BLACK BOTTOM COLLECTIVE / “Interview w/ a Porn Star”

Kwame is going to jail. A lot of us in the good ole USA who have lived under Negro mayors have been disappointed or embarrassed or just generally unimpressed. The ex-mayor of Detroit, Kwame Kilpatrick is going to jail. Especially in the real big cities, the promise of political deliverance have been dashed by these goats in sheep’s clothing. When I was in high school I was sitting-in and such (arrested a couple of times); did door to door voter registration; later participated in the black liberation struggle, Afrikan Liberation Support Committee and in 1974 was a delegate to the Sixth Pan African Congress, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; in the eighties twice in Cuba; running with the Sandista in Nicaragua during the contra war; like that. I used to suck my teeth when you mention electoral politics to me as a solution not to mention a panacea. Far as I was concerned, if voting could change anything, it would be illegal. But I never gave up on political consciousness as a prerequisite to improving the lot of my people. I voted early for Obama—less because I believed in him and more because I believe in us. One of the byproducts of this presidential election is a renewed interest in political struggle. Sure I want to go beyond where we’re at, go beyond voting and participating in the system, but I know you’ve got to start from where we’re at rather than wait until we were at where I wish we were at. Also, never gave up on politically conscious art. black bottom collective 02.jpg I really like Black Bottom Collective. Really. They are a band out of Detroit that mixes and mashes up popular black music to craft what amounts to an extension of Gil Scott-Heron when Brian Jackson was his partner. I like the seriousness and the playfulness of their music. I like the beats DJ Invisible drops. The arrangements are tight and funky and jazzy. The singing is attractive and the lyrics on point. black bottom collective 04.jpg I really wish we had more music like People Mover. Three of my favorites from their album are 1. “Interview w/ a Porn Star,” which is our feature track. Sexual molestation of children, especially incest, is prevalent in our communities, more prevalent than we care to consider. I work in public high school teaching writing and English. I’m speaking from the experiences shared with me by young people. This song interrogates that reality. 2. “Leave A Message,” which is just a bopping dance track giving play to voice mail. 3. “LOVE” is their best known song. This version is not the one on the album but rather an alternate version. You can see a video of the recording of this version here. Black Bottom Collective is emcee/poet/producer Khary Kimani Turner, also founder and leader; vocalists Tunesia "True" Turner and Karen "Kay Bosco" Bennett; Carl "DJ Invisible" Hollier, also DJ for rapper Xzibit; bassist Kamau Inaede, keyboardist/producer Mark "Swami" Harper; guitarist/producer Edward "Teduardo" Canaday and drummer Ivan "Groove" Prosper. Named for an historic Detroit neighborhood, this is a self-contained band/production unit. Wish there was a BCC in every community, I mean a group functioning at this level of musicianship and social relevancy. Hopefully, a renewed interest in politics will spawn support for groups like Black Bottom Collective. Hopefully, more of us will be inspired to commit ourselves to art for life, art than engages life. Stay tuned, keep struggling… —Kalamu ya Salaam

This entry was posted on Monday, November 3rd, 2008 at 2:07 am and is filed under Contemporary. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.


One Response to “BLACK BOTTOM COLLECTIVE / “Interview w/ a Porn Star””

Vanitawzmfoimto.Wordpress.com Says:
February 18th, 2015 at 10:07 am

Thanks forr finally talking about > breath of life BLACK BOTTOM COLLECTIVE / “Interview w/ a Porn Star” < Liked it!


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