A&E, Music, Quick Hits / November 11, 2019 Amid the Music Streaming Rush, a Vinyl Revival

By Spencer Green After nearly vanishing from store shelves and most households, vinyl records are making a strong comeback.   More than 16 million vinyl albums were sold in the U.S. in 2018, producing vinyl’s highest total revenue in 30 years, according to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Of course, the $419 million...

A&E, Music, Quick Hits / September 27, 2019 Why Your Favorite Songs Seem to Leave You Wanting More

By Alexandra Banks Have you ever been listening to a song from your favorite artist, and right when you’re starting to enjoy the song, it just…ends? Whether this song takes the form of an interlude or just a 90-second melodic experience, it seems as if artists are releasing teasers rather than full-length songs these days....

A&E, Black History Month, For the Record, Music / February 27, 2019 Betty Boop: Inspired by a Black Jazz Singer

By T’Keyah Hayes Betty Boop is widely recognized as one of the most notable cartoon characters and one of the first cartoonized American sex symbols. Her vocal trademark, “Boop Oop A Doop,” and her contoured figure in a form-fitting dress traces back to a black woman by the name of Esther Jones. Esther “Baby Esther”...

A&E, Black History Month, Music / February 21, 2019 Gladys Bentley: Testing the Limits in Entertainment

February commemorates the annual celebration of Black History Month, which highlights the important contributions by people of African descent. Each year, however, we discover that there are many more black individuals and groups that significantly contributed to today’s world, yet remain unacknowledged in today’s history lessons. Black people have made (and continue to make) considerable...

A&E, Fact-Checks, Music / September 19, 2016 #nomakeup with a little help?

Alicia Keys launched a movement after she published a letter on Lena Dunham’s blog, Lenny, in May, stating that she has had enough of wearing makeup everyday. Her reason is simple: “I don’t want to cover up anymore. Not my face, not my mind, not my soul, not my thoughts, not my dreams, not my...

A&E, Fact-Checks, Music, News / September 18, 2016 George Clinton on the Mothership, the Smithsonian — and Funk

The Mothership is the space vehicle of George Clinton aka Mr. Funkenstein and his wingmen of Supergroovalisticprosifunkstication. As part of the Parliament-Funkadelic theory, it existed as a fictional vehicle of funk arrival to engage fans who were down with the P-Funk movement. After the success of his hit “Chocolate City,” Clinton says, the Mothership was later developed into a physical...

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