Jesse Boykins III: Sophisticated Mood Music

Jesse Boykins III is a new jack with old soul.

In listening to Boykins's work, it's easy to marvel over what's in it: A natural voice--used with restraint--over laidback tracks, augmented with an increasingly rare device--a horn section. It's just as simple to take comfort in what is--for the most part--not there: Premature, unneeded vocal runs and the excessive hip-hop slang ubiquitous in the work of younger singers and the down home signifiers often found in songs recorded by their older counterparts. 

The artist providing this sound was born in Chicago, spent a few years in Jamaica and was raised in Miami. While growing up, he was exposed to artists as disparate as Jimmy Cliff, Jodeci, and Stevie Wonder. 

This upbringing created an artist who brings depth to genre conventions. On "Itis," he makes what could have been an extended, hackneyed analogy a smooth statement of infatuation. (“Girl, you give me the ‘itis, and I cannot hide it. They're so many flavors, I just wanna savor. ) Another attribute is frequently repeating the chorus several times (as on "Tabloids"), but instead of sounding as if he's run out of ideas, his sentiments get more sincere with each go around. Boykins, who earned raves for his 2008 LP "The Beauty Created," provides layered textures perfect for rendezvous or introspection, which led him to become the first unsigned artist to be nominated for a Soul Train Award. 

Jesse Boykins III has sparked a soul revolution, bringing tradition into the future.



Byron Lee, contributor

Lazy Day Movies

Back in the day, before I had 450 channels and hundreds of movies & TV shows to choose from On Demand; I was at the mercy of local TV programmers' movie choices on lazy days.

Oddly, even though there dozens of movies I want to see On Demand, I sometimes have a hard time choosing to watch "Weird Science." However, if I am flipping channels and I catch it on TV, it's on like popcorn.

Just today, my writing day turned into an eating, napping and old movies day. I just finished "Mystic Pizza" on OWN. Now, I'm watching "Philadelphia." Well, I was watching "Philadelphia." Nobody wants to be bummed out on a lazy day.

I decided to turn this day of slumber and relaxation into a blog post. It's not quite the two chapters of my book I intended to kick out today, but it's something.

Some of my favorite lazy day movies over the years:

"Straight Talk"
This movie is Dolly Parton at her best. It's super-cheesy, but I never turn away. Dolly plays a Dr. Phil-type radio host, who (gasp) isn't really a doctor. (Warning: The theme song will live in your brain for at least two days.)

"The First Wives Club"
I saw this flick in the theaters with my buddy Pat Shipp. I don't remember what scene it was, but at one point I threw my hands in the air laughing so hard that I knocked her in the face. The film does not make me laugh anymore, yet, I still watch it if I happen upon it on a Sunday afternoon.

"The Last Dragon"
Why this film? I'm black, male and grew up in the 80's. I actually saw this film twice in a crappy theater on Main Street in Orange, NJ. The air conditioning didn't work, so they had box fans in the aisles. Those were good times. Vanity actually stars in two of my favorite lazy day movies.

"Action Jackson"
Why? See my reasons for "The Last Dragon."


"The Vanishing"
I probably wouldn't even see this film if it were released now, but as something to watch on TV, it hits the spot. Kiefer Sutherland and Jeff Bridges are at their most mediocre, but it works for this film. I like films with people buried alive.

"Zapped"
I love this movie. How could you not love a film with Scott Baio and Willie Aames. This film has a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. I didn't see this in the movies. I used to rent any and everything from the local video store...again, on Main Street in Orange, NJ. This was a pre-BlockBuster type of store and the majority of movies in the shop were B-Movies. Back then it took three years before a film went to VHS, so you rented things you hadn't seen before. I haven't seen this on TV in a while and it was only good on cable. There was no point in watching this without the nudity.


Bette Midler
Yeah, I know she's a person, not a movie, but between her good films and the awful Touchstone flicks, she is what Saturdays on the couch are made for. Notable lazy day movies: Down and Out in Beverly Hills, Ruthless People, Beaches, Hocus Pocus, That Old Feeling.


The Color Purple
At this point, anyone with B.E.T. can recite the dialogue from beginning to end. It comes on once a month. I never really choose to watch this. I am usually too far from the remote and since it's familiar, it's like a good bedtime story. I'm usually sleep within twenty minutes.



"Strictly Business"
I thought Joseph C. Phillips was gonna be a star. I think Dennis Haysbert took his spot in the Hollywood universe. This was one of the first, in a long line of mediocre films starring black people, pimping youth culture and hip-hop. It's bad, but I watch it all of the time. My favorite part of this movie...the soundtrack. "You Call & Told Me" was my ish.



"Angel"
Does anyone remember else remember the "Angel" movies? High school, prostitute by night. By the time the bootleg VHS my uncle Dwight owned broke, it was running on television. I haven't seen it on TV is a minute though. That's probably appropriate.


"New Jersey Drive"
This film is horrible and every time I watch it I get annoyed; but sometimes there just isn't anything else on. It has become one of my lazy day favorites by default.

Vivica A. Fox
Like Bette Midler, she has a filmography that's tailor-made for Saturday afternoons. Unlike Bette Midler, she doesn't balance those films out with Oscar contenders. My faves: Motives, Two Can Play That Game, Booty Call, Set it Off, Getting Played, Juwanna Mann.


My all time lazy day, or late night favorite of all time (maybe) is...
Sprung
I can't explain why I love this movie. I've only seen it on TV. I can't remember it being in the theaters. Rusty Cundieff should be a star. Between Tisha, being, well...Tisha and Paula Jai Parker doing her signature chickenhead steez, this film is a late-nite classic. Every other movie ever made ends up in the DVD rack at the check-out stand at Marshalls for $4, but I have never come across Sprung. It really should be in my collection. That said, going back to my earlier point, I probably wouldn't pop in the DVD of any of these. It's much more fun to catch them by surprise.



I could go on, but I think it's time to see what's on TV. What are some of your favorites?

Phill Boogie

World's Oldest Beer

This sounds like something Johnny Depp would really, really want written into the next Pirates film: a two hundred-year-old beer, found in the deep blue sea. Apparently beer has been chilling for two centuries at the bottom of the Baltic Sea off the coast of Scandinavia. Here’s The Huffington Post’s summary of the brew:

Finnish scientists say they hope to re-brew an old ale after studying ancient beer found in a 19th century shipwreck at the bottom of the Baltic Sea.
Divers in July found five bottles of dark, foamy beer while salvaging champagne from the wreck near Finland’s Aland Islands. The shipwreck is believed to be from the early 19th century.
VTT spokeswoman Annika Wilhelmson said Tuesday that researchers want to find out what kind of yeast was used because “the role of yeast in beer brewing was not yet fully understood in the early 1800s.

It all sounds intriguing until the last paragraph. I don’t know what these Finns are planning, but I hope their yeast-related experiments don’t mean I won’t get a sample! Scientists, my empty glass is ready whenever you are.
Cheers!
 
Trev
Shake and Stir Blog

YahZarah: BlackStar Power

So much is in a name.

Dana Williams adored her grandmother so much that, after concluding a stint as a backup singer for Erykah Badu (Williams appeared on Badu’s “Mama’s Gun)”, Williams paid tribute to the dearly departed with a stage name meaning "Queen Mother is the brightest star."

Williams, born in D.C.,would be influenced during her youth by both the music she would hear in church and the sounds that would emanate from home. She studied music at both the Duke Ellington School of Music and North Carolina Central University before cutting her teeth with Badu.

YahZarah was born with the release of 2001’s “Hear Me,” with her sophomore release “Blackstar,” starting a buzz. Her supporting turn on the Foreign Exchange track “Sincere,” from the group’s 2005 debut “Connected,”--along with her sultry appearance in the song’s video--would get more heads open. 2008’s “The Prelude” would follow, but last year’s “The Ballad of Purple St. James”---thought by many to be her best yet---would find YahZarah with the full support of the FE crew.

Although “St. James” is considered by some to be part of a trilogy (with Foreign Exchange's “Leave It All Behind” and Nicolay’s “City Lights, Vol. 2” ), it has much to offer on its own, such as the uptempo, glam feel of “Why Dontcha Call Me No More” (complete with an infectious “Jem and the Holograms”-inspired video that undercuts the song’s scornful tone), the emphatic “The Lie,” the seductive,” Change Your Mind” and the breezy, resilient “Cry Over You.” (In addition to this achievement, YahZarah has performed with/opened for acts both legendary (Stevie Wonder, Anita Baker, Earth, Wind & Fire), and modern (Musiq Soulchild, Floetry, Rahsaan Paterson).)

Considering her growing fame, “YahZarah” may soon say it all.

Byron Lee, Contributor 

The Indie Dilemma: The Business of Being Black

Admittedly this could apply to any indie artist (musician, filmmaker, painter, sculpture, etc.), but I am a writer, so I come at this situation primarily from that standpoint.  Just the other day, I taught (for the umpteenth time) Charles Chesnutt's "Baxter's Procrustes," a story about the Bodlein Society, an organization that prides itself on the collection of rare books, only to find itself in a bit of a pickle regarding a book it decides to publish.  The story is widely regarded as one of Chesnutt's "color line" stories, as it was published in 1904 by an African-American writer, yet had no identifiable African American characters.  Chesnutt apparently wrote the story after being snubbed by an organization because of his race.  The fascinating thing, however, is that the story is good without needing to identify itself by the race of the writer.

Fast forward to 2011, and the publishing industry is very much aware of race when selecting and marketing books by new authors.  Who will buy this book--or more specifically, will enough Black women buy this book to make it worth our while, since most Black men don't read recreationally?  (This is the prevailing wisdom of the industry.)  Add to all of this the economic pressure on the publishing industry at large (with Borders being one of the latest casualties) and you have a situation where many editors are nervous about the acquisition of African-American books in general.  It reminds me of what Mario Van Peebles said recently on the TV One show Way Black When:  (and I paraphrase) If the umpteenth Black gangster film doesn't make money, then the belief is that people are not really feeling Black movies right now, but if the umpteenth shark movie fails, it simply means that people don't want to see shark movies right now.

One of the sad realities of the larger corporate media is that, as an African-American artist, being African-American often defines your art.  In other words, you can't simply be a writer or filmmaker or musician without that racial designation.

Those who make a living as African-American artists have already figured out how to navigate this line successfully, but for those aspiring creative individuals rising through the ranks, there is the dilemma of creating for the expectations of the market (especially if the market is racially defined) versus creating without an eye towards market designations.  With the advent of electronic publishing and iTunes and the plethora of other avenues for distributing independent projects, the question is even more pronounced:  Take the commercial Black approach or pursue the road less traveled?

Yes, there are commercial anomalies across the board, but to the average indie, the thought of unzipping one's skin or gender and setting out to write without regard to those issues can be paralyzing, especially if the artist hopes to make a living from it.  We have had it ingrained in our heads that niche marketing is the only way for the little guy/girl to survive.  Still, I sense that some of us yearn for the kind of freedom that allows us to create and release those creations into the world minus the pressure to conform with larger industry expectations.

What are your thoughts?  Is it realistic for the indie artist to ignore the larger commercial trends that define his/her art?

Randy Bandit

The Foreign Exchange Takes Over the Globe

Phonte and Nicolay, better known as The Foreign Exchange

A dynamic duo was born without any words spoken. 


Phonte of North Carolina rap group Little Brother heard a instrumental track on okayplayer.com. He liked the beat and contacted the producer and asked if he could rap over it. The tracksmith, a Dutchman known as Nicolay, said yes, and the track that came of it "Light It Up," became a B-side on Little Brother's "Whatever You Say," from LB's debut, "The Listening." Happy with the outcome, the two kept exchanging beats and rhymes through e-mail. The end product was the 2005 album, "Connected," released with the two billing themselves as The Foreign Exchange. The album, with had the songs "Let's Move," "Sincere" and "Happiness," "Connected" overshadowed LB's second album, "The Minstrel Show," with Phonte rising to match producer 9th Wonder's status as the latter group's breakout star. The rapper's vulnerable lyrics were the perfect match for Nicolay's laidback, headclapping beats, some of which hearken back to those of J.Dilla. 


The group's follow up, 2008's "Leave It All Behind," released on the group's self-titled imprint, found Phonte embracing singing more fully and featured "Daybreaker" and "Take Off The Blues," the former garnering the group a Grammy nomination for Best Urban/Alternative performance. Feeling the need to capitalize on the attention brought by the Grammy nomination, the duo buckled down and had their third album, "Authenticity" in the marketplace in October of last year. The LP finds Phonte dealing with a breakup. ("The Last Fall" trumps anything found on "808s and Heartbreak," and "Maybe She'll Dream of Me" has a sublime hopefulness.)  There's a debate among fans as to which album is the best. No matter which one you choose, The Foreign Exchange will have you feeling right at home.

Byron Lee, contributor

The Adjustment Bureau (Trailer)

Matt Damon is the new (relatively young) Harrison Ford. I just realized that. Check out the trailer for his upcoming film The Adjustment Bureau.




Phill Boogie