Category Archives: KListen

KListen

K Listen:@kelelam “Bank Head”

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So I know I am often late to the party… it’s not because I don’t want to be there but sometimes I take the scenic route. That’s how I feel about queer artist Kelela and her song “Bank Head”

This is not new by any stretch of the imagination (it came out in 2013) but I heard it just a while ago on set for the first time. I didn’t know who sang it or even the name but it was a vibe that my spirit needed. A lightning speed download of Shazam later (which I didn’t even know was still around) and I was on it. Ever since I have listened to it no less that 50 times, each time vibing like it is brand new.

Chocolate City born, second-generation Ethiopian American, Kelela who was featured on Solange’s Scales, is the epitome of dope black queer everythingness. Her beauty alone is stark and stunning. Hard stop. But once I fell into the rabbit hole that is Al Gore’s internet, I realized her voice was strong and impactful even outside of the studio. She speaks vulnerably and honestly about her experiences in life, love and the black experience. *deep gutteral sigh*

When I close my eyes and hear this song, I picture a dark club where everyone is dancing in what seems like a blur except for me and HER. Lasers of different colors cascade over our glistening black bodies as we move slowly to the drop beat… yeah it is one of those songs. Sexuality in plain sight until… as the song goes “time goes by”

Take a look. Take a listen. What do you think?

Enjoy Continue reading K Listen:@kelelam “Bank Head” →

KListen, Music/Film

KListen: @TiffanyGouche “Fantasy”

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Stolen from her Insta. Follow her!

Tiffany. Tiffany. Tiffany. Where have you been all my life?

*  head shaking and mouth pursed  *

You just spoke life into my whole existence… four years after this song released.

Cali native, Tiffany Gouché is a legit musical phenom. She has worked with a little bit of everyone from Ty Dolla $ign to Jill Scott to mutha Lauryn Hill.

And if you know you know her, but don’t know why you know her, she was a part of the Black and Sexy TV webseries back in the day as well.

But that is all very 2010s, let’s get into now.

When I started listening to this song today…and let the record show I have listened to it twice, I was shooketh. The visuals and movement took me to a place I needed to be. I thoroughly enjoyed the dance homage to the ORIGINAL She’s Got to Have It (intentional or not) that had me grooving at my desk.

The message was timeless. Haven’t we all had that friend that we know is just a friend… but you want to tell your fantasies to? Just me? shrugs

Take a look. Take a listen. What do you think? Continue reading KListen: @TiffanyGouche “Fantasy” →

KListen, Music/Film

KListen: @TheAlsace – On My Grind feat Alicia Renee

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alsace5I have great news that I planned to share with you all a little bit later but y’all know I can’t hold water. Here it goes!

This is my last KListen post! [insert your fake sadface here]. Continue reading KListen: @TheAlsace – On My Grind feat Alicia Renee →

KListen, Music/Film

KListen: @JessicaBetts “Holding On” #LLcoolJess

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291501_194126950652127_5182171_oTwo words: Jessica Betts.

swoon

Now I know some of y’all are squinting at the screen trying to figure how you know that name and that face…. that face.

Jessica Betts was the winner of  Mona Scott-Young (pre-Love and Hip Hop) and Missy Elliot’s reality show, Road To Stardom, back in the day.

Check out youtube for some clips if you want but I can sum up her performances for you pretty simply. Her voice was so soulful and sultry that you didn’t know whether you wanted to slide to church or slide in some… never mind. (Fine Judge Me!)

She seemed to slip off the mainstream radar for a few years after that, coming back in 2012 with this powerhouse jam, “Holding On”.  I still remember the first time I saw this video. I watched with my mouth gaped open and my pearls clutched lol.

Did I say swoon already? Well just in case … swoon.

Take a look. Take a listen. What do you think? Continue reading KListen: @JessicaBetts “Holding On” #LLcoolJess →

KListen, Music/Film

KListen: Mark Ronson feat. Amy Winehouse – “Valerie”

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After my obsession with the last KListen song, QueenS by The Satisfaction, there was only one place I could go. I love this song and actually sang it loud and proud on the way into the office today. In case you missed the title of the post, I was crooning along with Amy Winehouse to “Valerie”.

Let me say this before I say another thing, I knoooooow this wasn’t originally written about a woman by a woman. But once Amy sang the first note it became a lesbian song  for a lot of us… or at least for me.

The video is an interesting one. Though Amy was still alive she wasn’t on the video set. Unfortunately, it seemed like a precursor to her untimely demise. Instead, we get to enjoy a bevy of beauties lip-synching for their lives.

RIP Amy.

Take a look. Take a listen. What do you think? Continue reading KListen: Mark Ronson feat. Amy Winehouse – “Valerie” →

KListen, Music/Film

KListen: Thee Satisfaction (@stasandcat) – QueenS #WorldPride

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Seattle-based duo, Thee Satisfaction’s music has been described as “funk-psychedelic feminista sci-fi epics”. Members Cat and Stasia are not only partners in music, but also in love and life.  They have created several BANGING mixtapes since their 2008 debut, “The Weird” and released an EP in 2012 called “awE naturalE”.

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Have you ever had a song that you knew you were feeling, but once you saw the video you fell into full-fledged love? That’s how I feel about this week’s KListen of their song “QueenS”.

Directed by dream hampton, the video for QueenS is simply EPIC. I am still feeling the effects of its subtle sensory overload. Beautiful women … rich textiles… textured tresses. My head is still nodding and my body still swaying to the beat though the song has long stopped playing.

I am crossing fingers and toes that I can check them out during Toronto pride. They will be performing at the Black Weirdo x bklyn boihood x 88 Days of Fortune: Toronto Pride Party @ Tattoo.
Take a look. Take a listen. What do you think?

Continue reading KListen: Thee Satisfaction (@stasandcat) – QueenS #WorldPride →

KListen, Music/Film

KListen: Joan Armatrading “Love and Affection” [1976]

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Not sure if I am in an emo state of mind this morning, but I have been listening to this song over and over.

Before there was Tracy Chapman or Melissa Etheridge, there was Joan Armatrading.  She is a British artist and songwriter, whose career of 40+ years has garnered her three Grammy nominations, several top 10 hits, and numerous other accolades. In 1976, she released “Love and Affection”, which has been a lezzie (well this lezzie’s) favorite ever since.

Joan-ARMATRADING-001 Continue reading KListen: Joan Armatrading “Love and Affection” [1976] →