Consider the following song lyrics:

"Girl, you know I love you

No matter what you do

And I hope you understand me

Every word I say is true

Cause I love you

I’m thinkin’ of you
Tryin’ to be more of a man for you

And I don’t have much riches

But we gonna see it through

‘Cause I love you

Some men need lots of women

For their passions to feel

But I want only you, girl

if it’s in God’s will

‘Cause I love you"

If you're under the age of 30 and youre reading this, you probably have no clue what song this is, however if youre an 'old head' such as myself and you listen to stations other than 100.3 The Beat....it should have been immediately familiar to you and inspired the all too familiar stream of "Oh oh oh oh oh!" that follows the last stanza. If you're not hip to it (and you should be ashamed by the way), click this link to educate yourself http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbzkwLWK-Ps I'll wait...

*approximately 7 min later*

Ok, now that we're all on the same page, the reason for this blog... I had an interesting conversation with my girl the other day discussing an article she read on Black Love Songs and how basically they've lost their way. Now the song above is the real deal...Here is a man willing to put it all out in the open, no game palying, no ulterior motives and obviously no pride to get in the way. When you combine those elements along with a knack for lyrics, and a mean hook, you've got yourself a real black love song. There's no promise to ice out your wrist, lend you the keys to his whip on ocassion, rescue you from your troublesome life at the gentlemens' club or any other such nonsense. Just the fact that he loves you...period. Sadly today, songs of this type are becoming endangered.

There is so much unintelligible mess on the radio today that its gotten to the point where I dont even listen to anything BUT the more mature stations....A diva can only tolerate hearing Plies' pitiful ode to the sistahs: "Bust It Baby" so many times before I start to actually feel my IQ drop...These days you are truly hard pressed to find a love song specifically by a black performer that resembles the former more so than the latter.

In the article it pointed out that we should feel obligated to put more of a positive emphasis on black love in our music being that we now actually have black love residing in the White House. What better time to reset the tone right? The tide is changing in terms of the way blacks are being viewed in America, now more than ever and its time the music industry stepped up its game and fell in line.

Of course I dont think all our generation's r&b perfomers are a lost cause...Singers like Raheem DeVaughn, Maxwell, Jill Scott, Kindred and Bilal can always be counted on to sing the praises of something other than mind-blowing sex, popping bottles in the VIP or driving really fast in exotic foreign cars while tossing stacks of cash left and right. Their genre lends itself more often to celebrating the sistahs for more than just being shapely, being completely vulnerable to the one you love, and promises of lasting fidelity. They hearken to the soul music greats of the 70s and 80s, and try to emulate those same emotions through their art.

I just hope that artists such as them wont eventually fade away into the sunset of black music history as so many before them. Instead Im holding out hope that more artists will get on board and realize the value in producing music that is encouraging and moving rather than just billboard-topping. I know the lure of the big time superficial record deal has its perks, but if that means you have to sell your art, heart, and soul to the highest bidder...Im hoping some of these folks will take a pass.

Hey if we can have a brother as leader of the free world, we can certainly put out some music that doesnt make you cringe when you hear it right?

here's to real music...and moreover the real love that inspires it...

PS>> Shout out to my girl Omniscient..my 'Resident Content Advisor'!

~Diva :o)