Like many of my peers in the blogosphere, I’ve been trying my best to move on. But it’s hard.

I still can’t quite believe — a week ago, Michael Jackson passed away.

Even typing that phrase feels wrong.

I wrote a tribute from the depths of my heart and then tried to look away from the onslaught of rumors and almost-news that took over the internet and television. I got into Facebook fights and Twitter spats with people who just were itching to disparage his name as soon as the tragic news came. I tried not to read the nasty online comments and poorly timed jokes. I tried to just remember the music. The dancing. The talent.

Michael had talent to spare. When he was at his peak, nobody could come close. To this day, I can’t think of anyone who compares — sorry, Beyonce fans, that includes Bey. Michael Jackson revolutionized entertainment and held it down from the age of 7, well into his 30’s. There will never be another like him.

Having said all of that, I’ve been disappointed with the so-called tributes I’ve seen people trying to pass off. I didn’t torture myself with the BET Awards in its completion, but I watched enough YouTube clips to think they could have done better.

Soulbounce has been doing a phenomenal job of putting the best tributes together, for example from Erykah and the Roots (courtesy of Erykah’s Twitter, click here for a free download of that BTW), to Stevie Wonder, to Raphael Saadiq. All artists I would have loved to see together, on stage, paying fitting tribute to the King of Pop. Another artist I wish could have contributed — Marsha Ambrosius.

The former lead singer of Floetry has an incredible vocal instrument. AND she wrote one of my absolute favorite latter period Michael Jackson songs, Butterflies.

Marsha’s version gives me goosebumps, I swear. Her voice is absolutely angelic.

And just for good measure, here’s Michael’s version, from the Invincible album.

Sorry for those who are sick of hearing about Michael Jackson — these wounds are going to take a while to heal. The tributes aren’t about to die down anytime soon. The King of Pop left too enormous of a shadow. Saying he’ll be missed is an understatement. Like Quincy Jones said in this awesome, candid interview — it still feels surreal.

Who would you like to see pay tribute to Michael? Who do you think could do justice?

Consider this your daily reminder, courtesy of an old school Sesame Street clip!

I grew up a Sesame Street junkie, and this song was always one of my favorites. The empowering message resonated with me at an early age — “just look around you, it’s easy to see. There’s NOTHING we women can’t be!”

This year, Sesame Street celebrates 40 years of excellence, and according to that Newsweek article in the previous link, it’s ranked #15 in popularity of the children’s shows on air. That’s terrible news and I blame Elmo. Just kidding (I’m a Grover stan, for the record)!

It’s true, the Sesame Street nowadays isn’t quite the show I grew up on. But it’s still awesome and the messages of inclusion, equality, and respect remain. And for classic Sesame Street fans of my generation, all isn’t lost. You can get
Sesame Street - Old School, Vol. 1 (1969-1974) and Sesame Street: Vol. 2 - Old School (1974-1979). Your kids will LOVE it. And so will you!

I know I just moved to Chicago, but I’ve already witnessed the power of the blues. One of the first things I did as I hit the city was head to Buddy Guy’s, and you can feel the spirit of legends in the air. Tragically, one of those Chicago blues legends passed away yesterday. Koko Taylor, the Queen of the Blues, died following complications from gastrointestinal surgery.

Koko Taylor was the recipient of more blues awards than just about any other artist, and for more than forty years she served up traditional blues music — hot, strong, lusty, from the gut. Wang Dang Doodle was her biggest hit, but there’s something about Ernestine I just love.

If you’re new to the sounds of Koko Taylor and Chicago Blues, check out her latest album, Old School. Koko didn’t release albums often, but when she did she poured her heart and soul into them.

RIP, Koko Taylor. There must be an incredible jam session going on, past those pearly gates.

Happy new music Tuesday bellas!

Y’all already know how much I love former Afrobella of the Week Chrisette Michele, right? Her voice lifts my spirits, and her videos give me makeup inspiration. In the past, Chrisette herself has stopped by this here blog to let us bellas know what makeup she’s actually using!

Love. That. Chick!

Now she’s on Twitter as Epiphany Girl and she sent me the sweetest direct message just last week. I heart Chrisette and I’m excited about her new album. It drops TODAY! In this awesome interview with Clutch Mag, she described the evolution of her sound.

““One thing I pride myself in is not being afraid to experiment, not being afraid to enjoy the music for what it really is… You’ll definitely be able to bop your head, it’s a little bit more urban this time around… I didn’t want people to go buy my album and then go jump in the lake that would just suck! I tried to have happy endings for all of the songs, because there is a light at the end of the tunnel.”

Right now Amazon is offering a GREAT deal on Chrisette Michele’s new album
Epiphany.

Check out the widget here to preview the songs. If you click on the ‘Epiphany’ album in the widget or click the link above, you can purchase the entire mp3 album for only $2.99!!! If you haven’t heard her yet, check her new album out. Big respect to Chrisette. Epiphany’s title track is my jam!

Bellas in the Seventies knew how to do it!

The golden era of natural hair gave me much hair and style inspiration. Today I want to shine a light on two underrated pioneers in the Jamaican reggae scene, Althea and Donna.

In the Seventies, the late great producer Joe Gibbs made 17 year old Althea Forrest and 18 year old Donna Reid international superstars with the song Uptown Top Ranking. They ranked among some of the earlier female reggae DJs, chatting on Seventies roots riddims just like the guys did.

DJs like Althea and Donna, Sister Carol. Sister Nancy, and Mother Liza, were the predecessors leading the way for later dancehall queens to follow.

Check them out, with their TWA and big crazy fro in full effect, in their khaki suit and ‘ting.

The song became number one on the UK Singles Chart in February 1978, making Althea and Donna the youngest pair to hit the top of the UK charts. And to this day, Uptown Top Ranking is a classic that has spawned many imitators, borrowers, and remakes. UK music site Freaky Triggerwrote a great tribute to the track, here.

Althea and Donna’s album, Uptown Top Ranking is worth a listen, but few tracks hit as hard or were as original as Uptown, IMO. I love the freespirited vibe of that track. You can check out No More Fighting, If You Don’t Love Jah, and many of their other tracks on YouTube, but they aren’t as fun.

One very underrated track by Althea (sans Donna), is Down Town Thing. Althea croons about going shopping and drinking Heineken. Sounds like a plan for the weekend!

I’m trying to make Throwback Thursday a regular thing again, bellas. Tell me how you feel about it. Nah pop no style, I’m strictly roots!

My question is, is there anything Amanda Diva can’t do?

She can rap. She can sing. She can spit a mean spoken word verse. She’s a blogger and a cable television personality, and an internet television personality and an artist. She’s a hip hop diva with Caribbean roots who isn’t afraid to blaze her own trail.

To say she’s bold and ambitious is an understatement. She’s exactly the kind of role model I’m looking to in my own time of transition.

All this and more makes her a perfect Afrobella of the Month for these ever-changing times.

I interviewed Amanda forever ago, in like mid-2008. But I saved a stash of awesome interviews for the time when I could bring them to life in a fuller fashion.

Thanks to the incredible skill of my video editor Gisele Parson, we’re finally able to make that happen.

Bellas, I present to you the tour-de-force that is Amanda Diva.

I know I’m biased, but I need to shout about it — I love what Gisele is doing with the images! Please show her some love if you feel the same. And my next task is to work on getting better quality audio for my interviews. Apologies for the volume level and clarity there.

For those of you at work who can’t peep the video, we chat about the cookie cutter image of women in hip hop, being asked to alter your image in the music industry, and defining yourself when you do so many things so well.

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