SOUL SESSIONS Vol. 1

Donnie ⧫ The Colored Section 
Giant Step Records ⧫  December 2002

The year was 2002.  It was an unseasonably brisk and chilly April afternoon in the oxymoronically dubbed Black Mecca of the south. Around 1pm the sun started to peek through the clouds, and I just finished putting the spit-shining wax on my 4-door, champagne-beige, Acura Legend.  Back in the day, “the Ac” really had some wonderful, common street-cred appeal.  If you had one, it wasn’t quite enough to just lean far right while whippin’ through the city in the Jamaican drug lord-approved vehicle of choice---you almost had to have the 12-inch subwoofers raddling the trunk, where the Honda manufacturer fully expected most luxury car owner’s to store luggage.

Whip Appeal

Determined to be punctual, I jumped on interstate 285 to arrive right on time at Hartsfield-Jackson Airport.  With trunk space now-limited, I loaded my childhood friend’s bags in the back seat, as I scooped him up from his 2 hour flight from NYC.   I’ve known my boy over 30 years and the one thing I know for sure is…, he is probably the only music snob that is more critical than me.   Knowing this fact, I had the perfect CD cued up before he landed.  When I saw his light skin grin, curbside, I pulled up and he hopped in the ride.  Just before his right foot could plant firmly on the freshly shampooed floor, I let Donnie’s culturally-commanding contralto voice fill the car cabin…..

…..Yes I wear the lamb's wool, the feet of burned brass/ And the wool defies gravity like the nature of a gas/ And I'm fine under cloud 9/ Twist my cloud & it rain/ And when it rains it pours/ And the energy will absorb/ Power for the metaphysical one…

I don’t even think we said hello….. He just looked at me with that “fart face” and said, "Rayster…, who in the f___ is that?????????"  And so it began..., our 42-minute journey to Alpharetta, Georgia with neither one of us uttering a word… except for an occasional, “run that shit back or turn that up, man!”  

Donnie Johnson

Lexington, Kentucky 

Donnie Johnson was born 45 years ago in Lexington, Kentucky and his songwriting & vocal gifts will make you believe his energy has been here 400 years prior.  His debut album, The Colored Section just may be the most soulfully captivating piece of work in 40 years.  The first song, Welcome To The Colored Section is an intro that makes you feel like Harriet Tubman was passing notes of her plan to him.   The very next single sets the tone of a dynamic masterpiece that every black household in America should have a tangible copy of.  On our ride to Alpharetta, we listened to Beautiful Me three straight times.  Once we arrived and parked we sat in the driveway, we both, without uttering a single word played it one more time.  The lyrics are nothing short of spectacular:

I was born by the river the day after the tenth/ And its hard to deliver, Scorpio energy's so intense/ Makes me wanna hollar, now I know what Marvin meant/ The industry's so cold, give me the things to my ancestors you owe.

Trust me when I tell you.., you are doing yourself a grave injustice if you listen to this masterpiece without the lyrical liner notes in front of you.  Every black household needs a physical copy of this remarkable album.  Many years later, after my boy’s airport excursion he asked me to describe Donnie’s: The Colored Section and this is what I said:

Imagine if you just landed in this westernized nation for the very first time and you stopped a stranger and asked him to describe black life in America. That person then gave you a brief, but very detailed synopsis and you took incredible notes.  Later in life you found out the person that you spoke to wrote the Bible and your only recollection was the liner notes from your conversation.  


1 Love, 
Ray Lewis  

Editor’s note:

 the 1^st of every month, there will be a new post featuring a classic LP that every black household needs to purchase.