Long live Michael.  This video rocks. 

"we sumthin sumthin sumthin, we keep our standards ever high and throught the years we'll alway try!"

About as much as I remember of our school song.  This kid is great! So smar, so cute he's goes to my 8th grade alma mater!  He could teach me a few things ;-)

I laughed really hard and now I'm speechless.

On The Corner Episode 1 - About Tiger Woods.... from Leigh Davenport on Vimeo.

Mike Dee from Leigh Davenport on Vimeo.

N. from AV Rockwell on Vimeo.

The happy family man poses for The New York Times this summer. 

Yesterday's Beyonce Concert Special had me revisiting the I Am Sasha Fierce album, which is not my favorite though I think I would have liked it better if it was all on one cd.  Anywhoo, found these two girls doing a cover on youtube.  I am impressed.  That takes a lot. 

Not bad right?

2.8.10

Sade is Back. 

Beyonce performs Halo for sick children in Singapore. 

Stop hating on this girl.  She is talented.  Period.

There’s a point in the night when I’m out dancing when the DJ plays a record and I know my spirit is about to fly.  It happens late in the night, which is why I don’t often arrive before midnight.  “My set” usually starts around 1:30.  “My set” feels like freedom, it moves without restriction and it sounds like this 

Baby Im Scared of You - Womack And Womack

and this 

Water No Get Enemy - Fela Kuti.  

When these songs start to play as the crowd thins out I move further to the center of the room and let all those years I spent in dance class guide my body on the floor to the sound of soul, funk, house and afrobeat.  

It has been in these moments of unedited movement that I came to love the music of Fela Kuti.  Insatiable woman that I am, soon I started chasing after that feeling daily.  It wasn’t long before the first song to play on my ipod in the morning became “Water Get No Enemy.”  As I shuffle-skipped-danced to the subways it never crossed my mind that people had never heard of Fela Kuti.  It also never crossed my mind that I was actually very ignorant about him myself.  Last year when I traveled to Nigeria I had the opportunity to go to The Shrine, walk around, see the photos and the feel the energy.  I was appreciative of that moment at the time but in hindsight I was ignorant of where I truly was.  Even though I knew Fela’s songs, I didn’t know Fela's legacy. 

Wednesday night I had the opportunity to see the recently opened Fela! on Broadway.   It was a skillfully crafted biographical account of Nigerian musician Fela Anikulapo Kuti's turbulent and triumphant life.  Credited as the creator of afrobeat, Fela’s influence mirrors closely to the life of Jamaican reggae legend Bob Marley.   Both are extremely gifted musicians who pioneered new sounds in their homeland, both were strongly vocal about political injustice, both were persecuted for their political views and influence amongst their native people, but both do not share in global recognition and acclaim.  While Bob Marley's face and name is internationally recognized, there are millions of people who have never heard of Fela Anikulapo Kuti.  This is partly because Fela’s homeland of Nigeria is too distant from the American consciousness for the mass culture to become particularly interested.  Unlike Jamaica, very few Americans make Lagos an annual tourist destination.  And because Fela spent minimal time in the U.S. and concerned himself deeply with the politics of his homeland, his music can be easily overlooked.  But to overlook the music of Fela Kuti is a cultural travesty.  To not be blessed by the spirit that lives in Afrobeat is to do what Americans so often do.  That is, to not partake in foreign cultural expressions that don’t fulfill our fantasy of the “other” or our exoticism of what we do not know.   There is not fantasy in the staunchly political lyrics of “Zombie,”  and yet, the brass, bass and feel of much of Fela Kuti’s music is far too familiar to call “exotic.”  Perhaps that is why I love the music so much.  It is so much of jazz, so much of funk, so much of soul and completely Africa. 

Though Fela was no saint, like Marley he had questionable views on women and relationships, he smoked quite a bit of marijuana and was guilty of being a tad bit of an egomanicac.  To overstate his importance in the musical landscape is damn near impossible.  It is my hope that Fela! the broadway musical will help to bring his music to the forefront of America's pop culture mindset.  If properly adorned with Tony nominations, which without a doubt it should be, perhaps the media blitz will finally pique the curiousity of enough ignorant media executives that a couple of long overdue documentaries, prime-time specials and even a movie might pop up.  If so, hopefully they will call it "Black President."  (that's a Fela reference look it up.)

I also hope that Fela! will rekindle an interest in his complex political life and struggles in Nigeria, that it will reignite a passionate call for African diasporic unity and finally bring Fela Anikulapo Kuti the credit and recognition he deserves.  For certainly he was one of the most gifted musicians of the 20th century.  His death of Aids in 1997 was not internationally broadcast like Michael Jackson’s, there was no Hollywood funeral or 24 hour news coverage.  But his influence on millions of people in Africa and throughout the world deserves a fitting legacy. 

Last year I spent three months traveling throughout Africa interviewing popular musicians.  The five days I spent in Nigeria were by far the most trying and the most enlightening.  There are superstars in Nigeria that we have never heard about.  They can tour through Africa to packed stadiums without any desire to play in the U.S. because in case you forgot  1,000,010,000 live on the continent of Africa, 154,729,000 in Nigeria alone. Relatively, the U.S. is a small market.   So resist the temptation to snidely dismiss the fact that you may not know this Fela Kuti character and consider the fact that in the world, you’re likely a minority in that ignorance.  Get with it.  Go see the play.  

Oh and might I add the cast is phenomenal.  

I'm back! ;-)

Sorry guys.  I know it's been two months.  I was trying to save the children.  I'm back now.  Everyday.  And to celebrate...my latest favorite thing to watch. 

During Fashion Week I had the pleasure of meeting and awesome designer named Cody who's clothing line Priestess made me long for cute cropped jackets and fun mini-dresses to wear all fall.  His light fund and trendy brand appears on bodies around the globe and of course on some of your favorite New York City fashion trendsetters.  Check him out!

Cody, the brains behind the style and Melyssa Ford

I know I know I went MIA again.  Sorry folks, school was kicking my butt.  And I do this for fun remember ;-)

Jay-Z was on Oprah.  It was pretty mom-middle America proof.  Bill Maher was way better.  But I did find his comment on Chris Brown and Rihanna interesting.

Macy Gray WAS, keyword WAS on dancing with the stars.  She was eliminated first round much to her devastation.  I mean she tried....

Ebony and Jet is in danger of folding....

Chicago is in full Olympic mode....

We did the radio show again!

And this guy really tickled me.  His philosophy, "if you're not single, you're married..."  Watch and laugh...