Slave To The Ism

Between the launch of this site and the overall state of the Black Rock universe, I can’t help but get really excited.  The best part of it all is that it seems to be coming together at almost a cosmic kind of level.   I was spending some down time in New Orleans when I got the call from Jim Farber of The New York Daily News about a piece on Black rock. That piece comes out at the same time The Source and Essence both ran cover stories on the same thing.  Gnarls Barkley puts out The Odd Couple.  Santogold put her solo debut (but if you don’t have it, pick up her old band Stiffed).  Solomon Burke puts out another gem.  Shine For The Black Madonna puts out a double disc opus,PARADISE AND INFERNO.  The Smyrk, Swear On Your Life (How much do we LOVE THEIR FIREPLUG OF A FIREBALL LEAD VOCALIST Militia?  Lots), Pillow Theory, Apollo Heights, Dragons Of Zynth, The Bellrays, Alice Smith, The Student Body Presents Arts & Sciences, Kenna, K-os, Noah Sow & The Hemlich Manuever, Hypnotic Brass Emsemble, Burnt Sugar.
Suffrajett, Rachid, The Dirtbombs - I do believe we have a movement going on here!  Add to that Myspace, You Tube, and Itunes - you have no excuse to say ‘I didn’t know.

This  Black Rock Reloaded phenom is  also NOT limited to our immediate circles.  What about Jay Z doing ‘MTV Unplugged’ (remember when the channel actually played music?) with The Roots, jamming with Phish out in Brooklyn, then teaming up with Linkin Park on stage and on wax? And how about more recently when Jay silenced those uptight British critics (lead by Oasis leader Noel Gallagher), who thought hip hop was a bit too ghetto for Glastonbury? Coming with an electric set that included a  mocking cover of  Oasis’ ‘Wonderwall’. A cheeky move Jay and hiss merry bunch of men in black followed with a  rousing  version of O ‘99 Problems’ (and presumably a bitch named Noel Gallagher aint one  of’  ‘em) that segued into a guitar-shreding live remix of AC/DC’s Back in Black’.  Futher proof that when it wants to be, hip hop is the new rock n roll. As in when Dave Chappelle threw a monster Black Rock jam (in Brooklyn no less) and caught it on film with ‘Block Party’, giving us the 21st century  East Coast version of ‘Wattstax’.

Lest we forget long time BRC friend and supporter Stew added some much needed color to The Great White Way with his hillarious, poignant and straight up fun musical, ‘Passing Strange’.  The first half of the show is about as good as Broadway gets and the new soundtrack album loses none of the energy that you feel in the live performance.

Still not convinced?  King’s X, one of the most criminally underrated bands EVER, has a new CD, ‘XV’, that’s just as solid as anything they’ve ever done.  Free Form Funky Freqs, lead by the BRC’s own Vernon Reid  is a jammer’s delight.  ‘The Scene Of The Crime’ by Ms. Bettye LaVette is sublime.  I dare you not to be moved when you hear her sing Elton John’s ‘Talking Old Soldiers’.  She takes it there.   The Family Stand, Seal, Erykah Badu, Bad Brains - all of their recent CDs are amazing.  This is indeed a movement and a moment  for all those who like to rock Black.

I got my scorecard - let the games begin!

Earl Douglas, Black Rock Coalition Executive Director.