Tag: music history
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Kevin Aviance’s “Cunty” Remains a Legendary & Impactful Song
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standing at over six feet tall, kevin aviance annihilated social expectations of gender expression all while conquering ballroom and dance music. before making his mark in new york city’s nightlife in the early 90s, he was a commanding presence in ballroom as a member of the house of aviance. in…
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Songs That Soundtracked The AIDS Crisis: City High’s “What Would You Do?”
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What would you do, if you knew that many of the songs that captivated older millennials and Gen Yers were rife with vitriolic judgment? The very bops that defined how we understood our relationship to the world, would now be “Cancel Culture” fodder, and rightfully so. In 2001, such a…
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UNCANNY ALLIANCE
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in the early 1990s, there was no shortage of dance groups from new york garnering national notoriety at both the club and radio level. but only a few were able to brilliantly fuse the complicated feelings of joy and isolation, self discovery, camp and humor into catchy pop hooks the…
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Ten House Tracks From the 90s that Will Lift Your Spirits the way Beyoncé’s “Break My Soul” Does
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if you are up at this time like i am it is probably because you have been dancing in the privacy of your bedroom to beyoncé’s new track “break my soul.” released as the lead single from her forthcoming album “renaissance,” scheduled for release on july 29th, “break my soul”…
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10 Songs Leading the Latin-Freestyle Resurgence
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freestyle music has direct ties to the early rise of hip-hop. like hip-hop, the freestyle genre was led by creative teens from the hood. when afrika bambaataa & the soul sonic force released “planet rock” in 1982, it laid the groundwork for freestyle music. a year later, shannon’s “let the…
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CAUSHUN
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“Would there ever be a place for black gay/queer/SGL in hip hop?”, a question I asked myself in my youth. I didn’t identify with Eminem and most black rappers made it very clear that I wasn’t welcomed in hip hop. Little did I know, I would end up being the…
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OAKTOWN’S 357
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oaktown’s 357 were one of hip-hop’s most exciting groups of the early 1990s. heir combination of catchy rhymes, dope fashions, and stunning choreography not only separated them from other groups like salt ‘n pepa and jj fad, who were garnering attention from top 40 radio, but 357 captivated a generation…
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LIZ TORRES
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one of the first chicago house music singers to garner national notoriety in the mid-80s, especially in gay clubs, liz torres commanded the dance floor with her collaborations with fellow chicago-house pioneers jesse jones and master c&j. by 1990, liz reached her peak when she signed with major label jive…
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MARTHA WASH
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martha wash is one of the greatest vocalists in music history. and i would wager my mariah carey cd collection (which at this moment is 250 plus of cds, cassettes, and vinyl) that you have shaken your ass to a martha wash record. in the late 1970s, marta got her…
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MARY JANE GIRLS
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the pointer sisters, sister sledge and vanity 6 were my earliest introduction to the miracle that is the girl group genre. as a young child trying to make sense of societal demands to be “rougher,” girl groups captured my imagination with their style, choreography, and essence while commanding me to…
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Giving Them Their Roses: A’LISA B
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In 1983, Black pop/dance artist Shannon released the iconic “Let The Music Play.” It was a watershed moment in popular music. Written by a Puerto Rican producer Chris Barbosa, together he and Shannon introduced a sound that not only changed the sound of pop music but laid the groundwork for…
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The Songs I Loved: Mariah Carey’s “Looking In”
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On October 3, 1995, Mariah Carey released her fifth studio album “Daydream.” The album is most remembered for it’s three chart topping singles “One Sweet Day,” “Always Be My Baby” and the ever enduring and influential “Fantasy.” However, the song that has always resonated with me is the album’s closing…