Today, June 21st, marks the last day of Gemini as we move into Cancer.
Like I said. I'm a Gemini, and I got lots of pride.
And today, we're goin out with a super bang!
Let's celebrate the birthdays of...
Brenda Holloway.
A very little known name from the Motown label but she made some great tracks.
Beautiful woman with a beautiful voice.
She often opened for the Beatles, and had a handful of songs written by Smokey Robinson.
Apparently, the general trend of the music industry and Motown didn't bode well for her, and she felt that she should follow a more spiritual path, eventually retiring from music. She returned in the 80s doing more gospel music. For most of her years she was a background singer with her sister. You might be interested to know that it is Brenda and her sister Patrice who "backed Joe Cocker and the Grease Band on the 1968 cover version of The Beatles' "With a Little Help from My Friends", later the theme song to the 1980s television series The Wonder Years."
Here she is, solo dolo, singin Just Look What You've Done.
Next, legendary Jamaican musician Augustus Pablo. Most notably known for his influence on dub reggae and introducing reggae music to the melodica.
If you are into reggae, especially dub, be sure to get his stuff. Here's one of my favorite tracks by him "King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown". That little harmonica like sound you hear is the melodica.
And finally, to cap off why Gemini IS the best zodiac sign in the astrology chart...
Legendary producer Pete Rock.
I mean...I really don't know what to say. He defined a large part of my youth growing up, loving Hip Hop.
When They Reminisce Over You.
Just about everything Pete Rock and CL Smooth did...incredible duo.
His Soul Survivor albums (this one and this one).
Production he's done for everyone from the Wu-Tang Clan, Common, Talib Kweli, Slum Village, Pharoahe Monch, and the list goes on.
Peep the first vid, as he shows you how he samples, chops, and creates. SICK!
And finally, one of the greatest songs ever made in history.
Peace.

What more can I saaaayyyy?!
I'm makin this quick because I have some VERY important thoughts to share.
I'm keepin all the music celebratory today!
Now, because this blog is mainly dedicated to musically centered things, I'm just gonna throw a shout to my fellow June Gemini sis Angelina Jolie!
Now...I need some HYPE shit on right now before I bust into my commentary...
Let's bring it on with some other fellow Gemini peeps having a birthday today...
First...Learn some Chinese with Jin
Next- Jazz saxophonist, clarinet player, and composer Oliver Nelson. I just so happened across his name in the Wikipedia search of this day...this song is beautiful! Stolen Moments
Next, singer Nikka Costa. This was the first song I heard from her and really the only one I knew of for a long while. She's actually been around for a quite a while. I expected her to be more of a recognized name. Like A Feather from her 2001 album.
And FINALLY...EL DEBARGE! Rhythm of the Night. All my 80s heads, GET HYPE!
One thing about 80's videos...when it was a party song, EVERYBODY is partying. Break-dancers, ballet dancers, mimes, random businessmen in the street....all of em! haha
And lastly, let's say farewell to legend and pioneer, Bo Diddley. The man who turned the Blues into Rock n Roll! He passed 2 days ago. He's in heaven having a party just like this...
And now, for my commentary.
Yesterday marked history. Barack Obama was nominated as the Democratic nominee to run as President of the United States of America. The highest a Black person has ever gotten to becoming president thus far.
Some years and years from now (I pray), those sentences above will be read with a smile, but with some slight confusion.
A smile, to the person who reads when history was changed...a dominating mental oppression was lifted from many. A collective consciousness of doubt was broken.
And the confusion...on why the hell it took so long for that change to come!
About a month ago I wrote my rant on why Jeremiah Wright was an idiot.
I was not mad because of the things he said, at least not entirely. Because he said many of the things that people in the Black community believe...the fear, doubt, and general distrust for the system of American politics.
But it was THE TIMING of when he said it.
It was clear that the media was linking all of Wright's words to Barack Obama in order to discredit Obama. And rather than being a player for the team, for the overarching goal of AT LEAST having a very QUALIFIED Black man to possibly reach office...instead of that, he decided to dance around and let the cameras shine on him, and say whatever he wanted, with complete disregard.
I volunteered a few times at some call centers for Obama to talk to undecided voters. And the only thing those people could debate with me on was Obama's affiliation with Wright. Otherwise, they could not cling on to anything else wrong with him.
Some of you out there may disagree with Obama's political stances on certain policies. I can dig that.
Some of you believe that as great of an orator Obama is, that does not necessarily make him qualified to be president.
...Ok.
Some of you may think that voting for him just because he is Black, or to get a Black man in office, is not a smart thing to do.
That is where I will have to draw then line. You're just wrong.
As I said before in my other entry, and as I told a friend:
There will be a Black child somewhere in this country that will say "I want to be the President of the United States." and that sentence will be completely legitimate and NOT A FANTASY or a WISH.
Black Americans, and actually Black people in many other countries, have never believed that a Black person could become the president. Such a title would NEVER be bestowed on a Black person, EVEN if they were qualified. There aren't a whole lot of things that are referred to in absolutes. One is that you have no choice but to die one day. The other, would be "A Black man will never be President." and just maaaybe a Black Woman would be before a male.
And before I start hearing anything from the ladies, I completely agree that there is a gender bias in this country and there is a deep layer of sexism in this country. But Hillary didn't lose by a blowout mind you. And, she didn't lose because she is a woman. In my eyes, she lost because...we'll...she's just not as dope as Barack! In the beginning, they were very formidable opponents to each other. And she even won the the actual popular vote. But Hillary stayed on fear, playing the old politics game, and not just backing on out of the race when people started getting tired of her. So please, don't use her as too definite of an example...cause she's good...but she's not as good as Barack!
But back to the self hate tip. We (Black people) are so used to oppression that we define ourselves by it. And in that mental slavery, we enslave others. We enslave each other by telling our children that they CAN NOT become president. We enslave each other by saying that in such a case that person would be killed immediately. We enslave ourselves in fear and ignorance and loss of faith.
I chose not to walk that path.
If I totally disagreed with his policies, I would never vote for him. Nor would most of this country. Other Black people have run for president before, but they didn't get far enough most especially because when it comes down to it, they just didn't have that extra quality of spirit that Obama has brought.
Today I felt a deep sweeping change of thought in this country happen.
When we have him in office, we will now say that while there are still problems, and certain problems may persist for a little while, but things CAN CHANGE.
No, Barack can not end racism by himself. He couldn't even get to where he is now just by himself. He got there through the strength and tenacity of millions of people who believed and had faith.
If we all moved like that more often to see things become different, just imagine how drastically and how fast it could turn.
Now let's turn those dreams into reality.
November will be here soon! Let's get him in there!
Witness history right here.
Posted at 01:33 AM in Classic Material, Commentary, Creative Writing, Current Affairs, Dopeness, Educational, Legends, Live Performance, Music, Music History, Music Videos, Politics | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)