Sheldon Taylor's Souls of Black Notes

                                                 Life and death are one thread, the same line viewed from different sides. Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu's words shine a reflection of truth that penetrates delusion. It defies all filter. DMX lived that truth every day of his life. During periods of joy his chiseled frame seemed to shoulder that duality effortlessly. During times of pain he often struggled manage his heavy burdens. X is many different things. He's rap's Antwone Fisher locked in a struggle for his divided soul.Turning inward to soothe the soul of his ravaged peace, he emerges with lyrical masterpieces like Slippin.   For some he's the people's champ whose hard-fought success had vindicated faltered rap careers recalling AZ's grandiose lyri...

                                 "Earth rotates/time won't stop/lyrics on vicious beats/ I drop"  ---Ecstasy "Day to Day" (1991) As 2020 fades into the abyss, it refuses to go peacefully. Intent on snatching as many souls as possible, this year's treacherous reach has no limitations. Hemingway's somber ode to fatality comes to mind: "any mans death diminishes me , because I am involved in Mankinde ; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee ." Paired with ominous keys (replayed on Whodini's 1986 How Dare You) from Sonata No. 2 in B-Flat Minor (skip to 16:42 ), Hemingway and Chopin's unlikely union make for a chilling soundtrack. This time the bell tolls for John "Ecstacy" Fletcher, one third of hip hop supergroup Whodini.  Before Jay-Z, Kane, and Biggie, it was Whodini were Brooklyn's original Kings of New York. Thriving in the mid-...

  Extinction Level Event 2: The Wrath of God finds Busta Rhymes in top form, delivering rap's best album of 2020. Over a decade in the making, the Long Island/Brooklyn emcee's patience is rewarded with a modern classic----thirty years after his entry in the rap game as a member of 90s group Leaders of the New School and nearly 25 years after his durable solo career jump-off.  No stranger to the hip hop stratosphere, Busta Rhymes racked up consecutive gold and platinum albums for a decade--- The Coming, When Disaster Strikes, Extinction Level Event (Final World Front), Anarchy, It Ain't Safe No More and Big Bang. Besides massive record sales, these albums had a couple things in common---cryptic titles and a chock full of hits. Busta and ELE2's producers deliver a powerful rap album that echo masterworks from music's past ---Thriller, Songs in the Key of Life, The Chronic , Mama Said Knock You Out and It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back . Lest you think I...

                                                                             "That wasn't a turning point in my life. I was born again a year earlier, in Anaheim It had nothing to do with no woman." ----Al Green (taken from an interview excerpt in  Wax Poetics Magazine) In 2008, Al Green finally put a long-running urban legend to rest. It was a growing spiritual conversion over a series of concerts, not a rejected lover, a pot of grits, and a tragic suicide that prompted the soul legend to relinquish a platinum and gold-laden career to become a gospel singer and preacher.                                                             ...

                                                                                                                             "If you can see if you can solve the mystery, the answer revolves around your history."  The opening hook to Rakim's 1997 The Mystery (Who Is God?) easily defines the mystic legacy of the legendary emcee who changed the creative direction of hip hop music back in 1986. Golden era peers like Slick Rick and Big Daddy Kane lamped in the spotlight in all their bejeweled glory. Rakim chose to play the background---oblivious of his popularity but always in tune with his greatness. His line from 1990's Set'Em Straight said it all: " one thing I...

"Part of rap's adhesive is the seamless transition, the sense of continuum, eternity, living with the beat forever"     Barry Michael Cooper: Spin Magazine(1986) "Who da cap fit/let him wear it" Bob Marley (1976) Slang changes like the speed of light---with the swiftness of the latest iPhone rollout. As I watch the peacock vernacular parade go by, words like "drip" and "lit" lead the procession with the stylish strut of a runway model. Fresh faces of yesterday like "fly" "dope" and "swag"   retain a flicker of fame while one rapper remains the face of the entire campaign---Slick Rick the Ruler. One of rap music's greatest artists of all time, Slick Rick's elegant voice is like burnished wood grain. His crystal-clear delivery shines like a winged emblem of a fine motorcar. Premium. Evergreen. Timeless. Rick's   bouncy tracks and nimble storytelling st...