As with most things I write, getting started is the hardest part. And that is one hundred percent the problem here. My mind is all over the place. And I don’t know what to say. This should be a simple piece, as it’s just Five Albums, but actually, it’s more than that. So yeah I’m just going to write and see what comes out. Hopefully, it makes sense. LOL. Hopefully, it inspires. Hopefully, it lets you know a little bit more about me and what I’m about. I dunno.

Music has always been a passion of mine. Music has always been around. Some of my earliest memories include music, be it banging on my Smurf drum kit as a 4 year old, to impersonating Michael Jackson and MC Hammer for relatives at family reunions, to watching my grandmother sing and dance to her blues records, and so much more. Music has always been there for me. But here is the thing, even as an emo/punk/hardcore kid, it has been black music. All of these memories include a black artist. The records my grandmother played were the likes of Bobby “Blue” Bland, Little Milton, Clarence Carter, Otis Redding, and more. That was my childhood, and I absolutely loved it. I really wish I would have grabbed those records at some point before her house burned down. So much great music. Then there was the dancing, there was a point as young Cobra that I knew I was going to be a dancer like Michael Jackson and MC Hammer. I spent hours practicing their moves. Whereas today, every once in a blue moon, I see a dance, and I learn it. The latest is that Savage dance. Let me tell ya, your boy kills it. I still have it. I think I have mentioned this before, but I think my biggest influence when it comes to music was my uncle. He was a bit of a free thinker, a hippie. He loved rock. Some of his favorites were Guns and Roses, Janis Joplin, The Dead, and Jimi Hendrix. He loved Jimi!!!! Without him giving me my first CDs, which were Megadeth, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Motley Crue, and Testament, LOL, and telling me the craziest stories, I don’t think I would have gone down the road I did. That’s what music does, it changes lives, it changes worlds, and it changes everything.

With having said that, here are Five Albums by Black Artists that have impacted my life. While these are five that impacted my life, there are so many others that I would come across as I traveled on my musical journey. Artists such as Death, Bad Brains, Poly Styrene, Pure Hell, and so many more. I could have easily made this a top ten list. The point here is black artists have had a huge impact on music, all forms of music, and I would not be the person, the man I am, without those artists.

And R.I.P. Grannie and Uncle Earl. I owe so much to you both. I hope you both are dancing and rocking out wherever you are. And, Uncle Earl, I hope you have met Jimi. Miss ya Man!!!!

Michael Jackson-Thriller: I feel ok saying that this album would be on many lists. At least for people my age. LOL. This album was the album for me growing up, at least until he dropped Bad. Besides the great run of singles—seven, this album had seven singles—there are only nine tracks on the album. But he managed to turn seven of them into singles that all charted well. That alone is amazing. But as I was saying, the thing that stuck out most about this album was for a long time I associated it with my dad. He wasn’t around a lot when I was growing up, but when I would see him and go to his house, this record was always playing or it was always out. This album cover was burned into my brain. It’s one of the few positive memories I have of him. And I remember when I got older, maybe around 12, I asked him for it one day, and he wouldn’t part with it. Years later it would be one of the first albums I would buy on vinyl.

Prince-Purple Rain: I honestly don’t know where to start with this album, this artist. I’m not one to cry or really mourn over celebrity deaths, but this one hurt, and I cried for a few days. This man was truly one of a kind. As a kid, like so many, I just enjoyed his songs, they were fun and upbeat. It wasn’t until many years later that I found out that most of his songs were about sex. That blew my mind at the time. Thinking about now, that’s one of many ways he changed music. Yes, there were artists before him that sang about the topic, but not the way he did. I also love the fact that this is a soundtrack to an incredible movie. A movie that I watched way too much as a kid. I wanted to be Prince, I wanted to ride a motorcycle, and I wanted to take a girl to Lake Minnetonka so she could purify herself. There were so many things about that movie, this album that I loved. Then when Prince did the soundtrack for Batman (1989), I feel in love with him all over again, and it never left. As I’m writing this, my Prince Funko Pops are looking right at me.

Sevendust-S/T: This is the album, the band that 100 hundred percent changed everything for me musically. I know where I was, I know what I was doing the first time I heard this band. And I was instantly blown away. The reason? Lajon Witherspoon, their front man, a black man. Up to that point in my life, I truly only knew of Jimi Hendrix as a black man in rock music. Well, I knew of Prince, and he played guitar, but I really didn’t consider him rock. Sevendust was a completely new beast for me, and I dove right in head first. Lajon became the hero I wanted, the hero I needed. And to this day that is still the case. His voice was something I had never heard in rock music at the time. And as I dove in more, I discovered why, he started out in an R&B group. He was able to bring those two worlds together and it worked. Now 23 years since, this album dropped, and they are still going strong. They are one of the most beloved bands in rock and metal today. And I can say they are the band I have followed the longest. I have been a fan since this album and own every album they have released. To top it off, Lajon Witherspoon is one of the nicest, down to earth people you will ever meet.

Whole Wheat Bread-Minority Rules: By the time I discovered this band in 2005 I knew of bands like Bad Brains, Fishbone, and Death. But in my time, at least as far as I knew of, there weren’t many all-black punk bands, so when I saw these guys on tour with Street Dogs and The Bouncing Souls at Cat’s Cradle in Carrboro, NC I was in awe. After their set, I made a beeline to their merch table and bought everything they had. I later found out they were from Jacksonville, FL, and was heartbroken, as that was where my friends and I went to shows back in the day. And I was like how had I never heard of them before that night. At the time I would call them a black Blink-182; as I got older that changed, and I would say like so many other bands, if they had been given the chance, the could have been just as big as bands like Blink-182. They wrote the same catchy songs that you would find on most Drive-Thru Record releases at the time. They also had a few social songs. “Police Song” being the biggest one. I would even say that was their signature song. The line that still holds up today is, “Mr. Police officer, we’re not doing anything wrong, so please take your damn hands off me, or we’re not going to get along,” Hell yeah, that was written in 2004, and it still applies today. How fucked is that? They might be remembered for their release after this album. In 2006 they released an EP that included 3 originals and 3 covers of popular rap songs at the time.

Fever 333-Strength In Numb333rs: If you follow me on any of my social media, then you probably knew this album would be included on a list like this. This band has consumed my world since their creation. I can’t get enough of them. Jason Butler’s lyrics hit home like no other. I honestly don’t believe there is anyone in music that I identify more with than him. His words can have me pissed one second and crying the next. He writes about his world, what he knows, and sadly it’s a world that I knew all too well. Fever 333 stands for what they call the triple Cs. Those are Charity, Change, and Community. If you ask me, if we can do those 3 things, our world would be a better place. Over the past 3 months, I have watched so many live streams as a way to “attend” shows. Fever 333 did one two days ago, and it was life-changing. Tell me: how can something like that be so powerful? It was just them and the production crew, and it was one of the most moving, powerful concerts I’ve ever seen. It was powerful because of their passion. Jason Butler is a Revolutionary.

Here are a few other albums by black artist I feel are worth checking out

Yola-Walk Through Fire (Americana/Folk)

Rhiannon Giddens-Tomorrow is My Turn (Americana/Folk/)

Soul Glo-Untitled Lp (Hardcore)

Kali Dreamer-Dreamer Is Unbreakable (Hip-Hop)

Radkey-Delicious Rock Noise (Punk)