It wasn’t spectacular or all that! Just good. During her live performance, I thought it was just good. So what is it that I have to say that has not already been said? Well I hope to put into context the reason Beyonce decided to lip sync the tune and the reason we were all talking about it.įirst let me say that to me her performance was not surprising. The following day of the event it was revealed that she lip-synched her performance on such a momentous occasion, which set off a firestorm of commentary and opinions that ranged from it being the best performance of her life to so what! Well, the following is my commentary and opinion of her performance and most likely not the last public discharge on the happening before Beyonce’s next performance: the Superbowl Halftime Show. Ok, it’s been over a week since Beyonce sang the Star Spangled Banner on the Capital steps in celebration of the historical second inauguration of President Barack Obama. Great Black music!Įnjoy the tribute below to Anita Baker by artists who have made quality music that is both memorable and has meaning enveloped in amazing vocal talent. I’ll stop my rant here!Īppreciate, yes, I appreciate great Black music. The conversation should address the bastardization of R&B and Soul, the intense salacious imagery, and a landscape littered with individuals who fall way short of the excellence of Anita Baker! This Gen X’er envies the musical taste and sensibilities of the Baby Boomers and is completely lost the in the popular sounds of the Millennials. I know what I’m saying is harsh, but maybe a decent conversation needs to be had about the dismal state of some of today’s most popular Black music. Its lost most of its musical qualities, is far from memorable, and at times is meaningless. In today’s music I feel (this is entirely my opinion) music has lost a large amount of its ability to be appreciated. Her songs had and still have tangible music qualities, are memorable, and have meaning. The photo was taken back stage at the 2010 Soul Train Music Awards after a grand tribute to Anita Baker for a career of excellence!Īnita Baker created music that could be truly appreciated in every sense of the word throughout her career. In the above photo is (from L to R) daughter of the late great Donny Hathaway, Lalah Hathaway with Rachelle Ferrell, Anita Baker, El DeBarge, and Dionne Farris. So, the rest of the year is going to be just as awesome as the first half as I continue to appreciate great Black music, which brings me to my final photo of the month for you. I listen to, talk about, think about, and appreciate Black music year round. It was awesome in so many ways), and most importantly I had the chance to see a live performance one of my favorite groups, Loose Ends!Īlthough BMM has come to an end in terms of national recognition it however, doesn’t end for me. As for me, it meant listening to some of my favorites as well as traveling around my city listening to live R&B, Blues, Soul, Jazz (I won tickets to the Playboy Jazz Festival for the Sunday night show. For many of you that meant simply turning on your radio for others it meant digging in your old crates for some of the best music ever recorded. I hope you had the opportunity to listen to some great Black music all month long. Well folks we’ve come to an end of another Black Music Month. Baker surrounded by the talents of Hathaway, Ferrell, DeBarge, and Farris