Music Mondays: Lauryn Hill Returns, Chance Drops Acid, Q.U.E.E.N.s Take Over, and more!

Wednesday:

And the video that pretty much made the rest of the week irrelevant (but… shhh. Let’s not tell the others), Erykah Badu joined another badass of music Janelle Monae to strut her stuff and show the world that a true Queen doesn’t care for your ideals. One of the most powerful anthems to come out of the last five years. It’s simple and has very little in the way of pretense. But that video is probably the fiercest thing to happen this week.

One the heels of that incredible video, there was tragedy. Chris “Mac Daddy” Kelly, half of the 90s hip-hop duo Kris Kross died at the age of 34. It’s not something I want to dwell on. Not even something I wanted to believe. It’s crazy to say this, but they’re really the first group that made me take notice of hip-hop at an early age. From then on, I sort of fell in love with the genre and with the prospect of its artistry. I have Kris Kross to thank for that. You’ll forever be missed, Mac Daddy.

There was new music from Alicia Keys (New Day [MV]), Osulnade (Journey Deep [1]), and Stones Throw artist Myron & E (If I Gave You My Love [1]). The latter track has a very old school sound, a la the likes of the Chi-Lites and the O’Jays. It’s the type of sound that you can easily sink your teeth into.

And more hip-hop just keeps coming out of nowhere. It seems 2013 is headed in the right direction to become an electrifying year of music, especially in hip-hop and R&B. The White Mandingos is the product of Murs from Jamla, Darryl Jenifer, and Sacha Jenkins SHR. It’s no surprise that this brilliant piece of music would have connections to 9th Wonder’s Jamla squad. But it always comes as a bit of a pleasant shock to hear such intelligent music.

Cy

As unexpected as my path was to loving all things weird, more unexpected is my ability to get attention for writing about the stuff.

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