Author Archives: Vivrant Thang

“Get Back” : Little Brother in Concert

07 Friday Dec 2007

Posted by in Let's Rock: Concert Reviews

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I’m almost ashamed to say that I wasn’t up on Little Brother before attending their show in DC last weekend. I’d certainly heard of them, but didn’t have any of their albums. Luckily, my sister in soul lets me know what’s hot and what’s not. So when she said that the show was a can’t miss and hooked me up with some music to get acquainted, I immediately purchased my ticket.

I can’t even begin to adequately review this show. I’ll leave that to the experts at Honey Soul, Friday Favecast, and Boo Goo Doo Boom.

I will say they certainly have a new fan here. I love the energy they bring to the stage and the crowd gives it back to them ten-fold. That’s the kind of shows I like to attend.

A lot of that energy comes from Phonte, who I first became familiar with on the track, “Been in Love,” from Eric Roberson’s latest release, Left. I love the wittiness of his rhymes and it definitely translates on stage. He’s a true MC. He entertains, not just spits out a bunch of unintelligible mess over a hot beat. You’ll see some of his antics in the videos.

Another reason I’m feeling Little Brother is that they have one of my favorite soul singers, Darien Brockington on tour with them. According to Phonte, he’s working as “one of the sexiest hype men alive.”  Nothing but the truth. (If you don’t know about DBrock and his album, Somebody To Love, you better ask somebody.) Darien sings the hook on most of the songs and gets down. I was two seconds from getting up there and partying with him. You’ll see what I mean when you view the videos. My camera mysteriously got a mind of it’s own and kept swinging in his direction.  Check out an interview with Darien where he talks about touring with Little Brother.

The lowlight of the show was that I must have been wearing that sign on my back again advertising freebie for married men.  Playa worked real hard trying to convince me that the band on his left finger was simply a figment of my imagination. I guess he thought because he had on his “good clothes,” I would be won over. Right.

Enough of that.

Without further ado, here are some videos I shot at the show. You can check out my You Tube for more Little Brother and performances from opening acts, Evidence of Dialated Peoples and Reef the Lost Cause out of Philly.

Big Pooh with a sick freestyle

The Way You Do It f/ D Brock

Step It Up f/D Brock – hell yea!

Good Clothes

*photo credit – Boneystarks

What’s Going On: Celebrity Tributes to Victims of HIV/AIDS

06 Thursday Dec 2007

Posted by in Feeding The Music Jones

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by vivrant thang on the aids crisis

marvin.jpg

Mother, mother
There’s too many of you crying
Brother, brother, brother
There’s far too many of you dying
You know we’ve got to find a way
To bring some lovin’ here today

This is my fifth post for the Black blogger call-to-action, Black Blogging to End AIDS. You can find all the posts here.

Over the years, there have been many songs recorded to raise funds for or call attention to the HIV/AIDS crisis.

A cover of “That’s What Friends Are For” was recorded in 1985 by Dionne Warwick and Friends (Gladys Knight, Elton John, and Stevie Wonder) to benefit the American Foundation for AIDS Research. It raised over three million dollars for that cause.

“So working against AIDS, especially after years of raising money for work on many blood-related diseases such as sickle-cell anemia, seemed the right thing to do. “You have to be granite not to want to help people with AIDS, because the devastation that it causes is so painful to see. I was so hurt to see my friend die with such agony,” Warwick remembers. “I am tired of hurting and it does hurt,” Dionne Warwick (1988, Washington Post)

Check out this peformance by Dionne, Stevie, Luther, and Whitney. Phenomenal and heart-breaking at the same time.

“Together Again” from Janet’s Velvet Rope album was a tribute by Jackson to friends who had recently passed from AIDS. She originally wrote it as a ballad but changed it to an up-tempo dance track after realizing her friends would have wanted a celebration instead of a sad song. She donated a portion of the proceeds from the song to the American Foundation for AIDS Research also. 

“I believe we have other lives. I don’t believe in the finality of death. I wanted to write about friends who have died of AIDS, but without being mournful or sad. I wanted to celebrate their spirit. I’m pleased that ‘Together Again’ is just that — a celebration, a confirmation that the energy of love will never die,” Janet Jackson

I still remember how ground-breaking it was when in 1992, three attractive women who called themselves TLC, stormed onto the scene in 1992 wearing baggy clothes covered in condoms. Left Eye (RIP) immediately stood out with the condom covering one lens of her glasses. The message was clear and it was an innovative way to get it across. People paid attention.

Check them out in “What About Your Friends” from their debut album Oooooh….On The TLC Tip:

Even when they took off the condoms and became Crazysexycool, they were still spreading the message.

Don’t go chasing waterfalls
Please stick to the rivers and the lakes that you’re used to

Three letters took him to his final resting place.

Waterfalls

 

Makes Me Wanna Holler: She’s In A Better Place

06 Thursday Dec 2007

Posted by in Feeding The Music Jones

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by vivrant thang on makes me wanna holler

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Oh make me wanna holler / throw up both my hands
Oh, make me wanna holler/They don’t understand

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Look at that face.

This is the first I’m hearing of the death of 10-month-old, Da’Niyah Marie Jackson at the hands of her mother’s boyfriend. She had been savagely beaten, bitten, and sexually assaulted.

The mother left Da’Niyah with her boyfriend while she went to work. His two-year old son was also present in the house. She came home and found the baby unresponsive and contacted the authorities after she started convulsing and went into cardiac arrest.

The “thing” has been charged and hopefully will be thrown in general population. Those criminals don’t like his kind. I hope they have all kinds of fun with him.

This story had me in tears. Can you imagine the agony she endured? This isn’t the first time this has happened and it certainly won’t be the last. I know you’re not supposed to question God, but it gets harder and harder each time. I truly do believe we are living in our last days.

My other issue with this story is the mother leaving the baby there with him. Apparently, he had two other kids with another woman and she had a restraining order on him because he assaulted her and the child. My question is, did she know this?

Let’s say she did. Did she think it was an isolated incident? Did she believe him when he told her that the baby mother was lying on him – because you know that’s what he probably told her.

Or let’s say she didn’t, why the hell not? Did she not ask the Negro any questions?

This shit makes me sick. Single mothers cannot just let any man into their lives. It’s not about you and your needs anymore. I know he didn’t just snap and commit this heinous act. He had a history and the signs are always there if you want to see them. She probably turned her head because she had herself a man. She should probably be in the jail right long with him because she is an accessory in my eyes.

I know I’m being judgemental and there could possibly be extenuating circumstances. Bottom line, this beautiful little girl died a horrible death that was preventable. There are people that are putting themselves through all kinds of mental and physical hell to bring a child into this world and then you read stories like this.

Makes we wanna holler.

RIP little one. You are truly in a better place.

Can we go back to this?

Update: Yet, another recent case. THIS animal beats his wife on the way to the hospital to get help for their 8-DAY-OLD baby, who was bleeding anally! And you think this was the first time he displayed such behavior?

I can’t even talk about this anymore.

Update #2: I just found this interesting vlog that poses similar questions as I’ve raised above. She also has some very specific ideas on what should be done to the animal that committed this heinous act.

What’s Going On: Alexyss Tylor on The HIV/AIDS Crisis in the Black Community

05 Wednesday Dec 2007

Posted by in Feeding The Music Jones

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by vivrant thang on the aids crisis

marvin.jpg

 

Mother, mother
There’s too many of you crying
Brother, brother, brother
There’s far too many of you dying
You know we’ve got to find a way
To bring some lovin’ here today

This is my fourth post for the Black blogger call-to-action, Black Blogging to End AIDS. You can find all the posts here.

Say what you will about Alexyss Tylor, but her outrageous “Vagina Power” messages have reached hundreds of thousands on the web and throughout the Atlanta area. While her delivery is exceedingly crude and will have you in hysterics, admittedly, she speaks the truth. Whatever the reason that people listen to her message, they are listening, and that’s what we need to spread the word about this disease in our community.

In the following videos, she speaks with a group of infected women and a man about their personal battles with HIV/AIDS and gets “real” about the rampant spread of the virus throughout our community. She gets a little out of hand at one point in the video with the infected man, but hang in there!

Alexyss K Tylor Show Black Women HIV/AIDS

 

Alexyss K Tylor Show Black MEN HIV/AIDS (Part 1)

Alexyss K Tylor Show Black MEN HIV/AIDS (Part 2)

What’s Going On : Congresswoman Maxine Waters and The Routine HIV/AIDS Screening Coverage Act of 2007

04 Tuesday Dec 2007

Posted by in Feeding The Music Jones

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by vivrant thang on the aids crisis

marvin.jpg

Mother, mother
There’s too many of you crying
Brother, brother, brother
There’s far too many of you dying
You know we’ve got to find a way
To bring some lovin’ here today

This is my third post for the Black blogger call-to-action, Black Blogging to End AIDS. You can find all the posts here.

In April of this year, Congresswoman Maxine Waters introduced a bill in Congress, H.R. 822., that would require insurance companies to cover routine HIV testing just like they would a test for diabetes.

As of May, it was sitting in a house subcommittee. I’m sure since AIDS is now a black disease, they are in a great big ole hurry to push this one through.

Listen to Congresswoman Waters on CNN discussing the bill and the AIDS crisis in the Black community on World AIDS Day 2006. I heart her.