Real Talk. Please read, discuss, forward & reply. Soul Kitchen +

What's up?

I'm going in. How'd Drake say it? Like a life sentence. Right off the top of the email.

For the last few months, I've been going through it. Of my own admission, I'm dope (despite not having used that word in years). I'm the living, breathing definition of fresh (another throwback). And all for one simple reason. I dance to my own drum, like what I like, don't like what I don't like and LOVE people for loving what they love even if I don't like it - like most people wish they could. And because I don't care if you think I'm dope, cause I'm still dope. Dope.

I LOVE music. As you know. As my girl Amanda says, it's my other religion. I love old school. But I'm an R&B dude. I'm a B-Boy. I love soca. Old, new, all music. I love Phil Collins, Wonderwall and Jack Johnson. I love Cyndi Lauper, LSG, The Roots and Nadia Batson.

I quote Jay-z and Biggie lyrics in everyday conversation, and talk about the "musicality" of Tamia singing "the way that you make me sweat... make me want a cigarette and I ain't no smoking chick, but you got me wantin' it...". I wait for the drum to come in on Monica's "Before you Walk out my Life" and pound down with my fist while making a face - like its nasty and I've never heard it before. Despite hearing it 10,000 times. Approximately.

I float through crowds at my own parties and break into the Roger Rabbit at Amnesia, or the A-Town stomp to Usher, or better yet run my outstretched hand up my 45 degree angled leg like Usher at the end of Burn. I do a mean chain spin from the Yeah video and argued that the choreography where he danced out of his shoes was stupid. But the choreography from "If It Isn't Love" was genius. As was the Cab Calloway inspired Janet Jackson, Alright.

I'm a music purist. But I argue the importance of Will Smith to hip hop and on behalf of Soldja Boy - or however you spell it - in barbershop conversations. I get Kid Cudi, all day and all night, but didn't think Lupe Fiasco was the second coming. I'm currently in love with a Canadian artist by the name of Melanie Fiona and constantly walk around singing that I'm not afraid of Lions and Tigers and Bears... or "How It Was Supposed to Be" by Ryan Leslie.

But lately, in all things, including music, I've started to feel like the girl in the Massenfril... massengil, commercial. Not so... fresh. I hear records, and I'm not sure if I'm loosing my ear or if everyone else is crazy, or if they're all liars. For instance. I liked a few of the Kanye records, but really, didn't see what all the fuss was about. Everyone around me was loosing their minds. LOOOSING THEIR MINDS. It's revolutionary. It's incredible. It's amazing. I was like... ahhh... not so much.

I've found myself at a cross roads - and like many times before, I feel like I must go straight at the fork in the road. I've found lately that there's a trend - healthy or unhealthy is not for me to decide - where everyone discusses and disects and pontificates about music, but doesn't FEEL it like - like how a child knows right away if they like it or not... It's broken down - for why it's different... why it sounds the same... why it's fresh, but the raw - KRS ONE explanation of "50 cent is MORE hip hop.. boom bap... than Kanye to me" is lost. When I hear a record like "The Sweetest Thing" playing in the background, I know IMMEDIATELY. I knew when I heard Ryan Leslie's "How It Was Supposed to Be - Version 2"

"Fresh like the kiss of morning dew... that's how it felt that day when we met and I first laid eyes on you... "

And so I find myself in a precarious place with my baby - Soul Kitchen...

A place I've never felt myself in before. One where I want to do MORE, but am afraid that I'm the only one who feels as I do. I want to find a place for artists like Melanie Fiona, and Jazmine Sullivan... for Ryan Leslie... but also for the Sunshine Anderson's, the Tevin Campbell's, The Chante Moore's and Rashaan Paterson's. I want to be able to bring an Erro, a Monifa, an Amel Larrieux or an Eric Benet. You get my drift.

BUT. Something's changed. I sat on the phone with Jem the other day - let me interject: friends are a mirror and sometimes show you right from wrong when you can't see clearly (thanks Jemmi) - reminiscing about when Jonathan Ramos brought unknown acts to the Bamboo on Queen Street. Long ago... and ooooh not so far away, when you were in a room and an artist performed and you LOVED music, if they were good, you ENJOYED the music. You didn't stand up with your arms crossed until a song came on that you KNEW. This is the legacy of the Bump and Hustle's and the Amnesia's.

So when I read Puff say that the DJ killed hip hop the other day, I felt relieved that in some way, despite the fact that he was shooting the messenger who had limited choices, that he was also shedding some light on the truth. VERY FEW play album cuts anymore... VERY FEW are brave enough to BREAK records, and although we live in Toronto, a city now plagued by ONE TOO MANY old school parties, VERY FEWremember anything about an artist that doesn't have a current hit. In the process too, we no longer appreciate the merits of seeing an artist that either WE DON'T KNOW or HAVEN'T HEARD IN A LONG TIME...

To me, there is no such thing as seeing an artist you love too many times. So if House of Blues brings Brian McKnight (my favorite male vocalist whom I've seen EVERY time minus once) now and I have money to see him again next year, I'M GOING. Jonathan Ramos shouldn't feel that there's no market to bring BACK Brian cause the audience will say "ahhh... saw him". Other markets - other audiences see the Rolling Stones a cabillion times... Tight pants there still rocks the half-time show and knee slides his crutches (yes... on purpose to not set off filters) into the camera. And they support and love it.

Bruce can still put out music without anyone saying "but he hasn't had a hit in years" and not listening. The absence of this mindset is the reason that amazing albums like Tamia's and new music by artists who haven't been out for a while like Chante Moore go unheard - without being given a chance.

I first started hearing a phrase in the soca market a couple years back "I don't need to see Machel... I already saw him". I used to screw my face. Too much Machel?

Let me explain. I saw Prince on the Wednesday when the concert came here last year. If I had HAPPENED to see Prince on Tuesday, I would have seen him AGAIN on Wednesday. When Scratch toured with Usher, I went to the Toronto show. In all honesty, I went to see Scratch, (and money was tiiiight like a metro's shirt), but when I got there, I was like I FORGOT HE'S FRIGGIN USHER. One bad decision (making love in the club) doesn't a flop show make. He was INCREDIBLE. I went to see Floetry and came out a fan of Goapele. I went to see Kelis and came out a Floetry fan. This is what this city is BUILT on... A music knowledge and love unparalled ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD.

Now - back to the DJ's... the one's who get blamed when it's not their collective fault. Completely. The audience often times has the attention span of a 4 year old, and the tolerance for things that are new akin to getting some of my friends to eat "raw fish" or try different things off the menus at Winterlicious. Let's just leave it at - they audience is often inelastic and don't like to try new things. Consequently, you HAVE to play the same records. This is frustrating to the djs, and to a small portion of the audience that WANTS more. I want to bring India.Arie, Maxwell, d'Angelo, Music Soulchild, Jill Scott. And in time maybe I'll grow there. BUT I also want to bring Rahsaan, Donnie, Anthony Hamilton, (he hasn't had a hit right?), Vivian Green, Joe etc. - and it's frustrating when its John Legend or Robin Thicke or nothing.

So.

THIS FAMILY DAY LONG WEEKEND SUNDAY... (Monday is the holiday)...

In celebration of Valentine's weekend, I proudly present the first in a series of SURPRISE GUEST APPEARANCES at Soul Kitchen. It won't be every month... maybe not even every couple of months - BUT once in a while, when the mood catches me, I will put on someone that in the spirit of Soul Kitchen represents the PURITY AND PASSION of the artists that built the genre. I refresh the Soul Kitchen mantra of Aaliyah to Zhane and all points in between including but not limited to...

AALIYAH AARON HALL ADRIANA EVANS AL B. SURE ALISHA KEYS ALLURE AMEL LARRIEUX ANGIE STONE ARETHA FRANKLIN ASHFORD AND SIMPSON BABYFACE BEVERLEY KNIGHT BILAL BILL WITHERS BLACKGIRL BLACK MEN UNITED BLACKSTREET BOBBY BROWN BOYZ II MEN BRANDY BRIAN MCKNIGHT BROWNSTONE CAMBELL BROTHERS CAMEO CARON WHEELER CARL THOMAS CASE CASSERINE CHAKA KHAN CHANTE MOORE CHAUNCEY HANNIBAL CHUCKIE BOOKER CLYMAXXX CODY CHESNUT COLOR ME BADD D'ANGELO DAMIEN HALL DAVE HOLLISTER DAVINA DEBORAH COX DES'REE DEVOX DONELL JONES DIONNE FARRIS DONNIE DRU HILL DWELE EARTH, WIND & FIRE ELLIS HALL 3 EN TOUCH EN VOGUE ERIC BENET FAITH EVANS FLOETRY FORCE M.D.'S FOUR TOPS GABRIELLE GEORGE BENSON GEORGE MICHAEL GINUWINE GLENN LEWIS GRENIQUE GROOVE THEORY GUY HEATHER HEDLEY H-TOWN INDIA.ARIE INTRO JADE JAGGED EDGE JAGUAR WRIGHT JAHEIM JAMES BROWN JANET JACKSON JAZZYFATNASTEES JESSE POWELL JILL SCOTT JODECI JOE JOHNNY GILL JOI JULLY BLACK KEITH CROUCH KEITH SWEAT KELIS KELLY PRICE KENNY LATTIMORE KOFFEE BROWN LAURYN HILL LEVERT LIONEL RICHIE LISA STANSFIELD LUCY PEARL LUTHER VANDROSS MARVIN GAYE MARY J. BLIGE MAXWELL MICHAEL JACKSON MINT CONDITION MISTA MONA LISA MONICA MONIFAH MUSIQ SOULCHILD NEXT NICOLE RAY OMAR ORAN JUICE JONES PRINCE PROFYLE R. KELLY RAHSAAN PATTERSON RAPHAEL SAADIQ RIFF ROBERT PALMER RODNEY JERKINS RUFF ENDZ SADE SAMUELLE SAUKRATES SHAI SILK SIMPLY RED SOUL 4 REAL SOUL II SOUL SOUNDS OF BLACKNESS STEPHANIE MILLS STEVIE WONDER SUNSHINE ANDERSON SWEET SABLE SWEETBACK SWV SYBIL TANYA BLOUNT TANYA VAUGHN TAMIA TAMMY LUCAS TEDDY RILEY TEMPTATIONS TERRENCE TRENT D'ARBY TEVIN CAMPBELL THE DEELE TIMEX SOCIAL CLUB TODAY TONI BRAXTON TONY RICH TONY TERRY TONY TONI TONE TRIBE CALLED QUEST TROOP TYRESE UNCLE SAM UNV USHER VIVIAN GREEN WHISTLE WHITEHEAD BROTHERS XSCAPE ZHANE

It doesn't matter if the artist has been here before or not. It doesn't matter if they're last studio album was 1998 or February 12th (like Ryan Leslie). It doesn't matter if they're 50 or 16. If they're TRUE musicians... vocalists like Johnny Gill or Deborah Cox... play the piano like Jon B. or the guitar like Babyface... sing ballads like Tyrese or David Hollister or are a group or duo.

Sometimes there will be an incremental increase in the price of the affair, but I hope that you will trust in my decision making and understand that together we can enjoy MORE than the obvious artists (that too are amazing...).

Back to Jemeni. Jem said... "I like Kid Cudi... but don't care if care if he's number one on the charts - cause Lions, and Tigers and Bears is number one on the JEM chart. Maybe you're evolving. Maybe your role isn't JUST to do big shows in front of 2500 people... but to do intimate Soul with wicked artists that either people don't KNOW are wicked or FORGOT are wicked".

{Make a} Family Day Long Weekend Sunday - Soul Kitchen Valentine's Edition :: BLVD Room

For family day long weekend Sunday, The Soul Kitchen Valentine's Edition shifts from it's usual Friday night slot for an event for single people and their friends with significant others. {Meaning if you have a girl/man, you can come still, but it's all about the single people lol}.

Valentine's day. Everybody knows that single people don't like Valentine's. Especially women. The fairer sex are some real haters. They don't want to go to the club to see all them lovey dovey couples when they don't have a man. But you know what? Couples don't go to clubs for Valentines. And if they do, they leave early to go get some bad Valentine's love making. You know Valentine's love making sucks. You expect too much and it never lives up to the chocolate, flowers and dinner. It's like New Years and birthday lovemaking. But that's another story.

Jester and Kid are ready and special guest Skimpy will be in the house WITH A VERY SPECIAL GUEST PERFORMANCE BY A PIVOTAL 90's VOCALIST.

Soul Kitchen Valentine's Edition: Family Long Wkd Sunday February 15th 2008 - Monday's A Holiday.