SOUL SESSIONS Vol. 2

I want you to turn your clocks back to May of 1921- the very last month that a predominately Black community witnessed true, self-preservation built on its own merit.  This was such an effervescent time, in a somewhat obscure part of the country; that black people were literally walking halfway across the nation to be a part of a community they truly organized and controlled. This 2-mile treasure was neatly tucked in Tulsa, Oklahoma and was littered with Black-owned and operated banks, hospitals, law firms, newspapers, grocery stores, hardware stores, schools, entertainment venues, transportation and retail stores.  What a beautiful time to be black in America’s Greenwood community. 

This neighborhood was so electric that the residents hardly noticed the fizzling economy outside of the thriving 1,280-acred paradise.  And, as fate would have it, less than a decade later, the Great Depression would cripple the entire country and forever be remembered as Black Thursday.  

Talk about irony. 

Meanwhile, this incredible, booming black town soon found out that their neighboring, white “peers” were riddled with envy.  And, never one to shy away from stealing a culture’s resource, they attempted to impose “some legal measures” to slow down the Greenwood community’s generational aspirations. Impatient and unwilling to await the time it would take to enact such an egregious legal act (the “tweaked” plan would later be known as Apartheid) -- these head-hunting hooligans had a swifter system in mind.  

On May 31st, 1921, in one of the most heinous acts that the US has unleashed on its own citizens — all in an effort to make America Greater again -- a bomb exploded in the heart of the Tulsa, Oklahoma city.  Within hours, thirty-five blocks were ablaze. The entire black community and its rich history was up in smoke -- 1,256 homes and 191 businesses were totally destroyed. 10,000 black people were left homeless — many found dead under the rubble.  The shamelessly violent and purposely hidden deed would forever be referred to as The Black Holocaust.  The heart and soul was literally ripped from a community..., simply because black folks controlled it. 

One of the saddest facts of American history is that this massacre was (and still is) purposely omitted from school textbooks, museums and more noteably from the mainstream storytelling in music.   Therefore, as we reluctantly embark on the remaining 28 days of the hypocritical pageantry dubbed Black History Month, I wanted to share 2 things:

a)  The unveiling of our real history.  And

b) The musical treasures that help us cope with living in a land that masks it.

After all, the foundation of our music speaks directly to and from the soul,and throughout these monthly posts...you will discover the LPs that every black household should have. 

Quite naturally, some of these obscure treasures, are often buried in the formulaic radio spins, neatly concealed from our kids; which is the ambitious goal of the white, generational-privileged bums, whose ancestors blew-up Greenwood.  Power and control have always been the key ingredients to destroying this culture, while hypnotizing black folks to aim for Grammy wins and Roc Nation brunches. I wish we could re-capture the magical, Greenwood spirit again.., and there is still some amazing artists that are choosing consciousness over commerce to preserve it.

Great artists understand our rich hidden history, like the legendary Gap Band – whose name is an acronym – that pays homage to the once pulsating, tri-section of the Tulsa, Oklahoma neighborhood;  Greenwood, Archer and Pine—the most bubbling blocks during the romantic, renaissance days of our Black Wall Street. And, contrary to "popular demand," there are many artists that are still planting the seeds in our black soil --  so this month, I want you to spend some time with a special one..., put your headphones together for the sexy songstress, Somi.

IF THE RAIN COMES FIRST ⧫ObliqSound ⧫ October 2009

Just think, a mere 61 years after the intentional “tsunami” in Tulsa, the Midwest gives birth to a Black-African American hidden treasure.  The coco-complex-ioned, Illinois native, has unleashed 4 really dope studio LPs –and this month’s selection levees her Ugandan and Rwandan heritage in a jazzy, 11- track masterpiece titled:

If The Rain Comes First   

From the start, as the needle pokes the vinyl, the strings and congas of “Hot Blue” makes you feel like you’re a patron in a perhaps familial Greenwood, Archer and Pine coffee spot. 

You can prepare to cap a perfect date, in a moonlit room, basking in the peace and tranquility of this tri-lingual wonder.  And, nowhere is her skill more evident than on “Rising,” where Somi mixes her sultry voice, African drum beat and jazzy guitar that whisks you onto the imaginary breezy shores of a tropical villa.  Somi’s, Sade-inspired sound just curls your soul on the remarkable single, “Enganjyani.”  And, I'm telling you, if her rich mezzo-soprano voice isn’t enough, Somi tags legendary South African trumpeter, Hugh Masekela to cuddle the verses around this track – and the title means “the most beloved” or “the memory of whispered prayer” -- depending on who translates.  There is something very special about the Afro-Cuban-Caribbean congas that sets the dazzling mood throughout this marvelous meditation-layered, magnum opus.

Growing up, Somi’s mom told her that “the rain comes, ever unpredictable -- and it could be as much of a blessing as it is a challenge, and the blessings might come before the rain."

Perhaps a memorandum to Kobe Bryant fans.

"If The Rains Comes First" will take you through a rollercoaster of sentiments and not-so-ironically, some of the-dopest toe-tappin’ singles like "Jewel of His Soul," triggers sobering emotions.  On this particular journey, Somi recounts her feelings of a homeless man she met in Paris, whom was once a prominate and very well-respected pillar, and after a series of heartbreaking circumstances he is all but forgotten...reminiscent of the residents of Greenwood.

1 Love, 

Ray Lewis