r&b

Record #836: Janet Jackson – Control (1986)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

Have any of the Jacksons been as unfairly treated as Janet?

Sure, Tito has been the butt of the joke since the Jackson 5 days, and La Toya has been remembered more for being the spokesperson for the Psychic Friends Network, but neither of them were ever regarded that seriously.

Janet on the other hand…Before the Super Bowl incident turned her into a punch line (and brought the term “wardrobe malfunction” into the vernacular), there was a time when Janet wasn’t just poised to live up to Michael’s star—it looked like she might pass it.

Control, her third record—and first after firing father Joe Jackson as her manager—is a massive statement that established her as a megastar in her own right, kicking off a run of five straight Number One debuts, and serves as a reminder to anyone who has diminished her place in pop culture to Nipple Gate.

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Record #806: Amy Winehouse – Back to Black (2006)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

In the summer of 2008, three of my best friends from college interned together at their church. Meanwhile, I was interning at a church in a city about 45 minutes away. Throughout the internship, two of them tortured the third, Josh, by singing the hook to “Rehab,” drawing scoffs every time.

The following semester, Josh and I were roommates, and I had drawn much delight from buying records that would annoy or confound him. His look of disgust as he asked, “what is this?” was almost as rewarding as the music itself.

One day, hoping to keep the prank going, I bought a vinyl copy of Winehouse’s Back to Black. To my dismay, he joyfully sang along with every word of the track that tormented him.

I sold the record a few months later, but not before it got its hooks in me. In the years since, I have wrestled with the choice to purchase another copy over and over. This copy in particular was in the “Buy it Later” section of my Amazon cart for months before I accidentally bought it alongside a bottle of conditioner.

Accident or not, I’m glad to have it back.

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Record #810: Childish Gambino – Because the Internet (2013)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

2013 to 2014 was a frustrating period for Community fans. Despite a number of behind the scenes changes, there was a notable absence of Troy Barnes, the lovable idiot played by Donald Glover. He only appeared in five of the season’s thirteen episodes, then announced that he was leaving the show to focus on his music career.

At the time, it felt ill-conceived. He had already released some music under the name Childish Gambino at the time, and while it was fine for an actor’s side gig, it definitely didn’t seem like the sort of thing that had strong enough legs to build a career on.

Then Because the Internet dropped, and we realized what fools we had been.

Read more at ayearofvinyl.com #childishgambino #hiphop #r&b #rap #vinyl

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Record #571: Michael Jackson – Thriller (1982)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

For a moment, let’s forget about the plastic surgery, the Peter Pan syndrome, the dynastic marriage to Lisa Marie Presley, the allegations against him, and his bizarre persona.

Michael Jackson was the bonafide King of Pop. And no one else even comes close.

And while his studio discography has no shortage of straight bangers, Thriller was the album that cemented that status, and it remains the most consistent and rewarding listen. But hidden deep within the wall-to-wall hit singles is one of the most revolutionary albums for racial justice ever.

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Record #539: Marvin Gaye – What’s Going On (1971)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

After ten albums of the sexiest R&B mankind has ever known, Marvin Gaye’s world fell apart.

His longtime writing partner passed away from cancer. His wife left him. He was caught between the IRS on one side and a stifling record deal with Motown Records on the other. He was troubled over his brother fighting in Vietnam, ande was fighting his own losing battle against his cocaine addiction.

He was a rising star internationally, but he felt like a fraud. After a night pondering over a handgun in his hotel room, he decided it was time for a change. He grew a beard, pierced his ear, and found religion.

Then he dropped What’s Going On, a masterful and poignant protest album.

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Record #442: Kings Kaleidoscope – Becoming Who We Are (2014)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

becoming who we areOnce upon a time, the Church was the center of all high art. Most important musical and artistic works during the Renaissance were commissioned by the Church to announce the mysteries of the Divine.

But over the last few hundred years, things have changed. Christian art is now the realm of cheap, oversentimental schlock that sells on sentiment alone.

Kings Kaleidoscope has had enough of it.

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Record #236: Janelle Monae – The Archandroid (2010)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

the archandroid
Janelle Monae is a chameleon of the finest form. She has been leveled comparisons to James Brown, Prince, David Bowie, and Jack White, and trekking through the monolithic The Archandroid, each one of them stands up to scrutiny.
Monae sets her feet firmly in funk and soul and gropes wildly in all directions grabbing a bit of hip hop, a bit of garage rock, a bit of disco, a bit of MPB, all dashed with a healthy dose of afro-futurism.
And the most telling of Monae’s talents is that such a disparate sounding record not only works, but excels, even with such a goofy premise behind it. Because let’s be honest: a genre-spanning concept album about a robot who is also the Messiah who falls in love with her maker in a city where dancing and love are outlawed should be ridiculous to the point of being unlistenable. But it’s actually one of the best records to come out of the last ten years.