Welcome her back ya'll!

This cover speaks volumes. She is coming back hard and with a vengeance. I'm excited. I don't always talk up CD releases but you have to remember, this woman was a childhood crush for me. LOL





CD Title: " I Look To You "



Street Date: September 1, 2009

Missing Michael

This is craziness...I have been thinkin of what I can say about the terrible loss that the ENTIRE WORLD is now feeling over Michael Jackson's sudden death at 2:26PM PST on June 25th, 2009.

I was just searchin for my favorite songs by him last week while I created playlists on imeem.com. But all day yesterday while I sat with my eyes welling up as I watched the news reports, I remembered my own experiences and wonderment at this super icon..the greatest entertainer of all time! I think back to the day we bought the "Thriller" record with his picture imprinted on both sides in full color. Haven't seen anyone do that before or since! I think of the crazy talented dance moves he INVENTED (think Moonwalk) and the creative and compelling videos he released to his fans. I think of my sisters' walls covered in his posters. I think of the MJ doll at the house - complete with the legendary zippered leather jacket and the sparkly glove (left hand ONLY!) :) I think of the Pepsi commercial. I think of his perfect jheri curl and babyhair on the sides. I think of his interesting and influential fashion-sense. I think of "We are the World".

I wish he was able to make that comeback he dreamed of...that 50-date tour. I wish the media didn't rip him to pieces over bad choices. I wish he didn't have to resort to living his childhood throughout his adult years because his childhood was pounded out on stage under the strict ruling hand of his father, Joe, who reportedly called him "Big Nose". I wish alot of things for him...now I simply pray his family is encouraged and comforted during their time of bereavement. The first of the Jackson children is gone ya'll, and sadly one of the youngest. He would have been 51 years old in August.

Even if you didn't necessarily like him, you HAD to respect him for his ability to make people scream and cry and pass out just at the sight of him... Plus he defined music and dance for nearly 40 years.

YOU WILL BE MISSED MICHAEL JACKSON!!

August 28, 1958 - June 25, 2009

*Check out this HOT live MJ mix that a DJ from Florida did at the club last night!

http://www.zshare.net/audio/618787244950a135/

Music Changed My Life

I was just thinking on the things that seem to have influenced me as a person. There are many... but I feel that MUSIC is easily the most powerful thing to ever really happen to me, aside from God of course. Music has the power to encourage or educate, to evoke laughter or a myriad of thought. Then there is baby-makin music and chill music and music that makes you dance. Even deeper than all of that, music can literally change you. I was listening to Jill Scott's "Who is Jill Scott" CD earlier and remembered vividly the very day that I first heard it in it's entirety. I was driving home from work on a rainy and cloudy afternoon with one of my homies. I had purchased it at lunch and waited until after work to open it up. I popped it in and allowed her words and sounds to gently massage and enlighten me. We both rode in total silence - hypnotized and captivated by the fresh sweetness of this voice, this force that was taking us on a journey of answering the question: "Who is Jill Scott?". That was one of the most powerful moments that I have experienced with music. (Congrats to her and her fiance, by the way, on the birth of her first baby - JETT HAMILTON ROBERTS born on April 20th) There are some other CDs/albums that have done the same type of thing to me. They mark significant and memorable times in my life and they never ever get old to me. Most of them were introductions by artists that I am now a huge fan of. I'm almost afraid to list them as I know the list is largely incomplete and as soon as I publish this post, there will be countless others that come to mind. But either way, I just took a quick mind inventory and here is what I came up with:

R&B/Soul/Jazz

Jill Scott - Who is Jill Scott? Words and Sounds Vol 1

Erykah Badu - Live

Norman Brown - After the Storm

Lalah Hathaway - Self-Titled

Will Downing - A Dream Fulfilled

Anita Baker - Rapture/Compositions

Donnie - Can't recall the CD name. Help!

Mary J. Blige - My Life

Milira - Back Again

Jennifer Hudson - Self-Titled

Ledisi - Lost & Found

Gospel

Kim Burrell - Everlasting Life

Israel Houghton - Live From Another Level

Sunny Hawkins - More of You

Fred Hammond - Pages of Life

Donnie McClurkin - Live in London

Kirk Franklin - The Rebirth

Donald Lawrence - Law of Confession

Kim McFarland - New Life

What has changed your life? Any significant music?