HOW MAXWELL SURVIVED MOREHOUSE

Anybody who went to an A.U.C. college or university in the mid-90's and remembers the 1995-1996 Morehouse Homecoming concert will understand why I'm writing this blog about the Maxwell + Jasmine Sullivan concert in Birmingham this past Tuesday night. Obviously, nooobody had heard of any Jasmine Sullivans back then, so of course the same went for Maxwell. But he was a new artist at the time, making rounds and paying his dues on the Chitlin' Circuit, and he was the unlucky bastard new guy that was scheduled to open for The Fugees.




If you remember Fall '95, that was the year when 2Pac's All Eyez on Me and The Fugees' The Score put Kanye vs 50 Cent numbers up on the Billboard charts, sparking equally lucrative tours, creative offspring and zealots of every sort trying to jump on either the west coast gangster rap or neo-soul bandwagon and ride that beeyotch to the top. So if you were opening a show for them and you weren't aready a star, you were taking a major gamble with your pride trying to "warm it up" for headliners that were obviously among the biggest names in the business at that time. You can imagine my crew's impatience, having executed a stampede to get past the line at King Chapel's doors for the concert, when the host announced some guy named "Maxwell" that was going to entertain us until Lauryn, Wyclef and Pras were ready to take the stage. Do remember how dude used to look back then, with the hair, glasses and either some dusty jeans or those kung-fu master linen scrubs.





Oh, my brothers and sisters, we booed that young man off the stage with glorious, reckless abandon, and I mean the whole crowd joined the chorus. I'm pretty sure I recall that he came on stage with a bar stool, an accoustic guitar and no shoes, maybe chancletas. Cats weren't having it. We pointed him away from the building with the same steadfast posture as carried by the statue of MLK out in front of the building, waving our arms and shouting for the music to cease. Hearty and magnificent in depth, the ringing and rolling boo went from side to side of the auditorium, with an awesomeness of vocal strength and determination that made it feel like a scene from the colosseum battles in Gladiator.

It was something like this...



But worse.


Anyway, thirteen years later, though we believed we had killed his career at the time, it has become apparent that Maxwell survived our unrelenting Apollo-styled reception of his performance and progressed. Maybe he just wasn't ready for the stage back then. Maybe we just couldn't dig his "energy" and "swag." Either way, he continues to excel at the job of singing live and making women swoon. He will be around for a while for that reason alone, even if he does put on a weird show. On the low, I bet 80% of dudes hovering around 30 have used Maxwell (nolo) for at least 1 romantic interlude with a special lady in the last 13 years. Maybe on the high. All I know is that he's coming back from a 7-year hiatus, and the comeback looks like it should be a success thus far.

Happening as it was on the first Monday after The Day, the crowd at the BJCC was quite dapper and upbeat, even though most of the people there were probably just coming off a shitty first weekday like myself. You could tell that we were all riding the Obama high for as long as it would last. You did get a sense that people's smiles seemed to be worn naturally on their faces with nothing to hide, as if tonight's ticket price for a well-timed musical performance was an uncharacteristic luxury that we all deserved for showing up at the polls. Oh yeah - don't let me forget about the abundance of black women with jobs, nice dresses and other special qualities that you didn't get to see, because you were commenting on somebody else's blog. You lost.








Oh yes, my brothers and sisters, women love Maxwell, with all his weird "energy" and "swag". He's strange for different reasons than he was in 1995, which may be the key to his career as a performer at a time when nobody's buying albums. Back when we first saw him, this guy was earthier than dirt--even beating out Erykah Badu in a male sort of way. But now he's weird because he does weird dances and says crazy shit on stage about how sorry he is for missing that last show... which, from what I heard, was like six years ago and nobody even remembers.

Then he makes a public plea for free panties, asking the ladies in the front to throw them, and suspiciously he receives a pair that must have been pre-planned for trajectory. And what kind of heifer already has draws in her hand ready to toss in 2008? More fuckery occured when he spent an extended amount of time on the floor with the mic stand between his legs, hunching the air while looking up at the spotlight, possibly searching for an answer to a question I wouldn't dare pose.




Say what you will about his "energy" and "swag"; the guy can sing. And he can pack a concert hall in a major city at seat prices starting at $70, which is way more than he used to get when he was onstage chewing an incense stick. Much respect to him and the lovely Jasmine Sullivan, who played "new vocal Whitney" to Maxwell's "R&B Obama", putting a serious dent in the coffin of R&B music, if only for one night. Musical highlights include Sullivan's entire performance--this girl is serious--and Max's "Lifetime", "Til The Cops Come Knockin'", "Ascension (Don't Ever Wonder)" and "This Woman's Work."







(Jasmine Sullivan and her painter's uniform)


The moral of this concert is that if you have true talent you can get away with murder on stage. Jasmine knows that she is wrong for wearing a Dickies suit with the legs rolled up to the knees. And Maxwell is a good enough vocalist that you don't even mind his "energy" and "swag". He's a true musician, and for that he deserves respect.

If he comes to your town anytime soon, go ahead and take out a payday loan so that you can go to the show with some change in your pocket, find a thirsty woman and groove to the rhythm of romance and blues. Maxwell has come a long way from sporting farm attire to wearing a suit and necktie. Now, if we can just keep him away from the "party favors" backstage so he's not getting geeked up before the show, we'll have a new-school Marvin Gaye for years to come.




Is it me or did Maxie steal the infamous "Soy Bomb" dance? You be the judge, dear reader. I'm about to go to bed. If you live in NY, let me know what's good for the weekend. I'll be in town.

ANOTHER WAY TO DIE (Besides reading my blog)

I hope you didn't come here looking for reassurance about the debates last night. EVERYBODY SAYS that Senator Barack Obama won the night. The whole country. Most surprising is the fact that FOX NEWS even had to relent and say that Senator John McCain didn't pull it off. In other words, this race is over. You know as well as I do that the next POTUS is also going to be the first black African-American one. And "that one" happens to be Obama.



But enough of that. I'm kind of tired of politics for a minute anyway, and I've noticed that I'm slacking on Hip-Hop, which in my absence has been seeing its vital statistics slipping a bit. Yet before I get back to wifey, I still feel like cheating a bit with R&B and rock & roll. Pardon me while I lose myself...


One of my favorite groups is The White Stripes. Jack White is murder on the guitar, and it just so happens that he's one of those multi-talented cats that can write lyrics, produce them (without computers) and perform them--both vocally and instrumentally--at a higher grade of artistic delivery than most, if not almost all rock artists in modern music.

So you can imagine how crunk I became when I heard a while back that Jack White and Alicia Keys are comiserating together on the new, Amy Winehouse-less theme song to the upcoming JAMES BOND film, Quantum of Solace. The title of the song is the same as the title of this post, if that helps at all.





I can't lie; Alicia Keys is dope. And even though they could have put some T-Pain in there somewhere, I have to say that this is a funky ass song. I dig shite like this; you can catch me at any moment on the interstate in your hometown, blasting some wild rock song with heavy bottomed bass drums and a slap-happy snare and cymbal mash-up. My only real complaint is that White and Keys sound amazingly off-pitch on the chorus, trying to hit the same note with two different sets of vocal cords. As a remedy, I would have had Jack sing in the lower octave, which would have added a fuller sound and given it even more funk. It's not like they asked axed for my musical expertise, but it's here anyway, so I might as well speak when I see fit.

Either which-a-way, I'm still going to download this song as soon as I can find it and create a new Rock mixtape for the ride to and from work for the next week. Hopefully this shit doesn't make me ghost-ride the whip into a graveyard as a result of trying to crank that air guitar while driving. If somebody finds a link, send it on. Yes, I'm weird. Learn to love it.

T.O.C. #43: THUG MOTIVATION

Young Jeezy's album dropped this week. I haven't reviewed it, because I've only heard half. But the half I heard was great. I will say that I'm very happy that the Corporate Thug publicly announced that we was registering to vote for the first time in his life (he's 31) and HELD A VOTER REGISTRATION DRIVE at Justin's this past Thursday. I'm usually half and half on Jeezy when it comes to albums, depending what day of the week we're talking about, but with album that Hits Magazine is projecting will sell 250k units before next Tuesday and his own steady but calm support for Senator Barack Obama, I have to say that Jeezy definitely earned another 12 months in the limelight.




A key thing that I would remind any supporters of Obama right now is that none of the nonsense matters. All that matters is that people vote for him on November 4th. And in order to do that, people must register to vote by the first week in October. If you are not registered, you have 30 days. HERE'S A LINK TO FIND OUT MORE INFORMATION. Pass it on.


Oh, and if you're starting to worry about Palin, maybe you shouldn't have watched her speech, I guess. I'm over it like I was never under it - the spell, that is. The sooner that the rest of us stop talking about her, the more they're going to have to come up with something real for her to say. Right now, their running off hype, and it'll continue as long as people gossip, which means she could ride a wave of distraction straight into the White House. And we'll all be looking stupid as hell for letting them get away with it.

Therefore, unless she makes any real statement that has to do with keeping the actual citizens of country from being any worse off economically, I have no interest in covering or speaking about her. Remember, this race is not about her, anyway. Besides, this is the first of many fights for which Senator Joe Biden was hired. That, of course, does not mean I won't shoot an occasional jab at the Republikkkan ticket as a whole; I just don't see a reason to give her attention when the issues are much bigger than her and her family.

More good energy for you is at the bottom. Take it and run with it to your nearest voter registration office or website. And don't let anything keep you from having your name on the roster if you're legally able to cast a ballot. We've only got one turn to get this right.

THE GIRL WHO WOULD HAVE BEEN QUEEN

Now I remember why it rained and I felt sick all day today. TODAY IS THE DAY BABY GIRL PASSED.


In case you didn't know, I was then and continue to be now an immense stan for the late Aaliyah Haughton. Still feels like she's supposed to be here and on top of the world. Does anyone else remember how awful the fall season of 2001 was? I shouldn't have to remind you.

Instead of "I Miss You," which is a great song and all, I had to put one of my favorite videos. I don't think that those who have passed on always want us remembering them with sad memories.




Damn, she was fly.

DAMN. (Even More Flowers)

I know you know, because everybody knows. For the record, I just figured that we should take a few extra days to remember Bernie Mac first. I mean, damn, two in one week? This reminds me of 2006, when THIS happened, immediately followed by THIS...


But alas, here we go. Isaac Hayes, pioneering soul man, IS REALLY DEAD. I needed a minute just to properly process the weight and depth of two separate deaths in the black community. I know, I know; black people die all the time. High blood pressure, blood sugar levels, drugs, AIDS, cancer, strokes, etc. But I don't think it's cool for black people to keep dying at or before the age of 65. And I don't always mean to make things seem so b/w, but these are huge losses for the hood.


I am afraid to wonder if too many people at or below the age of 21 are only going to remember Hayes as the voice of South Park's Chef. So let's examine a few of the other achievements and notable moments. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. He is the man who composed and performed the Shaft theme, which won an Oscar for Best Original Song. He was one of the main songwriters, producers and session players for Stax Records, the Memphis answer to Motown. He starred in movies, television shows and parodies. He had a charitable organization. He went bankrupt in the late seventies, losing the right to future royalties to anything he had already written or performed. He went through the hell and high water of the industry and persevered long enough to remain an immovable object - a timeless legend. An icon of soul.





Oh, and by the way, did you know that both Isaac Hayes and Bernie Mac are going to appear, alongside Samuel L. Jackson, in the movie Soul Men, which will be released in November of this year? Did you know that people are saying that since "Death comes in threes," another famous black celebrity - this time, possibly an actor - will be next to pass? Maybe they're thinking it'll be Morgan Freeman. Maybe Sam. I choose not to think that way. Maybe those who ponder the death of others should just kill themselves and avoid having to share the earth with those they choose to envy. Stop praying on another man's downfall, please.


And now, for his final encore, here's my favorite song from Isaac Hayes, "Walk On By," which was re-filmed for the movie Dead Presidents in 1995.





R.I.P. to Isaac Hayes. This guy was a giant. Oh, and one more thing: If he died worth anything less than $10 million dollars, may his trespassers die a thousand times.

MONDAY NIGHT LIVE: EWF @ CHASTAIN PARK

I did absolutely nothing today, because I was OVERTHROWED last night. However, it was for a great reason.

Your homie hit up the Earth Wind and Fire concert at Chastain Park in Buckhead. If you're ever in Atlanta and someone offers you tickets to Chastain, take them. Even if it's a KKK rally. There's no such thing as a bad show at Chastain. Everybody gets slizzard, shares good food and dances and sings. Always a good time, but when EWF is in the building, you know it's going down like Johnny Gill in a bathhouse. Nolo.





Maurice White, the founder of the group, no longer tours with EWF, but Philip Bailey, the guy with the high-high pitched voice, is still holding down the vocals. And when I say holding down, I mean it. Dude went from the low-low register to something in the Mariah zone. Amazing.





The show started at 8:10 PM and ended at 10:00 on the dot. The band went through all the mellow tunes first, then got it supercrunk towards the end with "Let's Groove", "September", "Fantasy" and all the others. For an encore, they came back with "Keep Your Head to the Sky." Great show.




Backstage, I got up with Verdine White and Ralph Johnson. Verdine asked axed me where the weed was. I gave him my business card.