Sheldon Taylor's Souls of Black Notes

In 1979, the record industry rolls into its second straight year. Enormous studio bills drain label coffers and follow-ups to previous album blockbusters fall short of expectations and do little to reverse the financial slide.  Floundering and out of step, large conglomerates fail to tap into a new consumer market pushing out the hippie macho posturing of arena rock in favor of punk music. Smaller boutique labels emerge to service this new college crowd tuned into eclectic proto-reggae punk acts like The Police. Disco has officially bottomed out. Black music departments are dismantled. The heady days of the Black music executive have reached their zenith. Firmly entrenched in the corporate machine and focused on making adult-oriented music, they miss out on a brand new funk just a stone’s throw (or an uptown cab ride) from the CBS Black Rock building.                    ...

                                                                  As America grapples with the after effects of a divisive election as the suns sets on the Obama era, Chicago MC Common returns with his new album Black America Again . A potent and timely follow-up to 2014's Nobody's Smiling, Common takes aim at US political and racial divide hitting the bulls-eye every time with a topical accuracy that holds the listener's attention like a grudge. Black America Again recalls classic albums What ' s Going On (1971) It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back (1988) and It Was Written (1996). Make no mistake--- this record is no throwback. It's mo...