Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, c. February 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an African-American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. After escaping from slavery in Maryland, he became a national leader of the abolitionist movement from Massachusetts and New York, gaining note for his dazzling oratory and incisive antislavery writings. He stood as a living counter-example to slaveholders’ arguments that slaves lacked the intellectual capacity to function as independent American citizens. Even many Northerners at the time found it hard to believe that such a great orator had once been a slave.
Even before President Obama, Douglass became the first African American nominated for vice president of the United States as Victoria Woodhull’s running mate on the Equal Rights Party ticket in 1872. Nominated without his knowledge or consent, Douglass never campaigned. Nonetheless, his nomination marked the first time that an African American appeared on a presidential ballot.
19 year-old new comer, Alessia Cara was known for her acoustic song covers on You Tube. She became an over-night success. She is currently signed to Def Jam Recordings and her debut single, “Here” became an instant hit. The song is her personal experience with going to a party before realizing how much she hated parties. Why I’m here………? I don’t drink when I’m at workplace (at parties ) so I know exactly what she is talking about. It’s funny how these women at the club singing along guzzling alcohol and getting drunk at the same time. Can they relate to the lyrics?
#BDAY – Tank feat. Slya, Chris Brown & Sage The Gemini
Remember Tank? I remember his old hit, “Maybe I Deserve” released about 10 years ago. He’s been active all these years but “#BDAY” might be the big one that will bring him back on the chart. Great birthday song has longevity as you know by 50 Cent and Trey Songz. Put Chris Brown on a song you get an automatic hit.
2 Milly – Milly Rock
New York Brooklyn 出身のニューラッパー。Bobby ShumardaのHot Ni**a そっくりな (フッドなお兄ちゃん達が 近所でただたむろってる光景) ビデオです。ちょいとハードコアな曲です。クラブでもいつもかかってます。ボビーさんは只今ジェイルに居て出てこないので、2 Millyが何かと比べられてる感じぽいですね。でもHot…みたいに大ヒットではないです。
Last year brought Bobby Shmurda’s Shmoney Dance, along with the accompanying hit “Hot Nigga.” This year it’s Bed-Stuy artist 2 Milly’s song and dance “Milly Rock,” a move that replaces the Shmoney Dance while Shmurda is being locked up. It’s a club banger but not as big as “Hot Ni**a.”
The Chicago native dancer/choreographer/rapper DLOW has gained close to 11 million views on his You Tube video which challenges viewers to keep up with him as he flexes his skills by doing a variety of popular dance moves throughout the song. Hip-hop has birthed more dances in the past few years than ever so what would be better than to combine all of the viral hits into one song. DLOW and is crew do dances featured in videos like “Hit the Quan,” “Silento’s,” and “Watch Me.” I’m not sure if his new song, “Bet You Can’t Do It Like Me” would be bigger than “Watch Me” but it became a sensation in Chicago already. I love the groove of this song and people in New York is definitely showing love for the guy from Chi Town.
A$AP Ferg gets Future on his latest single “New Level.” How could it go wrong……? This joint is the hottest item at clubs nationwide. I saw a young black guy at the gym blasting Future’s whole album with his iPhone connected to a powerful external speaker. Hip-hop fans like him worship Future like he is God. When I DJed at a pop up men’s clothing store all the shop staffs as young as late teens to early 20s asked me to play A$AP and Future. I guess Biggie and Jay-Z are just too old school for them……(not for me, though)
“Roses” is a song from American DJ duo The Chainsmokers, from their debut EDM flavored EP, Bouquet last year. It wasn’t an instant hit and gradually catching up among white female club-goers. The song features vocals from Elizabeth Mencel, a.k.a. Rozes. The first they became known for their hit EDM song “Selfie.” How come I never took pictures with them when I worked with them…….too late.
DJ June This Week’s Events
19-Jan
@ Toca Tuesday w/Tony Touch @ The Delancey 10pm ~
20-Jan
@ MBV Wine & Brew 998 Columbus Av & 109th St. 7pm ~
January 18th is an American federal holiday marking the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. It is observed on the third Monday of January each year, which is around King’s birthday, January 15.
King was the chief spokesman for nonviolent activism in the Civil Rights Movement, which successfully protested racial discrimination in federal and state law. The campaign for a federal holiday in King’s honor began soon after his assassination in 1968. President Ronald Reagan signed the holiday into law in 1983, and it was first observed three years later.
Did you know that Stevie Wonder is the one of people who helped create Martin Luther King day?
On the evening of April 4, 1968, teen music sensation Stevie Wonder was dozing off in the back of a car on his way home to Detroit from the Michigan school for the Blind, when the news crackled over the radio: Martin Luther King Jr. had just been assassinated in Memphis. His driver quickly turned off the radio and they drove on in silence and shock, tears streaming down Wonder’s face.
Five days later, Wonder flew to Atlanta for the slain civil rights hero’s funeral, as riots erupted in several cities, the country still reeling. He joined Harry Belafonte, Aretha Franklin, Mahalia Jackson, Eartha Kitt, Diana Ross and a long list of politicians and pastors who mourned King, prayed for a nation in which all men are created equal and vowed to continue the fight for freedom.
Wonder was still in shock—he remembered how, when he was five, he first heard about King as he listened to coverage of the Montgomery bus boycott on the radio. “I asked, ‘Why don’t they like colored people? What’s the difference?’ I still can’t see the difference.” As a young teenager, when Wonder was performing with the Motown Review in Alabama, he experienced first-hand the evils of segregation – he remembers someone shooting at their tour bus, just missing the gas tank. When he was 15, Wonder finally met King, shaking his hand at a freedom rally in Chicago.
At the funeral, Wonder was joined by his local representative, young African-American Congressman John Conyers, who had just introduced a bill to honor King’s legacy by making his birthday a national holiday. Thus began an epic crusade, let by Wonder and some of the biggest names in music – from Bob Marley to Michael Jackson – to create Martin Luther King Day.
To overcome the resistance of conservative politicians, including President Reagan and many of his fellow citizens, Wonder put his career on hold, led rallies from coast to coast and galvanized millions of Americans with his passion and integrity.
But it took 15 years.
“Happy Birthday,” a song celebrating King’s life was composed by Stevie Wonder. He held onto it until “the movement for the holiday was gaining steam,” and made it the centerpiece of his album, Hotter Than July released in 1980.
harlem2nippon.com 