Here are just a few of my favorite Carlos Santana songs. He is one of my favorite artists and I appreciate him & his extraordinary guitar skills…just a raw talent. Thank you Carlos Santana! One of my all time favorite guitar solos is Carlos Santana’s guitar solo on Put Your Lights On. I mean, that song ( especially the guitar solo) gets me emotional, takes me to another level, and hits me spiritually lol. Once again, Thank you so very much Mr. Carlos Santana.
Dapper Dan of Harlem was the go to custom-fit & tailor designer for many celebs like Bobby Brown, Eric B. & Rakim, L.L Cool J, Mike Tyson, and Salt n Peppa…just to name a few. But, he also catered to non famous people who wanted to spend money ( sometimes thousands) on custom tailored fits and some of his clients included pimps, drug dealers, regular fly girls and guys of the 80s, and just people who wanted to look real ”fresh”. Here are some photos of these people and Dapper Dan’s creations. Every time I look at them, I just smile. Honestly I can see myself in the 80s wearing something bought from his Harlem store on 125th street… maybe not as flashy as some of these fashions. Nevertheless,he helped define what 80s fresh/fly was. Thank you Dapper Dan.
The lyrics to this song is very inspiring and people in my generation tend to set so called relationship goals based off of celebrities that they don’t know and social media images, but to me the lyrics in this song is a real love/relationship goal. I wonder how many people who are in love in my age group (twenties) with their significant other can actually relate to this song. I have not experienced this type of emotion yet in the romantic sense, but I still understand and realize that the lyrics to this beautiful love song is what two people who are happily in love with each other should be feeling. Unconditional, rare, one of kind, and a sacred kind of romantic love. Thank you Mr. Grover Washington Jr & Phyllis Hyman for creating this amazing song before you two left the Earth.
The lyrics of Sacred Kind of Love by Phyllis Hyman
Some people live their lives In such a lofty flight Wishing the distant stars daydreaming What a lovely world You make it paradise I’m a lucky girl Everything feels so nice Don’t you know that we share a blessed love Don’t you know that we have it all Don’t you know that we share compassion love, ooh, ooh Don’t you know that we share a sacred kind of love Being here with you I bask inside your glow Somehow I wish the whole wide world could know What a gift you are Angel from up above So good so far Thank you for honest love Don’t you know that we share a blessed love Don’t you know that we have it all Don’t you know that we share compassion love Don’t you know that we share a sacred kind of love Don’t you know that we share a blessed love, ooh, ooh Don’t you know that we have it all Don’t you know that we share compassion love, ooh, ooh Don’t you know that we have it all Don’t you know that we share a blessed love, ooh, ooh Don’t you know we have it all Ooh Ooh Don’t you know that we share a blessed love And you know we have it all Ooh We share, we share compassion love, love, love We share, we share it all
In this song, they say that a child is born with a heart of gold, but the way of the world makes his heart so cold. Well, I encourage me & everyone else to not let the world change our heart of gold & stay good hearted & positive through it all. Earth Wind & Fire encourages this message in the song. I love this beautiful song and I listen to this inspirational classic everyday.
By Earth, Wind & Fire
Hearts of fire creates love desire
Take you high and higher to the world you belong
Hearts of fire creates love desire
High and higher to your place on the throne
We come together on this special day
Sing our message loud and clear
Looking back, we’ve touched on sorrowful days,
Future pass, they disappear
You will find peace of mind
If you look way down in your heart and soul
Don’t hesitate ’cause the world seems cold
Stay young at heart, ’cause you’re never, never old
That’s the way of the world,
Plant your flower and you grow a pearl
Child is born with a heart of gold
Way of the world makes his heart so cold
Hearts of fire create love desire take you
High and higher to the world you belong
Hearts of fire love desire
High and higher, yeah yeah yeah
Hearts of fire love desire
Ahh higher
We come together on this special day
Sung our message loud and clear
Looking back, we’ve touched on sorrowful days,
Future disappears
You will find peace of mind
If you look way down in your heart and soul
Don’t hesitate ’cause the world seems cold
Stay young at heart, ’cause you’re never, never, never
That’s the way of the world,
Plant your flower and you grow a pearl
Child is born with a heart of gold
Way of the world makes his heart so cold
Hearts of fire, love desire
High and higher, yeah yeah
Hearts of fire, love desire
Steve Perry has one of the most strongest & pure voices in music and although this song is a good one for singing along to in the car on road trips ( especially on long dessert roads with the windows down. hair blowing & stuff like in the movies) and doing karaoke, but this song is also great life inspiration as well. No matter what we’ve been through, how far we think we’ve fallen, or been stuck….’don’t stop believing & hold on to that feeling’. We can find peace/happiness on Earth, it starts from within & everyone deserves to experience peace of mind, inner joy, & new chances to leave all the negative experiences behind. The key is to never top believing we can reach that destination. The destination of long lasting elation.
If you were alive in 1989, or just a classic rap lover like I am, then the D.O.C is someone that you probably know and just these two singles from his debut album proves why he is a very talented and lyrical artist. Not to mention, he described the origin of the technique rap with a well suited definition: Rhythmic American Poetry.
Although everyone has their own style and there are still people who love to dress up for no special occasion ( thank you all) , I love looking at the photos taken in the early 20th century of the people looking all dapper and just all put together…just to grab something to drink, grocery shop, or go for a walk. I understand that everyone has their own fashion style and comfort is very important, but it seems as if people in those eras actually cared more about being put together, not just to impress someone, but because that was a way of life. Not just wealthy people either, but everyone because you don’t need a lot of money then or now to ”dress to your nines”. They didn’t just save their best outfits for Sundays, the clubs, or a ceremony. I don’t believe in saving a nice special outfit for a certain event, I actually feel more comfortable now being dressed up than in a t-shirt & jeans look all of the time. Yes, having casual clothes that is not dressy is good to own as well, but maybe it’s just me being an ”old-soul” or whatever. I just love seeing those photos of our grandmas in those pretty pin curls ( inspiration behind my latest hair do), those nice dapper suits on the fellas, and the children ( especially the little girls) had on those cute ”Sunday” dresses/play suits, but it was not just worn on ”special days”. Some people will claim that it is simply because that was a different era/time, but the dapper look and other vintage trends like the Pin Up Girl/ Rockabilly fashion is popular in this era for a reason. I am constantly inspired now to dress ”to my nines” more days than not whenever I look at those fabulous vintage pictures of my relatives ,images from the internet, and I just smile. Here are a few that helped define what ”dressed to the nines are”
This is one of my favorite Miles Davis songs and I think that Don Cheadle will do a superb job playing the legend in the upcoming biopic, Miles Ahead, which Cheadle also directed. I collect classic records, and recently I have also finally added Miles Davis to my collection. When I listen to this song, I imagine myself in several different scenarios, with one of them being me in a café in vintage Harlem( or any pleasant cafe) listening to this song as the rain pours down outside & I am just enjoying the view because I love the way it looks when it rains outside. The other imaginary scene that I sometimes do in real life is, walking in a beautiful park in the afternoon while listening to this song & just looking at all of the beautiful nature/scenery that is around me. Thank you Miles Davis for making this song, the ”Blue in Green” song and like every other masterpiece. You will always live on.
The lyrics to this classic song describes what a lot of people may be feeling….but no matter how lost you feel in the world, there is always a chance to find your way & be happy. Just don’t give up no matter how challenging things may be, don’t forget to love, and keep a positive outlook even when we are under pressure.
There is nothing wrong with a female who is against slut shaming. I don’t believe in slut shaming, but not every woman has the same mentality when it comes to body count and sex. We are all individuals who have different mindsets, and just because a woman wants to keep her body count as low as possible and does not want to have casual sex without being in a relationship does not mean she is conforming to society or whatever. It just means she is doing what she thinks is best for her. It is a form of hypocrisy for someone to get angry at slut shaming, but will turn around and virgin -shame or ridicule another woman for not being as “free” as they want them to be. People find freedom in different things, and being modest, Abstinent, or “lady like” might give someone the same freedom and happiness that a woman with a different mindset has. The whole concept of women empowerment is supposed to be about uplifting other women with positivity and helping those in disadvantaged situations (education, health issues) & less about freeing the nipple, bashing men in general or bashing those of us who still believe in being classy/ a lady. No matter what “type” of woman you are, we all should uplift each other and encourage equality among every one on this Earth no matter what our personal beliefs are.
The Art of Culture 