles — the blues, jazz, rock ‘n’ roll and hip-hop.
Black art matters.
You can’t love black art and black artists without loving black people.
Black lives matter — all of them, all of the time.
I was awakened to see an alert from CNN that read “Mary Wilson, co-founder of The Supremes dead at 76.” I knew then that a tribute post to Wilson — and the legendary Supremes would be necessary.
The Supremes were one of the best selling, most popular acts of their day. They were also among a handful of Black acts that saw widespread mainstream success: They were not only Ed Sullivan Show mainstays, they were on practically every single variety show and entertainment show in the country — and they knocked off The Beatles from the top spot of the charts, eventually dominating the charts with hit after hit after hit after hit.