Music Monday: King of R&B

Tags

Emily King, new music, new R&B, R&B

Picture it.  North Texas, 2008.  I was enroute to Ft. Worth for a little shopping and R&R when suddenly this guitar groove sings over the airwaves, then, queue the voice.  That voice.  This beautiful, crystal, angelic voice with amazing control and range singing lovely lyrics.  I was hooked and then this amazing voice sang the chorus: Oh, I have been waiting for all of this. You, finally found you, my love has arrived.  Once there was me, now there’s you and I.  O.M.G.  She was singing the words I so hope I’m able to tell the love of my life (whoever and where ever he is) whenever he finds me.  

I enjoyed grooving as the cool, spring breeze blew in my face.  It was the perfect song for a lovely, sunny afternoon.  I was already in a good mood because I was off from work, and I found myself smiling as I sang along to… who is this?  As much as I loved the song, I couldn’t wait for it to end so the radio personality could I.D. this talented artist.  There’s nothing that excites me more than good, original music.  I needed to know who she was so I could go home to find her on iTunes and download the song, or, wait, maybe she has an album.  So, imagine my frustration when the song ended and another followed.

After a day of shopping, I headed back to Wichita Falls where I was working at a local TV station at the time, and preceded to drive the two hours back.  Wouldn’t you know it, the song played again, TWICE!  And after both plays, the song and artist still remained unidentified.  Ugh!  But the chorus was still in my head.  When I settled into my apartment, I logged on to my computer, went to my trusty search engine, and Googled the chorus.  EUREKA!  There it was: Emily King, U & I.  Finally I had a name and title to go with the voice and chorus.

Of course, I had to read more about her and I found out she had just been signed to J Records. 

Fast forward almost three years later, U & I was in my head a few nights ago and like most fans, I thought to myself that it’s time we hear from Emily again.  I Googled her to see if she had new music out.  I live in Pittsburgh, and unfortunately, it’s one of the first cities to experience the demise of black radio, so I’m always late with new R&B. 

Sure enough, when I went to Emily’s website, I was excited to see that she has a new album coming out soon and she’s been touring the local NYC circuit promoting it.  Excited and shocked, actually, because I read that J Records dropped Emily and she’s now an unsigned artist.  How does that happen? 

Her website has an album sampler and I listened to it over and over.  I cannot wait to purchase it when it hits iTunes.  

Like I said, Emily’s hitting the NYC circuit, which is her hometown.  If you live in the New York area, or you’re lucky enough to be there this Friday, February 4, please do yourself a favor and check her out.  This chic is BAD!  See the above video flier for details and don’t forget to listen to her album sampler.  My favorite song so far is “Down.”  I so hope she gets picked up by another record company soon, because talent like this deserves to be signed.

This is just a sampler of what she sounds like live:

31 Days to a Better Me

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2011, 31dayreset, fulfilling dreams, Happy Black Woman, life changes, Life Coaching, reaching goals, resolutions

Friday evening one of my best friends emailed me a link to this website.  I was already familiar with the site, and knew it would be something of interest.  Further in the email she wrote that she had just signed up for a 31-day program, so I immediately clicked on the link.  I scrolled down the website and saw the program she was referring to: A Virtual Coaching Program, 31 Days to Reset Your Life. 

Ding, ding, ding!  We have a winner!  I was immediately stoked about it.  My friend and I have been on this journey for quite sometime on how to better ourselves and fulfill our goals and dreams.  Like so many of us, however, we’ve gotten sidetracked and “busy” and eventually we’d fall off the wagon.  But right before Christmas I’d already claimed that 2011 was going to be different. 

2011 is going to be my year!  No more excuses.  No more saying, “One day.”  It’s time to take charge of my life and become the person I’m meant to be.  I got excited about this virtual coaching program because recently I received great financial coaching from one of the most sought after financial strategists. ( That’s another subject for another blog post because he’s incredibly awesome at what he does, and this man deserves a blog post all to himself).  Anyway, my financial coaching session was such a positive experience–and there will more–I knew I wanted to pursue more life coaching sessions for other aspects of my life.  So there was no thinking to be done, I immediately signed up for the virtual coaching session.  And it’s FREE!  What more can one ask?  Actually, I should rephrase that to: What more can a poor, graduate student ask?  Grad students love Free! 

Within minutes of signing up, I received my first assignment via email.  It was simple enough.  It said that I’ll have to choose a Reset notebook with blank pages for the exercises.  Already done.  And that I needed to choose a positive mantra for a purpose of motivation and/or encouragement, and write it on the first page of my Reset notebook as a kind of blessing for everything that will be written and accomplished in the next 31 days.  That right there jazzed me up even more.  I began to picture myself getting closer to reaching my goals. 

This is going to be a great journey!

2011.  A new year, a new beginning.  If this sounds like something you’re interested in, join me in this 31-day journey and go to Happy Black Woman.  Like the mantra I wrote on the first page of my Reset notebook:

“It’s never too late to be what you might have been.” ~George Eliot.

Wearing Many Hats

Tags

aspiring writers, creative writing, thesis writing

My days and nights have been filled with living in my head, developing characters and stories, and writing.  In the midst of this are classes, work, and traveling home for the holidays.  Sadly, though I had an awesome Thanksgiving, my break consisted of more writing; not much of a break.  I’m in my last year of school, and working vigorously on my thesis.  It’s a collection of race-based short stories and let me tell you, though I was and still am stoked about the premise, it’s been a little hard writing the stories.  I didn’t think writing it would be so hard.  It’s not necessarily hard thinking of stories, I just want to write honestly and do the stories justice. 

In workshops, my biggest critiques are that I write too nicely, or that the stories are too idyllic.  In a meeting I had with one of my thesis advisors, the subject came up again, and I told him that I’ve been trying to write uninhibitedly but I’m struggling.  He asked me why that is, and truthfully, it’s because I do care what other people think of me.  I told him that I need to separate myself: there’s me the person, and me the writer.  He agreed and suggested I literally start wearing a hat of sorts when I’m writing. 

I have plenty in my closets, which will come in handy because by the time I’m finished writing my thesis, I’ll probably be bald from pulling my hair out.

Will Be Back…

Been super busy with school and my thesis, but I miss writing for fun.  Should be blogging away soon!

Cabbage Soup Diet- Day 1

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Cabbage soup diet

Time to get rid of these pounds that have been piling on since before the summer.  More on my progress to come.  Wish me luck!

For more on the cabbage soup diet, click here.

Hair Idol?

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Corbin Bleu, Hair idols, Zac Efron

Yeah, so I know I’ve been gone for a while.  I’ve just been so tired and feeling sleep deprived.  Yesterday I left the office before 3, grabbed a bite to eat and went home to scuff it down before I took a much needed 5-hour nap.  I woke up just in time to watch HawthoRNe.  But I was still sleepy. 

Speaking of watching TV, I was watching E’s The Daily 10 (don’t judge me), and one of the stories was about Zac Efron.  Nah, I’m not a fan, but there was a mention of him hanging with a few members of his High School Musical buds at a strip club.  Hey, guys will be guys, right?  Anyway, one of the guys mentioned was the cute, curly haired Corbin Bleu.  Now mind you, I have many natural hair idols, but is it sad that he’s one of them?  I mean… look at this hair.  GORGEOUS!!!

Am I right?  You know you agree.

More updates on my hair coming up.  I finally used the perm rods on my hair last week, and I was quite pleased with the results.  I’ve just been too lazy to upload the pictures.  (Sigh)… if anyone out there has a remedy for my lethargic state, please comment.  I’m all ears.

Take the Essence Online Natural Hair Survey!

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Essence Online natural hair poll, essence.com, natural hair

Calling all natural hair sisters! 

I didn’t log on to my Twitter account yesterday, so I’m a day late.  But on Monday, Essence.com premiered its natural hair poll.  Is it just me, or does it seem to be a natural hair revolution taking place?… LOL.  To take the survey click here.  By the way:  I absolutely love the curly fro on the model in the article.  Adorable!

ACV Rinse: Does It Really Work?

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ACV hair rinse, apple cider vinegar rinse, Benefits of ACV rinse

How many of you can relate?  You wash your hair, but within minutes your fingernails are embedded into your scalp and you’re scratching uncontrollably.  You could wash your hair on a daily basis and still have a bad case of the itchies. 

Talk about preaching to the choir.  I’ve tried everything from pure tea tree oil, rosemary oil to using shampoos that claim it will wash the itch away and moisturizing my scalp.  Still, nothing helped.  Then I saw this YouTube video about an apple cider vinegar hair rinse and its benefits.  I knew a little about the health benefits of ACV: (1) clear skin conditions and blemishes, (2) improve bowel irregularity, (3) decrease blood pressure, (4) aid in losing weight, but putting it in my hair never crossed my mind.

Anyway, the video claimed that ACV rinses seals the cuticle, smooths the hair shaft, defines curl, promotes moisture retention and eliminates itcy scalp.  ELIMINATES ITCHY SCALP!  Could this be the remedy that I’ve been searching for?  And if so, sign me up! 

I originally started using ACV about 4 years ago because of my stomach condition (IBS), and I always had a bottle of Braggs in the fridge.  But when I ran out, I never replaced it.  I bought a new bottle last weekend and was finally able to do the rinse this past Friday.  I washed and conditioned as normal, then detangled.  I then mixed 1 tablespoon  of ACV to 1 cup of water and applied the entire contents to my hair.  After the application, I massaged my scalp and let it sit for about 2 minutes before I rinsed and re-conditioned. 

Did the rinse work?  Sort of.  As you know, I’m transitioning to my natural hair texture (just one week shy of being 4 months post relaxer), so I have to immediately apply a leave-in conditioner just to get the comb through.  Immediately I noticed the definition of curls on my new growth.  Besides using a leave-in conditioner as a part of my hair care regimen, I’ve been roller setting as a way to eliminate direct heat.  Let me tell you, when I took the rollers out after my hair completely dried, my curls were shiny, spring, soft to the touch, it felt completely moisturized, and I had no problems running my fingers through my hair.  But the itch was still there.  *Sigh!*  I will say that the itch didn’t occur immediately after, but it did still itch. 

Will I discontinue the ACV rinse?  No.  I loved the end result despite my continuous itchy scalp.  I’ll just have to keep researching ways to get rid of this age-old nuisance. 

Have you done an ACV rinse?  Tell me your story.

Kinky-Curly on Target Shelves This Summer!

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Kinky Curly, natural hair care products, Target, Whole Foods

Hooray for Target!  It’s been with the program for us transitioning and curly haired girls from the jump, providing us with wonderful natural hair products such as Shea Moisture, Miss Jessie’s, and Jane Carter.  Now Kinky Curly is due to hit Target in the near future.  That’s great news, right? 

If you can’t wait to get it at Target (and it is only a short wait), you can pick up your favorite-can’t live without-Kinky Curly product at Whole Foods.  Wouldn’t it be great if other major retailers take note and begin selling it, too?  Hint, hint!

Keep an eye open for store listings and additional information.

http://kinky-curly.com/

__________________

I Like Her Hair: Esperanza Spalding

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Esperanza Spalding, I Like Her Hair, Junjo, Prince tribute-2010 BET Awards

I first heard Esperanza on the radio back in 2006 while I was driving.  The station was on a local station that I usually listened to on Saturday mornings because the dj didn’t play mainstream music.  As I pulled into the covered parking lot of my apartment building, her song came on and I was instantly hooked.  I sat in my car until the song ended so I could hear the name of the song and artist. 

When the dj said it was a song released from her debut album– Junjo— I immediately ran into my apartment, logged onto my computer, and searched for her name.  It led me to her website where samples of songs from her album were available.  And it was at that moment that I became a fan.

She’s not only a great vocalist, but a talented composer and musician.  She’s known more as a bassist, but she plays an array of instruments.  And she does it while looking stylish at all times.

Esperanza performing during a tribute to Prince during the 2010 BET Awards