It was all so different, about a week ago. Then Beyoncé dropped Lemonade and pretty much broke the internet. Let me tell you how it went down at my house. We had just had dinner. My husband was watching the Stanley Cup hockey game. We live in Chicago. His brother lives in St. Louis. This was intense…. read all

My best friend Lauren texted me at 12:23 pm on April 21st. I thought that was odd, it was in the middle of the work day. I was in the middle of a hectic afternoon myself, and hadn’t been paying attention to social media for much of the morning. “OMG, please tell me it’s not… read all

I just bought myself a sheet of Maya Angelou stamps. At the same time, I decided to get a sheet of Ray Charles stamps. Some folks might say I’ve purchased my fill of stamps for the year and surely I don’t need to buy anymore. But then I discovered (via The Root) that a Sarah… read all

Will there ever be another singer who can even come close to Luther Vandross – in terms of range, soul and sheer vocal ability? To his true fans and those lucky enough to have seen him perform live in his lifetime, that’s a tough question. All we can do is enjoy the music we have… read all

Am I the only one who no longer really cares about the Grammy Awards? I remember as a kid staying up late to watch every year, and feeling tremendous excitement if my favorite singers won. Nowadays it feels like an extended eye roll. On SNL recently, the Grammy nominees were likened to “a Spotify playlist… read all

I was born in Trinidad and raised on Bob Marley’s music. Back in 2010, I wrote this homage that still is so true: When I was a toddler, my dad spent time in Jamaica studying for a master’s degree. When he returned, he brought what seemed like Bob Marley’s entire record collection with him.Uprising. Natty Dread.Burnin’. Survival. Rastaman… read all

2014 proved to be a banner year for concerts for me. Within the past few years, I’ve seen SO much good music. For 2015, I honestly don’t have a long list of many artists that I’m still dying to see for the first time ever. In fact, the artist at the very top of my… read all

If he were still with us, today Michael Jackson would be 56. He’s still so loved and so deeply missed, and still so ubiquitous in pop culture. This summer, Love Never Felt So Good was part of the barbecue playlist and in regular rotation in TV commercials. MJ is still with us. Another way he’s… read all

Our first road trip was in June 2001, in a red hatchback Honda Civic that had no air conditioning. Steve and I were dating, deeply in love, about to start our lives together. I knew I wanted to do my MFA in Creative Writing somewhere. Steve wanted me to see more of America than Miami…. read all

  I’m not usually one for reality show singing competitions, but two main factors can suck me into any kind of television programming. #1 – show me a competitor with true, raw, undeniable talent and #2 – let me know that someone on the show is from the Caribbean and is proud to represent our… read all