POZPLANET Magazine & DJ Relentless would like to help you celebrate BLACK HISTORY MONTH with music. We wanted to represent the many genres of music the represent the Black Community. So, there is a little something for everyone. Club, House, R&B, Hip Hop, Reggae, Disco, Pop, Motown and Classic Soul in the mix. With artists like Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin, James Brown, Michael Jackson, Andra Day, Beyonce, Jay Z, Ludacris, Alison Hinds, Bob Marley, Crystal Waters, Doja Cat, Pharrell Williams, Robin S, Missy Elliott, RuPaul, Diana Ross, The O’Jays, Paul Russell, Chaka Khan, CeCe Peniston, Tyla, 50 Cent, Stromae, Outkast, Teddy Pendergrass, Tina Turner, Arrested Development, Notorious BIG, Mr. Vegas, Sister Sledge, Usher and many more…all mixed and remixed for your dancing pleasure. Two hours and thirty minutes of music videos! And guess what? It’s an exclusively FREE video download only here: https://krakenfiles.com/view/iHr0Y2ubFk/file.html
Now that we have rang in the New Year of 2024, I have been looking around at what we can expect. There are two wars going on, it’s an elecAon year for the United States and hate plus blame seems to be the main course being served everywhere. Did you know that Joe Biden’s win in 2020 was mainly because of black female voters? That means that the “black vote” is very important this year. But it seems like the divide & conquer agenda that the Republicans (and he who shall go unnamed) put in moAon aQer losing the White House has worked. Where is the Black Lives MaVer movement right now? I mean…it was mobilized when George Floyd was murdered. In fact…I would say that his death was a turning point that awakened a lot of people. UnAl that happened “45” was making the protesters into criminals and terrorists….sending troops to shut ‘em down. But today you rarely hear anything about Black Lives MaVers. And that’s probably because the Black Community is not unified. With comedians like Dave Chappelle spewing hate towards the LGBT Community, black men feel like they are under aVack. They watched what happened to Da Baby and the senAment is that we’re sAll ge`ng leQ behind. Not realizing that in order to move forward you are going to have to upliQ everyone to do so. That means you have to accept LGBT people as part of the community. If the Black Community could do that then it would have beVer numbers to fight racism. It would have the numbers to vote in poliAcians who have your interests in mind when passing laws. But I am watching people of colour moving towards the middle and looking for campaign promises that most likely won’t be fulfilled. I’ve even heard that blacks in big ciAes are disillusioned with Joe Biden’s administraAon because they don’t feel like he’s done anything for the Black Community when in fact he has done more than “45” ever did. If you check his record, Joe Biden has put more black women and LGBT people in his cabinet than any other president in history. And when you have representaAon in Washington D.C. you have leverage to make things happen. Unfortunately, the Republicans have been the roadblock that has stalled most of
the progress that could be made. But everyone is so self-absorbed with their own problems that they are not looking at the bigger picture. Obama did a lot to change Washington and helped a lot of people. His legacy will be a hard one to beat, but Joe is ge`ng preVy damn close. I don’t agree with everything he has done. In fact, why he hasn’t forced a cease fire in Israel by cu`ng off their supply of arms is beyond me. A two state soluAon is what is needed and both sides have to sit down at the table and talk. The longer that war goes on the more other countries are gonna try it. The situaAon at the southern border is only gonna get worse as well as Russia’s war with Ukraine because they feel like the U.S. is distracted….and it is. It’s distracted within itself. The hate that has bubbled over by the insurrecAon and misinformaAon that FOX News and the ConservaAve Right have perpetuated is a distracAon from ge`ng America’s business done. I just don’t understand why none of the Democrats have not just said it as plain as that. The “Average Joe” doesn’t need staAcs or a synopsis on the “PoliAcal Climate”. Just break down in laymen terms of what is actually happening and why it is happening. The Republicans are creaAng problems by saying “no” to everything but have no actual plans to fix the economy. They just want the power to control the naAon. And we have already seen them roll back “Roe v Wade”. What do you think they will reverse next? They are longing for the days when they didn’t have to care for people of color or the gays. They were in control and people just fell in line with what was happening. Well, it can’t conAnue that way because informaAon travels much faster now with the internet. They can no longer keep us in the dark or spin a story like January 6th was a small protest. We watched it happened and saw what they did. And we know that the Republicans set it up. And if and when “45” goes down for his crimes, every single poliAcian who was involved should be charged and removed from office. We need to start with a clean slate. And this is why we need the Black Community to unite. But I’m watching this divide happening in real Ame. A good example is the Beyonce concert film, Renaissance. I was certain that Mrs. Carter was going to wipe the floor with Taylor SwiQ’s movie. But like in normal Black Community fashion it was not supported like it should have been. In fact…Beyonce’s film had a great first week and then conAnued to drop in the box office by the second and third week. Meanwhile, Taylor’s film is conAnuing to make money. Why? Because we are in the midst of a Black Backlash. Granted…the movie is almost three hours long. I realize she did not do any music videos to support this album to make sure people went to the actual concert. But I think that was a big mistake. Once people started realizing that the tour and album was inspired by her late Uncle Johnny, it became obvious that the enAre project was aimed at a specific LGBT audience. Country arAsts like Morgan Wallen who was caught on video dropping the n-word has the ConservaAve Right rushing out to buy his music and keeping him on Billboard’s charts. And those same people have an agenda to keep Taylor in the Top Ten. Taylor’s every move is all over
the news every day. I don’t find Ms. SwiQ that interesAng. She’s kinda boring and only interesAng when she’s doing her “Mean Girls” thing with other arAsts. I do like that she uses her plajorm to get Democrats to register to vote but other than that I’m not a fan. Meanwhile, the Black Community is divided because Beyonce is upliQing the LGBT Community while church folks and straight black men don’t want to have anything to do with the trannies and the faggots. And again…divide and conquer succeeds. We are envious of how the Jewish Community sAcks together but we don’t support our own. Instead, we are quick to tear each other down and compete with one another. We’ll never move forward with all that going on. We need to invest in our own communiAes and arAsts. And speaking of support for our arAsts….my husband and I went to see “The Color Purple”. We paid for the VIP seats. It was just my husband, myself and one other person in the theatre. Some were complaining that it was a musical. Black straight men complained that it was an anAmale film. What da fuck? Know your history and understand why these projects were made. Yes, we are ge`ng more projects out like “RusAn” (about Civil Rights leader, RusAn Bayard) and “Shirley” (about Shirley Chisholm - the first black woman to run for president). But who are these movies being made for? The youth of today don’t seem to be able to watch anything longer than a TikTok video. And since white folks are constantly being reminded of their history of mistreaAng black people, there is a backlash against all projects by Middle America. And don’t get me started on all the podcasters ranAng about “reparaAons”. Yes, black people were in slavery and have had to deal with Jim Crow laws and policies for many years. But throwing money at our community is only going to destroy us. If we are not unified in supporAng and building our own communiAes, we will just give all the money back to those who oppressed us. It’s a trap. They know we aren’t going to beVer ourselves because the majority of our people have not been taught to do so. But perhaps looking at the history of Tulsa and what happened there, we have been condiAoned to not wanna try again. How do we end this cycle? How do we insAll in our children that they really do have the power to change the outcome? ElecAng Barrack Obama into the White House was a big step. And believe it or not, elecAng Kamala Harris as Vice President was another big step. And with all the black women that Joe Biden has brought to Washington D.C. we as a community are flexing our muscle even more in poliAcs. Don’t let the divide & conquer agenda stop us now! We’ve got to realize that we have to work together as a community and also with others to keep this momentum going. That means that we need white allies, LaAno allies, Jewish allies, Middle Easter & Asian allies. We need to embrace our LGBT people of color as well. No one is going to be free or prosper by tearing down others. History has shown us that this does not work. It may look like one group is in power but the reality is that the oppressed will always rise up and revolt. So, why not try including everyone and taking care of everyone now. Because the same people you meet going up are the same people you see when you’re going down. And this applies to everyone…no maVer what group, race or religion you belong to. We’re all just people trying to live. Remember that when you’re making decision for and about this world.
From February 1st to 14th every year, since 2013, Love Posi9ve Women is celebrated around the world. Started by ac9vist Jessica Whitbread, Love Posi9ve Women (LPW) is an “interna9onal series of grassroots events that uses Valen9nes Day as a backdrop, crea9ng a plaKorm for individuals and communi9es to engage in public and private acts of love and caring for women living with HIV. Working from a place of strength, LPW focuses on the idea of interconnectedness, rela9onship building, loving oneself and loving ones' community.” (hPps://visualaids.org/projects/love-posi9ve-women ) Love Posi9ve Women was a series of paper making workshops to make valen9nes that were then sent to women living with HIV around the world. In Canada, the Canadian Posi9ve People Network (CPPN) has been marking this celebra9on by publishing poems, ar9cles and videos submiPed by women living with HIV in Canada and their allies. Breklyn Bertozzi, a woman living with HIV and well-respected ac9vist and advocate for women living with HIV, has marked LPW by fundraising to send giYs to women living with HIV across Canada. This year, Breklyn is working with CPPN to send a giY to women living with HIV in Canada who request one. In Edmonton, Breklyn is partnering with myself and another ac9vist woman living with HIV, Marlo CoPrell, to have an event on Valen9nes Day, February 14th, to honour women living with HIV in our community. We are planning an aYernoon of fun ac9vi9es, and the women will all receive a giY made by Breklyn. Women and HIV AIDS Ini9a9ve (WHAI) in Ontario has a number of LPW ini9a9ves taking place around the province at AIDS Service Organiza9ons who support women living with HIV (hPps://whai.ca/events/love-posi9ve-women-2/ ) They have developed a Love Posi9ve Women Implementa9on guide (you can find it on WHAI’s website) that gives great ideas on how to do Love Posi9ve Women ac9vi9es in your community. Love Posi9ve Women is really wonderful in raising awareness in communi9es about women living with HIV and make women feel seen and loved. What more can you do? Talk to your local AIDS Service Organiza9on and find out if they are planning a Love Posi9ve Women event. Encourage them to invite women living with HIV to their organiza9on to receive Valen9nes, or
have a Valen9ne Card making aYernoon and send the Valen9nes to women living with HIV who want one. But it’s more than Valen9nes: talk to people you know who are doing research and ask them what they are doing to ensure that women living with HIV are taking part in their research. Encourage researchers to set goals of having women taking part in their research. Ask what your local clinic/hospital is doing to encourage the par9cipa9on of women living with HIV in their own healthcare. Ask them if they will put up a poster about a local Love Posi9ve Women ac9vity. If your local AIDS Service Organiza9on does not serve women living with HIV, ask how that can change or where there are services for women. Ask your local AIDS Service Organiza9on how they involve women living with HIV as members, as volunteers, as Board members. Love Posi9ve Women is a wonderful way to honour women living with HIV but it is also a call to ac9on. Pick something, and do something to upliY women living with HIV in your community and show your love of women living with HIV year ‘round. We will love you for trying.
Find this blog and many more at https://marksking.com
THE EMOTIONAL TRIUMPH OF PLAYWRIGHTS LIVING WITH HIV You should know the end of the story first, because the ending demands to be heard. It took place last month in the largest event space at The LGBT Center in New York City, where hundreds of people were excitedly greeting each other, grazing at the food table or sitting in rapturous anticipation for a unique evening of theatre. Over the course of the next two hours, seven pairs of actors would take turns on stage, presenting individual scenes filled with insight, humor, and moments of joyful, sometimes painful truth. The night was a triumph. There was laughter, emotional silences, nods of recognition and roars of approval. Those roars were only multiplied when, after the final scene, the playwrights who wrote the seven scenes were invited to the stage. The playwrights were new to this. Some had never before written a theatrical scene. Some had traveled across the country to be there. And each and every one of them was living with HIV. They stood together, holding hands, while the packed audience cheered thunderously. It is a sound that would ring in the grinning playwrights’ ears for days to come. Welcome to the climactic evening of “Write it Out!,” a program created by playwright Donja R. Love (One in Two) and co-facilitated by playwright Lee Raines, in which aspiring writers living with HIV are selected to participate in months of online sessions that teach the basics of playwriting. The program culminates with a two-person scene written by each writer that is presented to a public audience. Several past participants have developed their scenes into produced plays.
And if this intrigues you, regardless of your level of experience writing a play, then I suggest you visit the Write It Out! web site right now and find out more. There is no cost to participants because the program is generously underwritten by sponsors. I was one of the playwrights standing on the stage at The Center last month. It still feels strange to even refer to myself as a playwright, but this program gave me the support and confidence to believe I could do it. A lot of that confidence comes from program leaders Love and Raines, who went far beyond simple instruction on technique. They convinced us all we had something to say, and that theater was the medium to say it. Not every scene presented had HIV as a storyline. The only link between us as writers was that we were living with HIV (and not necessarily openly; the program respects everyone’s level of confidentiality). The themes of the scenes ranged from toxic masculinity to familial rejection to HIV disclosure to accepting your diagnosis. My scene, “Present Tense,” allowed me to examine how white long-term HIV survivors can sometimes feel lost in our own movement, especially if we aren’t willing to examine our privilege or the ways in which the crisis has evolved. It addresses trauma, a search for meaning, and systemic and personal racism. All of that, in a scene lasting twelve minutes. My most treasured feedback of the evening came from Black audience members who saw themselves and issues they cared about in my scene. It was a thumbs-up from a constituency that matters a lot to me. I also heard from audience members that they had never seen a long-term survivor presented as an antagonist, if not an outright villain. That was intentional and important to me. Yes, we as survivors can be ignorant and hurtful, too. Anyway, I’m working on an expansion of this work into a one-act play. Stay tuned. For many years I have been fascinated with the intersection of art and HIV activism, as any reader of My Fabulous Disease knows well. And now there is another option, for anyone living with HIV who needs to unload or express themselves or examine their lives. Just write it out. EDITOR’S NOTE: Just wanted send out a special thank you to Mark S. King for his continued support of POZPLANET Magazine.
So, last year in May I was organizing a MINGLE event (my monthly HIV social and fundraiser) for FIFE House. I was working closely with Kim Koshesh and she started asking around for entertainment. She had asked a local LGBT Pop/R&B group called RiVerse and they accepted the invitation. Honestly, I had not heard of them. But as my grandmother would say "They could make a world out of the things I don't know." Well, the group came and really shined. I loved their harmonies and their stage presence. So much so that I asked them to be a part of a Pride E.P. for iUnderground Records that I was producing featuring LGBT artists. They accepted and I guess the rest is history. In working with them I found out that Justice (the group's songwriter) is HIV+. RiVerse even came back and performed for the 2023 POZ-To Awards and blew the house down! So, for this Black History Month I wanted to introduce our readers to Justice and find out his story. JADE: I am so excited to sit down with you today, Justice. Um...I just realized that I don't know your actual name. I know you only know me as Jade Elektra. So, I'll tell ya my real name...Alphonso King Jr. So, tell me and our readers about yourself. Where are you from? What's your background? JUSTICE: Greetings Jade! Well, my ‘government name’ is Justin but I go by Justice both personally and professionally. I was born and raised in Toronto, Canada but I am of Jamaican descent.
JADE: Now...one of the questions we always ask is about when you were diagnosed and what was that experience like? We do this in the hopes of showing our readers what different time periods meant in our treatment and fight against stigma. JUSTICE: I understand completely! I was diagnosed HIV+ on September 14th, 2020. As we know, 2020 brought the introduction of Miss Covid and we all watched as she embarked on her world tour. It was a challenging time, generally speaking, for the global community. For me personally, that year was particularly devastating and somewhat traumatic. There were three significant ‘blows’ that really impacted my mental health and sent me on a downward trajectory. At that time, RiVerse had been together for about 8 years, and we worked tirelessly as an independent act to elevate our name/brand. In 2019 we were finally at a place where we were able to start organizing our first North American tour. We were working with outside entities who were helping us build the project and we were also receiving several other high-profile bookings simultaneously. Our schedule for 2020 was looking magnificent. Then it all came crashing down in March of 2020. Within the span of a couple days we received emails notifying us that everything we had been working on was canceled. Blow #1. Next, the isolation at home due to the lock down really affected me. I’m naturally a very deep thinker so I just had loads of time stewing in my own thoughts, Covid fears and playing the events of the tour cancellation in my head. Blow #2. The final blow was the racial pandemic that came front and centre during that period as well. I made the mistake of watching the assassinations of both Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd and diving deep into the story of Breonna Taylor. There were countless other people of colour who were assassinated at this time by the Police and other civilians, and I became overwhelmed. I was very angry, hateful, distrusting, sad and depressed. My heart was broken for all the victims and their families. As a black man, I saw myself and people I loved in those videos. It could have easily been any one of us and those thoughts destroyed me. It felt like my world was getting smaller and smaller and I began drinking heavily and using drugs to escape my own mind and temporarily erase the traumatic visuals of those murders that were playing on a loop. Long story short, this led me to acting out in very unhealthy and irresponsible ways. I was operating at a very low vibration. By the summer I knew I had to start making some changes because things were getting very dark. I decided to attempt a complete overhaul of my life and part of that was getting all kinds of check-ups with doctors to make sure my health was intact. Upon going for a routine visit at the Hassle-Free Clinic my rapid HIV test came back positive. I went numb and couldn’t hear anything the nurse was saying to me. I roamed the streets of Toronto in complete shock and was convinced that my life was over. I called my partner at the time to break the news and he told me to head over to his place immediately. Upon my arrival, I fell into his arms and cried for the rest of the night. That was the initial experience. Today in 2024, things are very different, and I couldn’t be more grateful.
JADE: So, have you always been musical? When did you start singing and how did you start writing lyrics? JUSTICE: I grew up in a family of athletes and entertainers. My aunt was an Olympian, my uncle played football in the CFL, another uncle is a well-known music producer, two other aunts are singers, there are DJ’s, visual artists… the list goes on! I have two cousins today who are both in Major League Baseball. So it’s like that. I happened to be one of the artists and it began at a very young age. I started dancing around 5 or 6 and songwriting came at 8. The first song I ever wrote was called ‘Secret Garden’ haha. I was very proud of it. Singing came a little later when I was in church. Around 12 or 13. I put my first pop group together at 14 in the church. We were called ‘Abuv’. To be honest, all of these things came very naturally to me. I was highly influenced by music as a result of my mother’s love for it. Great music would be playing in the house at all times and I sort of just started playing around with words and melodies myself. JADE: I am such a fan of RiVerse. How did the group form? JUSTICE: Aww, thank you so much, Jade! That truly means a lot to me. Okay, let me try to keep this short and sweet. RiVerse was originally formed back in 2006. A wellknown choreographer/creative director named Luther Brown believed in my talent and helped to form a group around me. Luther and those former members have gone on to work with the likes of Lady Gaga, Janet Jackson & Justin Bieber. All that to say, I received some great training from some incredible individuals.
From 2006-2011 there were several line-up changes in the journey to becoming what RiVerse is today. I connected with the final lineup as a result of the four of us auditioning for and being cast in a live stage production of Disney’s ‘High School Musical 2’ here in Toronto. Khadija joined the group in 2009 and we became a trio with another young man who was also a part of the stage production. He left to join another band in the US and Zak replaced him in 2011. Less than a year later, Monroe joined the group and we made our debut in 2012 with the release of our first single called ‘Glad to Meet You’. I always wanted to create a band that felt new, fresh and was unlike anything we’d already seen time and time again in mainstream music/media. I wanted the collective to really make an impact and leave an impression on people’s hearts. Once the final lineup came together, I knew I had found the perfect formula. The vocals, the chemistry, dance, image, personality… all of it was a match. From there, the four of us refined the mission statement of ‘representing the underrepresented’. There is tremendous power at our disposal when human beings of different walks of life unite. The four of us are different races, backgrounds, genders, body types, sexualities etc. We’re here to show what the power of unity, love and acceptance looks like. We are also here to empower marginalized communities and remind them that they are also STARS no matter what narratives society tries to impose on us. JADE: How do you guys get such tight harmonies? I find it difficult to sing with others. I think I get lost in the other person's voice and forget where I am. JUSTICE: (Laughing) Practice, practice and more practice. RiVerse is known for how much we rehearse. Seriously. It’s all about training your ear to be able to keep in line with what you need to sing while creating the audio experience alongside other voices. It’s like a puzzle! Singing in harmony comes very naturally to the four of us. I do believe that some singers who don’t necessarily have that natural ‘ear’ can still learn! JADE: I am a very out HIV+ recording artist. Has that been a challenge for you or the group? JUSTICE: Bravo, Jade!! As you should be. There needs to be more artists like us out here in the world. It chips away at stigma and shows that life continues with all its hopes, dreams and magic after an HIV+ diagnosis. In all honesty, it hasn’t been a challenge in the least. It’s been an absolute blessing! I decided to announce my positive status on February 7th, 2021 (National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day) via a YouTube video on the band’s official ‘RiVerse Live’ channel that had over half a million subscribers at the time. I did it to liberate myself and my soul. I cannot live with secrets in my chest. That decision was the greatest act of love that I’ve ever shown myself. From there, the band received lots of press coverage, interviews, performance requests, speaking engagements and things of that nature. We have an awesome
publicist (Dave Kim PR) who also secured a cover story in Plus Magazine. Nothing but magic came from me deciding to live in my truth. To be clear, I didn’t do it for publicity. In addition to freeing myself, I also did it to show our beautiful online community of all walks of life that no matter what challenges they may face in life, they can break through if they choose to access the courage that lives inside of them and that no matter what the story or situation is, they (we) remain beautiful, worthy, valued and loved! I had many awesome people message me personally on social media after the announcement, sharing their positive statuses with me. Some had been keeping it a secret for years and let me know that as a result of me sharing my story, they now had the courage to share theirs with their friends and families. JADE: When did you make the decision to come out about your status? JUSTICE: I decided to come out about my status around the time that RiVerse was preparing to release our sophomore album ‘Poison IV’. End of 2020. I felt that I was going through a transformation at the time and shedding the old version of me. The new Justice wanted to lay it all out on the table and be brave, honest and true. RiVERSE performing at The 2023 POZ-TO Awards: https://youtu.be/gLOootlqua4
JADE: Oh...and thank you again for donating your talents to help FIFE House. It's a dear cause close to my heart because I have been homeless and know what that's like. Does RiVerse do a lot of charity events?
JUSTICE: It has been an absolute honour to perform at the events we’ve attended that support FIFE House! RiVerse has and will continue to do our very best to show support to such important causes, events and organizations that uplift the people! And I’m so, so proud of how far you’ve come, Jade. You are an inspiration. JADE: Before I let you go, I have one last question. As a young person, what advice would you give to someone who is newly diagnosed? JUSTICE: The advice that I would give to a newly diagnosed individual is: Be still…BREATHE. Find a trusted friend, family or support worker to confine in. If the tears need to flow, LET THEM. Feel whatever you need to feel and release. Remember that you are not alone. You will be and are just fine! You will survive this. HIV is not the same story as it was. Connect with a doctor and get on your antiretroviral medication. Remember that you are absolutely beautiful, worthy, valued and LOVED and there is community that can support you through this process.
JADE: That's some good sound advice right there. Thank you so much for doing this interview. I hope that you and I get to work on something together one day. Maybe you can teach me how to sing with another person. And I hope that Erik Elias and myself (the founders of iUnderground Records) get to work with RiVerse again on another project. Please keep doing what you do. It is always great to see someone doing the things they dream of.
JUSTICE: Thank you so much, Jade! It’s been a pleasure. I want to sincerely thank you for all of the amazing work you do for the community! WE SEE YOU!! You are beautiful, extremely talented and you have a heart of gold. Much love always and the sky is the limit!!
Be sure to check the RiVERSE LIVE YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=riverse+live And the Erik Elias Remix of “BaeBeeBoo” from the iUnderground Pride E.P. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkoKnh-95xs And be sure to check out their facebook fan page for updates and booking information: https://www.facebook.com/rIVerseLive
Listen to the mix here: https://www.mixcloud.com/djrelentlessny/ear-candy-february-2024 Download your free video of this mix here:https://krakenfiles.com/view/fJAWFG77LZ/file.html
Check out DJ Relentless’ Mixcloud page: https://www.mixcloud.com/djrelentlessny Check out DJ Relentless’ HearThis page: https://hearthis.at/djrelentlesstoronto This is the time of year when music is my comfort. It’s cold out and most of the days seem too short to get anything done. And this month we have twenty-four tracks to talk about…an array of new and old selections mixed for your entertainment. Plus, it’s BLACK HISTORY MONTH. So, I have included seventeen Black Artists. Hopefully there is something for everyone (as usual). From Pop artists like Jennifer Lopez, Jung Kook, Alicia Keys and Lil Nas X to throwback acts like WAR & TLC to Black Artists like H.E.R., Burna Boy, Usher & Gunna to Club & House acts like TransSister Radio, Calvin Harris & The Chemical Brothers…I gotcha covered. But I just gotta speak on something that I feel is important before we get started… With Ron DeSantis out of the race for president I can breathe a better sigh of relief. His barbaric ideas of what America should be, worried me. And I believe “45” will say anything that riles up his base but doesn’t really believe in any of it. I mean…for God’s sakes the man was a Democrat longer that he has been a Republican. He was even once quoted as saying that if he ever ran for president, it would be as a Republican because they are so stupid. And in my opinion, the only thing that Nikki Haley has going for her is that she is a woman. That might play well in her favour in this election cycle. They wouldn’t elect Hillary Clinton but these Right-Wing fanatics just might put ridiculous woman who believes that America has never been a racist country in the White House.
But enough of that. Let’s get to the music…shall we? Our first track has caused quite a stir amongst the religious folks and male Hip Hop artists. But I think that was the point of Lil Nas X’s latest single, “J CHRIST”. From the second the music video starts with look-a-likes of Oprah, Obama & Michael Jackson walking into heaven, I knew that Montero was up to his old tricks of pushing buttons. Let’s see if the folks who hate him fall for into the trap. I mean…the more you complain about him the more attention you draw towards his work. If they’d keep their mouths shut with all the fanfare, there wouldn’t be a buzz about him. But they fall for it every time.
I saw the new movie version of the Broadway musical of “The Color Purple”. I rather enjoyed it and felt it was a great piece of cinema. The acting was great. The sets and scenery were amazing. And I never saw the actual Broadway production, but I remember seeing a few performances on various talk shows. But whenever they make a movie of a musical they always include a new song to qualify for the Oscars. That song in this case is “Lifeline” by Alicia Keys. It’s nice…but not as dynamic as the actual songs that were written for the musical. It will probably be nominated but won’t win. And for our third selection, even though it is a release from last fall I never got around to reviewing it and this particular version is a transition up in BPMs to get where I needed to be for the set of songs. “BIRTHDAY” by Saweetie featuring YG & Tyga is your typical Hip Hop
party song with all da fixings. Lyrics of flashing lots of money and givin’ up da ass. Nothing new to see here folks. But it did help me move my mix along. The next two tracks are actual mashups. I kinda like this because you get to experience two songs or more at once and only hear the good parts and hooks. Our fourth track is “I Love Your Needs” by Tinashe x Snoop Dogg x Akon. I’m not an Akon fan but Tinashe & Snoop really sound great on this production. And “Get It Wild” is a conglomerate of Nicki Minaj, Britney Spears, Rihanna, Iggy Azalea & Cardi B. With a clever edit of Britney from “Slave 4 U” and Rihanna from “Wild Thoughts”, DJ Raheem D has created a smooth take on several big hits that work great together. And the video edit is phenomenal!
Up next is the latest from Jennifer Lopez. “Can’t Get Enough” has that 90s Hip Hop bounce to it. I like it. And I like that she makes fun of the nay-sayers who believe that her current marriage to (my Baby-Daddy) Ben AWleck won’t last. Unfortunately, I only had the original video to work with when I did my mix. So, it has all the dialogue in it. I can’t wait for some remixes to come along. I already have an idea of taking a slightly muted synth hook from Depeche Mode’s “Just Can’t Get Enough” with a heavy House production to create a good Club mix for a dance floor. Now, I know I just reviewed “Standing Next To You” by Jung Kook but a new remix with vocals added by Usher shined a completely di^erent light on what I would use for a playlist. I was kinda over the song until I heard Usher on it. Great choice!
The eighth track on our mix has that infectious Latin Salsa Pop feel that you just can’t help to start moving your hips. “Bellakeo” by Peso Pluma & Anitta is definitely hot. I just wish I had a floor that I could switch up genres to serve everyone. I believe our dance floors today are too segregated. I guess because the LGBT scene in Tampa, Florida was so small back in the 80s, we had to share the dance floor with everyone. So, drag queens, muscle boys, leather men, twinks (which we weren’t called that back then) and everyone else were dancin’ together. That was community. I wish I could create that again. We need to be one community again instead of the division that has been created by social media. I have to be honest. I really have not found an appreciation for the artist called H.E.R. I know she has won a few Grammys and was heavily influenced by Prince. But none of the songs I have heard really struck me until I heard the Iverson Remix of her latest, “Slide” featuring YG. It’s got that Afro-Beat sound production around 118 BPMS that can work in a downtempo transition into a House set. And keeping with our Afro Beat tracks, our tenth selection is “Giza” by Burna Boy featuring Sey Vibez. Now, I won’t pretend that I love all the releases in this genre. In fact, very few get my attention because they like Reggae sound a lot alike when played side by side. It is a riddim that flows through all of it and gives it its distinctive sound. I chose this song because I know Burna Boy is hot right now. If I had a floor to play it for I would. But just to listen to him on my own…probably not. So, I just could resist playing “Move Your Feet” by Junior Senior as our eleventh track because it is the sample used for Nicki Minaj’s “Everybody”. I read that Nicki is not planning on doing any videos for “Pink Friday 2”. Honestly, she should have taken note to
what happened to Beyonce’s album. Without the visuals it won’t get any traction. And I get it. She probably doesn’t want to do the Bumble-Gum image that she did on the first one. She’s older now and has a child. But hun…you created this monster. And if you’re planning to film a concert tour be prepared for a failure. These kids today need short bursts of videos for TikTok. They don’t have the patience for a docu-film of how the sausages are made. You’re Pop Music…not Hip Hop royalty. In the big scheme of things you took the idea of Hip Hop and morphed it into digestible bites of Pop. Oh…and picking on Megan Thee Stallion is not gonna erase that you are married to a rapist. Not a good look, Roman.
I literally chose the thirteenth selection just for the name alone. My father was a brash man when speaking to his kids, wives and friends. I cannot tell you how many times I heard he say “Da Fuck You Mean”. So, when I heard the Naken & Decemberkid Remix of “FukUMean” by Gunna, I knew I was gonna program it for this particular mix. It was a nice segway out of Nicki. Up next is the type of track I know would do well in a lot of settings. Good energy and Eliza Rose’s vocals remind me of those 30s & 40s Jazz singers who could swing. The Riordan Remix of “Body Moving” with Calvin Harris will do well on my next gig. It might not do damage to the charts, but it would be one of those bangaz I’d pull out nightly & regardless to make it a hit. I miss the days when DJs made songs hits and not social media. Pioneers like David Mancuso, Nicky Siano, Larry Levan & Frankie Knuckles created the classics we know and sample today from the selections they chose to program for their sets.
As I often say, there is too much music that drops out there to catch it all. I missed this release from June last year but came across the music video and fell in love with it. I am very familiar with Defected Records but had not heard of Shermanlogy. When researching them, I discovered they are a brother and sister duo named Andy and Dorothy Sherman (son and daughter of 70s & 80s singer Tony Sherman). I should have known that Andy was involved with the musical outfit Artful Dodger. Anyway…I may have missed the release of “Sometimes”, but I am definitely playing it now! Our next artist is a name I have seen but don’t think I have heard her music before. The Ray Isaac Remix of “How You Leave A Man” by Paloma Faith is catchy and probably would do well in gay clubs. Like Dua Lipa’s “New Rules”, this is one of those demanding your independence from an abusive cheating lover songs. I clearly remember the album cover for the 70s group WAR’s “Why Can’t We Be Friends?” in my mother’s record collection. And I remember her and her friends smoking pot in our living room while listening to “Low Rider”. I would get a contact high from being in the room. That was back when you gathered your friends and listened to and took in an entire album. That’s back when thought went into the lyrics and you told a story. I guess the pot opened your mind. So, I was thrilled when I heard the new Kyle Warson Remix of this signature Chicano Funk anthem from 1975. And speaking of a more recent classic, our eighteenth selection is the Wh0 Remix of “Galvanize” by The Chemical Brothers featuring Q-Tip. This new remix gives DJs an opportunity to drop in BPMs as it goes back into the original production. You know I love to support our LGBT artists and our nineteenth track is the Erik Elias & NOAH Club Mix of “STILETTO” by TransSister Radio. So, I went looking for information
about the group and only found links to listen to their debut single. I know that my old friend Peppermint from the ninth season of Drag Race is one of the members. I know nothing about the other two…CASio & Synthia. But what I do know is that this remix is hot! I can only hope there will be a music video soon. So, it might be hard for today’s youth to understand the appeal of a Pop megamix as a seven inch record but I’m gonna try to share my joy when I bought “Stars On 45” by Starsound. Back in 1981 there were this “Hooked On Classics” albums that gave us Disco versions of Classical pieces that until then were only really known in Bugs Bunny cartoons. So, when “Stars On 45” came out with this medley of 60s hits (mainly The Beatles) it was really refreshing. And even though Disco was on its way out, it had become Pop. So, when I heard the new Yuga & Roy Tson version I was really surprised. The vocal hook jogged a lot of memories, but I don’t see this being a huge hit all over again.
But I do see “All Night” by Example being used for some kind of ad campaign in the future as a cool voice of Club Culture. Will this be a classic that endures the test of time? Absolutely not. But it is a good snapshot of where we are in Club music today. The older I get the more I see things come back around. Everybody I know is buzzing about Ariana Grande’s “Yes, And”. I sounds like it came straight out of the commercial House sound of the 90s.I’ve been reading posts on social media where folks are saying that she stole the idea and imagery from Paula Abdul’s “Cold Hearted”. I’m old enough to know that Paula’s video was a tribute to Bob Fosse’s “Take OW With Us” from the biographical film “All That Jazz”. And I don’t understand the people who are comparing Ariana’s video to Michael Jackson’s “Remember The Time”. I ain’t see not one Egyptian pharaoh! But I guess you see what you wanna see. As for the “Yes, And”…I love it. It reminds me of the good ol’ days of spinning in NYC in the 1990s.
Our twenty-third track is “Reflection” by DJ Spen presents DJ Ibanez & Diana Taylor. A few months back I reviewed a track by Diana called “Big Hoop Bitch” with Jackie Dupree. Diana has been a friend of mine for over twenty years. I am lovin’ that she is getting the opportunity to work with so many great producers. And this latest track is a great nod to the House Music Lovers out there. And to my surprise, she recently reached out to me to possibly do a mashup of “Reflection” with my Jade Elektra track, “A Little Bit Of House” on Trax Records. We are gonna make this happen. And to close out our mix is the DE SOFER Remix of “Waterfalls” by TLC. Why there had not been a House mix of this song before at 118 BPMs is beyond me. I’ve heard a couple around 108 BPMs and they’re nice but this remix would work better on a dance floor. Listening to it makes me a little sad as I think about the untimely death of Lisa “Left Eye” Lopez. Such a talent and probably would have gone on to do some major solo work. But I believe Suge Knight had something to do with her “accident” in Central America. She had just signed with him because she was on the outs with T-Boz & Chilli. But I think she went on that trip because she was having second thoughts. And Mr. Knight did not take rejection lightly. Then out of nowhere Left Eye dies in a car accident in Honduras. If you go back and listen to any of her bars on any of the tracks, she was quite brilliant. Unfortunately, her verse is not on the DE SOFER Remix. Probably because her voice was already animated and speeding her up would have made her sound like a chipmunk.
Don’t forget to download your FREE video version of this mix with the link at the beginning of the article. And be sure to subscribe to my Mixcloud page and get exclusive mixes here: https://www.mixcloud.com/djrelentlessny