James Brown on the T.A.M.I. show.  Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones once said that choosing to follow James and the Flames on this show was the biggest mistake of their careers,^[2] because no matter how well they performed, they could not top him.  Michael Jackson was amazing but imo James is the G.O.A.T. (greatest of all time.)  As he said, “I taught Michael everything he knows.  But I didn’t teach him everything I know.” #swag

SchoolboyQ “Fantasy” ft JHene Aiko - This. song. is. a. problem. #thatisall

Frank Ocean “Thinking Bout You” -This guy Frank Ocean man.  I love this man.  I really do.  His videos freak me out and are unnecessarily weird in my opinion, but the music man, the music is just SO bananas.  I’m obsessed with this gem of a song I found.  I think it’s from his earlier days in the studio.  But it is beautiful nonetheless.

Amanda Diva “Trendsetter” This is the newest video off my Madame Monochrome project.  Shot in paris by my peeps at Ofive.tv.  Had a frickin blast.  The painting is hanging in their office now:)

Black Hippy “Zip That Chop That”-On my constant quest for dope new music I stumbled upon Black Hippy.  Kendrick Lamar and company (AbSoul, SchoolboyQ, & Jay Rock) out of LA.  LA’s bench of dope mcs gets deeper and deeper weekly.  I love this record and the video makes u wanna hang out with these dudes.  You can dl their mixtape “Constipation” here

Gil Scott Heron “Pieces of a Man” - Tonight we lost an amazing poet/ musician/ and person.  The work of Gil Scott Heron continued the era of consciousness and Black pride of the 60’s of 70’s and with it’s poetic yet musical form ushered in what we now know as hip hop.  The honesty of his work as it related to him personally, to the world sociologically and to the people without judgement was unique and inspiring.  He was a true artist who’s work was the definition of art as revolution.  We as artists are left with a great burden in carrying on the level of this great creator’s work! RIP GIL! U WILL BE MISSED BUT YOUR GIFTS ENDURE!

thanks! the song is “This Too Shall Pass”. it’ll be on my next album Technicolor Lover :)  [check out the episode here Technicolor Lover EP 13 ]

Bill Withers “Lovely Day” - It’s Friday 13th but there’ll be no wickedness or misfortune today.  Let’s make it a lovely one <3

Amanda Diva “Catch Me”  I only just put this out on my latest release Madame Monochrome but this song is like 4 years old.  That’s how long I’ve been feeling a frustration with hip hop.  Originally Kweli was going to be on the record but our schedules didn’t line up.  Producer extrodinaire James Poyser did the beat.  As were both honorary members of the Roots crew it only seemed right.  It’s funny though, I came up with the idea for this video really randomly and had no idea people would like it as much as they’ve said they have.  It really proves that you often don’t need big money or big production to make something dope.  A lot of times quality and honesty are enough. Enjoy!  You can check out the full project here

Human League “I’m Only Human” I love 80’s music man.  Love it.  I went to an impromptu show jazz musician Robert Glasper did with his quartet The Experience the other night and they did a cover of this record.  I had totally forgotten about but it really is a nice record and I love the arrangements.  I think we can all benefit from the message too.  It can be a bitch to embrace that truth but it is what it is.  Humans screw up!