On Saturday, Sept. 5, 2010, the second annual Leimert Park Village African Art & Music Festival’s theme was “Community Counts.” A tent-covered parking lot across from Ackee Bamboo Jamaican Cuisine was converted into a music festival grounds. Bonnaroo with fly juice. The community was in effect: geles, goatees, dashikis, dreads,......
Photo by Marc Seliger “I like Lenny Kravitz.” This phrase could easily appear as No. 1 on David Letterman’s Top 10 under the heading “Top 10 Things a Music Critic Should Never Say.” Lenny Kravitz is the whipping boy of rock & roll. Air-guitarist critics rush to castigate his licks,......
There was a time in hip-hop when style was everything. You could be saying anything or nothing, but if either was performed with enough charisma, it could get you over (see Sugar Hill Gang’s "Rapper’s Delight"). Which isn’t to say that substance wasn’t appreciated — Public Enemy’s success showed us......