I have loved books since I was a toddler. My father said that if I loved him…I would read…and so I did. Growing up, I could always be found with a book in hand or close by. I fell asleep with books in my hands, holding my place in the text with stiff fingers but a firm hand. I read when I ate, barely looking at my food, and my Grandma would often remark, “Margaret..you will probably eat a roach one day because you’re always staring in a book!”  I adore reading..what can I say?

I still remember when I first came across the word Nigger in a book. I was in the fourth grade and I had “borrowed” a book from my mother’s friend downstairs. I promise you I returned it. My mother would visit and talk smack, and when they turned their backs, I would swipe through and hide in my pants whatever books I could get my 9 year old little fingers on. I think she might have known because she always had juicy books lying around. One afternoon, I copped “Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston. Later that night, by the time my eyes got to the line “De nigger woman is de mule uh de world so fur as Ah can see.”, my little body  was almost ready to explode. None of my Little House on Prairie Books, textbooks, or fairytales had language like this. It almost seemed wrong actually seeing it in print, but by the time I got lost in Janie’s story, I became acclimated to it and pretty much forgot about it.

Until the second time it happened.

I was in the 9^th grade at Hunter College High School and experiencing the “cultural mulatto-ness” described by Trey Ellis in the “New Black Aesthetic”.  I was the only black child from the inner city, in an English class of white gifted and privileged children, and while it could be uncomfortable at times being on display, I protected myself by writing great papers but avoiding class discussion. When we read “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison, I let my classmates run the dialog, no way was I going to discuss race out loud with them. On the third day of the conversation, my beautiful black English teacher, that I had begun to admire, turned to me and said “Ok so Margaret, tell the class what it felt like the first time somebody called you a nigger..”

You could have heard a piece of lint drop.  16 pairs of blue, green, and brown startled eyes locked upon me, and I wished I could have dissolved and melted through the carpet. I got really angry about being put on the spot, so I narrowed my eyes and coldly said, “Well no one has called me that until now. Give me a minute.” She grabbed her chest, gasped loudly, and for a second I think I saw what a physical apology looked like. She apologized more profusely after class and I never told on her. What could I have said anyway? She and I both knew that in my working class neighborhood, me and my friends said nigger all the time. My mother said it, my aunts said it, me and my cousins often cracked up about the fact that our religious Grandmother tried not to cuss but would call somebody a nigger in a heartbeat.

But that was different. And what she did was different. Maybe it shouldn’t have been. But it just was.

Always first on the scene, Miss Info dropped a new track by Robin Thicke last night entitled “Another Night” . Produced by the Neptunes, it has a two step feel to it. If this is any indication of what Pharell is bringing over the next year, I am really excited for a resurgence of dance R &B  music.

I really dig it. what do you think?

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Two days ago, DJ Spinderella had a twitter rant after learning Lil Wayne had decided to become a DJ. She had words for a lot of celebrities like Alicia Keys aka DJ Mrs AK-47 and Kanye West aka DJ Yeezy World Peace. Check out the timeline which I was able to get from Carlton Jordan:

I understand Spin’s frustration, I also give celebrity DJs the side eye. How does one wake up and say “Today I’m going to be a DJ because I have the money to buy equipment and I have a lot of music.” Huh? To me that’s disrespectful to the craft of being a disc jockey. It’s true that they aren’t taking any money out of my pocket because I haven’t djayed a bar/lounge in years, but for those big name DJs this creates a huge problem. Clubs would increase their patronage with a big name DJ but are you paying to party or look at Kanye all night. I can only imagine how much it would cost to listen to Lil Wayne spin, but if he’s garbage, what did you really get?

I recently went to the Brooklyn Bowl to hear Talib Kweli spin. Questlove was originally supposed to spin and after the last time I heard him, I knew I needed more. He cancelled and Kweli took his place. He had absolutely no technique. The music choices were all over the place and his transition made grimace. Still, because I love music so much, I tried to enjoy myself.

In my opinion, unless celebrities are willing to take the craft seriously, they should leave the djaying to the professionals. In some cases like Idris Elba or Mike and Pauly from Jersey Shore, they really practice and study. From what I hear about Kanye West’s first gig, he played a nice eclectic mix of music but I hope he understands that it takes more to DJ than a Serato box, a laptop and a playlist.

New Beats By Dre Headphones designed by Oscar De La Renta

These were MADE for DJ Diva..they just don’t know it yet  ;)

I love this video…Get it Grandma!

Miss Aretha Franklin is getting married for the third time at 69. It seems the songstress is in love enough to tie the knot again. To some it may appear to be useless, but from what I’ve learned from my own grandmother, a woman never ceases to want that promise of an everlasting bond with a partner.

4 years ago, when my grandmother was 75, she shocked all of her direct descendants (including me) when she announced that she was going to marry her long time male friend. On New Year’s Eve 2007, everyone who could, made the pilgrimage to Memphis, TN to see our matriarch get married at the family church. The same cousin who married me, said the blessed words over the couple and there wasn’t dry eye amongst the family as they said “I Do”. For the first kiss, my grandfather grabbed my grandmother so fast, he startled her. I couldn’t blame him, after all, she had made him wait 30 years before she said yes. They are the happiest couple you ever did see and according to Grandma, “The pig in the blanket still works!”

Grandma talks about other vibrant 60-80 year olds in her church who still want to get married and enjoy relations with a man. The problem seems to be that the men in their age group tend to gravitate toward women under 60, leaving the women without prospects. I feel bad for them but as I approach 40, I see the same trend. A close DJ friend of mine, who has been a confirmed bachelor forever, recently got married at 50 to a woman in her 30s and they are expecting a baby any day now. I can’t help to think about the women in his age group who would have loved to have been married to him.

Like my grandmother, I tend to enjoy the attention of younger men.  Although I’m single, I’m think by the time I’m ready to settle down again, I won’t have much of a problem. And maybe like Miss Aretha and my grandmother, the third time will be a charm for me too.

I survived @GreenhouseNYC.
— Questo of The Roots (@questlove) December 15, 2011

Wednesday night (12/14/11), I got into one of the most exclusive clubs in New York with my girl Suezette. Greenhouse NYC is notorious for it’s strict door policy and choosey bouncers.  When Teri Woods had a book release party for her book Alibi back in 2009, the club owner refused to let in black people. When I originally saw the invitation pop up across my Twitter timeline from DJ Spinna, I immediately clicked it. DJ Neil Armstrong was having a party to celebrate 10 Year anniversary of  his mixtape “Original”, presented by Adidas.  Questlove was going to be spinning, along with DJ Neil Armstrong himself, plus DJ Spinna and G-bothe Pro, all of whom I follow on Twitter. It sounded great but I also knew it would be probably impossible to get into. My girl SueZette invited me to go to Peter Hadar on the same night. She said the event was free and since I needed to get out of the house it seemed like the perfect opportunity. I met her at the Wip Gallery and there were apparently problems at the door. They were letting in the white people but not the blacks. The bouncer had no guestlist for Peter and when his manager appeared at the  door, they treated her like dirt. I was in shock and was ready to call it a night, when this woman walked over to another female on the line and began talking about the party around the corner. It was the Greenhouse party and the line was around the corner.

Dj Neil Armstrong Celebrates 10 Years of “Original” Mixtape! from Billet Video Studios on Vimeo.

Funny how the last news I put up on this site was about D’Angelo. How long ago was that?  I have done you all a disservice and for that I apologize. I’ve never been an aggregator, but I read a lot of interesting stuff that I should share more. You have been loyal listeners and I hope that you’ll be loyal readers too.

But back to D’Angelo. It seems my virtual psychic plea worked. D’Angelo has finished up his long awaited album,”James River” and now he’s announced a 2012 tour. Don’t get happy unless you have some Euros because he won’t be playing here in the States. D’Angelo will play at Le Zénith on January 29th in Paris, the Paradiso in Amsterdam on January 31rst and the 02 Academy Brixton in London on February 3rd.

I am not surprised that he stepping back on stage overseas. Europeans are generally happy to see an American Singer. (Well maybe not with Rhianna, they recently booed her off the stage in England.) I can just imagine what would have happened if he had missed a note, or if his voice was not the same. He would have been slayed in the media and would again become a recluse from the music world.

I just hope that I get to see him once again on stage. It doesn’t matter if he no longer looks or sounds like this:

For me it’s like that old boyfriend that you don’t expect to want to get back with, but you remember the good times you had when you were together and you would get back with him if the circumstances were different. Ya know? Kinda like this:
Welcome back D’Angelo, I hope.