Black History Month: The Music Edition

I thought I would continue the little Black History Month segment with information about musical artists of this generation who I really like.
I really do enjoy artists like Jennifer Hudson as style icons, but I'm not really a fan of her music. But there are some artists who have the whole package: style and the ability to perform. Sure we all know about artists like Seal and Will.I.Am from the black eyed peas, but here are some that are a little off the beaten path.

The Noisettes is an indie band from the UK. I want to say thank you to Aziza of Specktra for turning me onto this band. The lead singer, Shingai, is amazing. Her mother is from Zimbabwe and left the country (at the time Rhodesia) and I wonder if she was old enough to remember that. According to her wikipedia page, she said the experience of her mother's move comes through in her music but I wonder if she was speaking of adjusting to the UK herself or her mother's adjusting to the UK and some sort of cultural gap between the two of them. She has a very classic voice but she also has the ability to integrate it very well into modern songs. I also love her fro. It is gorgeous.
"Every Now and Then"


Corneille. Yet another German born musical success. His family is actually from Rwanda and when his family moved back there, his father encouraged him to follow his dream of being a musician despite that not being a socially befitting career choice. He fled the country during the Rwandan genocide and began to use his music to express himself, in both English and French.
"Too Much of Evertyhing"


Erykah Badu. She's fairly mainstream now, but still, I really like that she is a chameleon of style.
"On and On".


Well, back to optimality theory.