30 Days of Pinspiration: Day 16

Day 16: Forever Jones - "Every Moment"

Check out my explanation here: 30 Days of Pinspiration: Day 16

Source: youtube.com via Michelle on Pinterest

I love y'all for free,
nNb ♥

*Music Review* --> Musiq Soulchild's "Musiqinthemagiq"

"Time waits for nothing, no one and everything"

 ~Musiq Soulchild

Hey everyone!

Musiq Soulchild's newest album "Musicinthemagic" dropped recently on May 5th. I just got the opportunity to listen to it this week, and I have to say that this is some of his best work yet! Usually, there are only a few key songs that I like on ANY album that I hear, but Mr. Soulchild outdid himself this time! I love every single track on his new album! His songs display a very positive message about love, and commitment (as normal) as well as gives listener a catchy tune to jam with. He had a nice balance of slow and fast paced songs on the album, for an overall WIN! I won't go into too much detail about the tracks, because my explanations will not do them justice. I will say this though, my favorite track on the album is "Silver and Gold". Take a listen here:

http://grooveshark.com/s/Silver+And+Gold/3JYdJK?src=5

Enjoy & Stay blessed!

nNb :)

*Artist Spotlight* --> Janelle Monae

"I feel like Harriet Tubman, except I am trying to free people through underground music, to free themselves creatively and inspirationally.” -Janelle Monae

Hey y'all!

After listening to some of my favorite Janelle Monae songs on Pandora Radio, I decided that I wanted to do this edition of Artist Spotlight on the brilliant songstress. Enjoy lovelies!

Janelle Monae Robinson was born on Decemeber 1, 1985 (she is currently 24 years old), in Kansas City, Kansas. She studied theatre at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York. Later on, she moved to Atlanta, GA. where she met up with Big Boi from the group OutKast and founded the Wondaland Arts Society with other young artists.

In the year 2007, Monae released first solo album (which is part of a concept album of four parts or suites) entitled Metropolis: Suite I (The Chase), which was later renamed Metropolis: The Chase Suite (Special Edition), following her collaboration with P. Diddy. The album was well-received and led to a Grammy nomination for her single Many Moons as well as opportunities to open for bands.

Her newest album, entitled The ArchAndroid was recently released on May 18th of this year. Both the 2nd and 3rd suites of the Metropolis concept are combined into this full-length release album (which is SUPER AWESOME, btw!). Here is the main concept for the Metropolis series (from Wikipedia.com):

Monáe's alter-ego, Cindi Mayweather—also the protagonist of Metropolis: The Chase Suite— becomes a messiah-esque figure to the android community of Metropolis. Monáe noted that she plans to shoot a video for each song on The ArchAndroid and create a movie, as well as create a graphic novel for it.

The Metropolis concept series draws inspiration from a wide range of musical, cinematic and other sources, ranging from Alfred Hitchcock to Debussy to Philip K. Dick. However, the series puts Fritz Lang's 1927 silent film Metropolis, which Monáe referred to as "the godfather of science-fiction movies," in special regard. Aside from sharing a name, they also share visual styles (the cover for The ArchAndroid is inspired by the iconic poster for Metropolis), conceptual themes and political goals, using expressionistic future scenarios to examine and explode contemporary ideas of prejudice and class.

Monae does not associate with just one genre of music. Here is what she thinks about the categorization of her music:

"It's the things that you don't do that makes you who you are.”, “Don't put a label on your art, let others decide what they think it is, and while they are deciding or trying to figure out what to call your art and name it, you just continue to do more art.” -Andy Warhol. This quote got to me because as an Artist, people always want to categorize you and say oh, you are in this category, but there is nothing that I limit myself to doing. Categorizing myself will only limit my growth."

To get an idea of her musical style, she is a mix of pretty much afro-punk, funk, dance-punk, Indiie pop, pop, soul and much, much more! Below is a video of my favorite song from her first album Many Moons:

Check her out y'all!

Stay blessed,

nNb Y

*Artist Spotlight* --> Brooke Fraser

I won't find what I am looking for
If I only "see" by keeping score
'Cos I know now you are so much more than arithmetic
'Cos if I add, if I subtract
If I give it all, try to take some back
I've forgotten the freedom that comes from the fact
That you are the Sum
So you are the one
I want
~"Arithmetic" by Brooke Fraser

Hey y'all!

So...after listening to one a worship song from the worship team at Hillsong Church, I heard one of their beautiful songs entitled Hosanna. After I listened to the lyrics and watched the video and YouTube MANY times (lol!), I decided to look up more about that particular song. This is when I learned that Brooke Ligertwood (stage name Brooke Fraser) wrote that version of the song! She has such a beautiful voice! I've heard her lead the worship team in other songs as well, and so I decided to look her up to see if she had made anymore songs recently. Turns out, she also a mainstream recording artist and her music is all over the world! Talk about awesome!

She's got a total of two albums out right now: What to Do with Daylight (2003) and Albertine(2006). She also has another album slated to come out within the next couple of months. One of my favorite songs comes from her first album and it is entitled "Arithmetic". In this song, she is singing about how God is the only one that she wants. I really love this track and I love the music video as well. Check it out below:

Here's another video of her with Hillsong Church singing "Hosanna":

Check her out and tell what you think...comment below!

Peace,
nNb Y

New Segment on Blog: ARTIST SPOTLIGHT!

"Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything. "

~Plato

Hey y'all!

I'm baccccccccccccccccccck! It's been a long time, I know...I'm almost done with school...2 more weeks, just bare with me...

I've decided to start a new segment on the blog dedicated to artists that may or may not be well-known. I'm doing this because sometimes you can be soooo into your own music that miss out on chances to hear new music...who knows, maybe one of these artists will be added to your already booming music rotation :)

Peace,

nNb Y

WEEKLY CHALLENGES :)

There is no Challenge more challenging than the challenge to improve yourself.

-- Michael F. Staley

Hey y'all!

I was on one of my favorite natural hair sites (curlynikki.com) and I was looking at the health and fitness forum and saw a topic that mentioned something about weekly challenges. This seems like a GREAT idea, so I've decided to do the same type of thing. However, instead of focusing on just health and fitness, I want to incorporate other things like education, music, hair challenges and sooo much more! This will force me to post more on here (hehe) and it will also give me a way to connect with other people who are in similar situations as myself. These challenges will not be easy...they will be designed to take you out of your comfort zone :)

Here's the setup:

• Each challenge will begin on Monday of the week and will end at 11:59 the following Saturday.
• I will try to alternate the topics from week to week to get some variety. If you have any suggestions for challenge ideas, shoot me a message or just comment below.
• Update everyone on your progress below in the comments section.
• If this gets really big, (I'm hoping it does!) I'll create a separate blog for it :)

The first challenge will be posted on Sunday, Jan 24th. I'm really excited!!!

Peace,

nNb Y

SPIRITUAL ANALYSIS: *What is Love?*

Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.

-Lucille Ball

Hey everyone!

One of my favorite songs is entitled "What is Love" by Vivian Green. It has a really mellow beat and I can listen to it on repeat for hours and just relax. Today I was listening to the song and for the first time, I actually listened to the words in the song... normally I sing along with her (off-key, lol!) and jam to the music. However today, after LISTENING to the words, I started to realize that I could really relate to them. I was essentially the woman in the song... That kind of got to me and it made me start analyzing how I ended up in that position...Before I go on, take a look at the lyrics:

Vivian Green - "What is Love?"

Verse 1

Maybe I am foolishly in love with someone that is

Not exactly on the same page that I am on

Well all my friends keep telling me stop walking round so blindly

But when he calls they're not around to ever remind me

Chorus

Maybe this isn't love

But if it isn't love then really What is Love

Maybe I don't really need to know What's love

Cuz when he's around he got me feeling some kinda way

(Repeat 1x)

Verse 2

I guess I kinda noticed he don't always act so kindly

But that doesn't stop my hunger, hunger for his heart

Now should I listen to those who think that I should move on

Maybe what they see as drama I see more as art

(Chorus)

Bridge

I can't seem to get past what he makes me feel

It may not be love, but it feels so real

Can't go with what they say must follow my heart

But now is that even being true to me

May not be happy, truly content

But maybe this is as good as it gets

But it may be my confidence so now I'm just thinking all hopelessly

(Chorus)

(Instrumental)

Listen to the song below:

For a long time, I depended on other people to bring me my happiness. I always focused on what people wanted me to be instead of what I wanted to be. This brought a lot of unhappiness in my life because it seemed like the harder I tried to please others, the more I would fail. This also directly ties to my past relationships with men.

I NEVER felt pretty while I was in a relationship. Even if the guy that I was with told me that I was beautiful, I wouldn't believe it. In my mind, things like that were said because he only wanted one thing... I had been through several rocky relationships and each one had me feeling lower than the last. After a while, I convinced myself that my extreme feelings of insecurity were normal among women around my age, body shape and size. I couldn't fathom having a man in my life that would say all of those positive things and actually mean them....to me, that was just a dream...

This song encompasses a lot of what I did and what I went through in the past. I had several relationships were guys tested me both mentally, physically and spiritually...and sadly, I failed every one of those tests.

After lots of prayer, reflecting and soul-searching, I was finally able to stand in front of a mirror, hold my head up high and say "YES, I AM BEAUTIFUL!". Through reading the bible and talking to spiritual people, I had learned to appreciate who I am and then I began to love myself. Don't get me wrong, I still have days in which I feel low, unloved, unappreciated and ugly, but I just remember that God LOVES me so much that he has forgiven me of all my sins through the blood of Jesus Christ! (John 3:16)

I might have rambled or I might have gone completely off topic, but this song really brought back some painful memories...while at the same time giving me hope. I have come a long way from the extremely shy and insecure girl I once was and I've got a long way to go...

...the journey continues...

Peace,

nNb Y

New Hairstyle Attempt! --> Bantu Knot Out (and Extras!)

"People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within."

- Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

Hey lovelies!

Although I have been swamped with studying for finals and preparing for presentations, I somehow found the time to look up a natural hairstyles. During my search, I found a lot of great styles on Curly Nikki . I am sooo excited to attempt to try some of them! Check it out when you get a chance!

Ok, so I attempted to do a bantu knot out today and the results were FABULOUS!!! Here's what I did:

1.) First, I deep conditioned my hair with Jane Carter's Nutrient Replenishing Conditioner.

2.) I detangled then I used a special leave-in conditioner concoction that contained: Honey, Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, Jojoba Oil, Vitamin E Oil, and hot water. It makes my hair feel so soft!

3.) Then I sealed my hair with Elasta QP Mango Butter, Herbal Essences Totally Twisted Conditioner and Kinky-Curly Knot Today.

4.) I parted my hair into 4 sections and held each section with an ouchless hair tie.

5.) Working with one section at a time, I made small parts and began to two strand twist the hair. Afterwards, I wrapped the twist into a ball and tucked the loose end of the twist into the ball.

6.) Let air dry...however, I blow dried mine (I was crunched for time).

7.) Beautiful curls!

Before I head out, I just want to mention that there are a few artists that are really making some powerful music:

Raheem Devaughn - "Bulletproof"

Sade - "Soldier of Love"

Chrisette Michele - "Blame it on Me"

Peace,

nNb Y