Music librarian and social media legend Naima Cochrane does a Black Music Month challenge every year in June. Pride is way too busy to commit to posting something every day, so I have a playlist for y’all with my picks. Have a scroll or a listen and find a new fave.
Day 1: Your cookout anthem
Zhane “Hey Mr. DJ”
The universal Cookout Anthem.
Day 2: This song is basically a negro spiritual
Sounds of Blackness “Optimistic”
Back in the early 90s, Sounds of Blackness sought to bring gospel to the youth without being too preachy. They were slipping God onto the radio years before Kirk Franklin.
Day 3: This song makes you wish you were born in a different era
Barry White “You’re The First, The Last, My Everything”
Do you know how hard this song probably went off at the disco with the best chiffon & cocaine combo?
Day 4: The most peaceful song you’ve ever heard
Rhian Benson “Spirit”
Rhian put out her first album in 2003 trying to tap into Sade & the neo-soul boom of the early aughts. She didn’t make it big, but the album was solid.
Day 5: A song that put you on to a regional sound
Soweto Gospel Choir “Sechaba”
Sarafina! was a Broadway musical and then a movie musical centering on high school kids in apartheid-era South Africa. The whole soundtrack is excellent and it was my baby introduction to music from the motherland.
Day 6: Two songs that sound like cousins
Reyna Roberts “Louisiana” K. Michelle “Tennessee”
Two Black women singing country songs about their chosen state with the same heavy downbeat? Definitely musical cousins.
Day 7: Your stop-everything-when-this-song-comes-on jam
TLC “Ain’t 2 Proud 2 Beg” (Smoothed Down Remix)
TLC’s first single has always gotten me to act foolish for the past 30 years, but this remix I stumbled on last year (watching old episodes of Soul Train) would send me into the stratosphere if I heard it out somewhere in a bar.
Day 8: You forget your home training when you hear this track
LL Cool J “Doin It”
I really be thinking I’m Leshaun on this song about to put it on LL.
Day 9: This song leads to bad decisions
Normani “Lights On”
Dopamine was such an underrated album and even though it just came out last year, I have already done many questionable things to it.
Day 10: You would yeet this song into the sun if you could
Amerie “1 Thing”
I absolutely love this song — probably in my top 20 of all time — however!
1. None of y’all sound good singing it but everybody tries to when it comes on.
2. Amerie is singing it every 3 days now in preparation for her comeback and she has never sounded great on it.
3. Anytime this song is on social media, three jobless Beyonce haters drop in with misinformation about how Beyonce stole her sound/career. I’m tired of arguing with stupid people.
Day 11: The song you sometimes think was a fever dream b/c nobody knows it
Naomi Campbell “I Want to Live”
Miley Cyrus has Naomi on a song currently with some spoken words, but Naomi Campbell released a whole album in 1995 where she was singing and trying to be the next R&B star. I feel like nobody remembers this era!
Day 12: A songwriter whose pen game is underrated
Wynter Gordon “Believer”
Now going by her legal name, Diana Gordon, this lady has written multiple bops for Beyonce and grabbed a Song of the Year Grammy nomination in 2023. I haven’t really gotten into her newer stuff, but Nashom Wooden (RIP) used to play “Believer” every Wednesday at The Cock and I’ve been jamming to it ever since.
Day 13: This song would make a great movie
Jazmine Sullivan “Call Me Guilty”
This is one of Jazmine’s most underrated songs. She’s about to shoot her abusive partner and I’m surprised Tyler Perry hasn’t made this script word for word yet.
Day 14: A favorite R&B group jam
Guy “I Like”
The height of New Jack Swing excellence.
Day 15: A song that makes you want to put on your skates
Monica “Skate”
The vibe is right there in the title. And they really did play this song at the skating rink back in the 90s.
Day 16: You didn’t like this song as a child/teen but you love it as an adult
Dazz Band “Let It Whip”
I feel like my dad used to play this song constantly and I was NOT having it. Fast forward, and I have become my dad.
Day 17: This song could be about Jesus or it could be about your bae
Brandy “He Is”
This is the blueprint for modern R&B. If your favorite doesn’t have it as a reference, then your favorite isn’t worth listening to.
Day 18: A favorite southern soul joint
Sundia “Stand Up And Be A Man”
Back in college, the hipster bar near campus had a Carolina Funk night with rare and obscure songs from the area. I don’t know anything about Sundia, but this would have been a hit by a bigger artist.
Day 19: This is your Black national anthem
Beyonce “Cozy”
No explanation needed.
Day 20: A song that sounds like summer
Lenny Kravitz “Fly Away”
This song came out in summer of 1998 and it’s definitely a vibe for road trips and beach parties — not snowy nights and his big ass sweater/scarves.
Day 21: It’s quiet storm hours. What song are you calling to dedicate?
Teyana Taylor “Just Different”
Quiet Storm as a genre has a 1980s/1990s connotation to me, but I think the vibe never died and you can throw newer stuff in there, like this deep cut from 2015.
Day 22: A song that makes you think you could sing
Tamia “The Way I Love You”
Hands down my favorite song to sing. Jury is still out on whether it’s my favorite song for other people to hear me sing.
Day 23: Your answering machine background
Jade “Don’t Walk Away”
This song (the intro anyway) was super popular for answering machines back in the day and we need to bring it back for voicemail.
Day 24: Your favorite R&B interlude
SWV “Use Your Heart” (Interlude)
“Use Your Heart” is a classic R&B song, but honestly, I wish the song sounded more like the interlude. This interlude has made its way onto more of my playlists than the actual song.
Day 25: A new or niche artist you think more people should know
Psiryn “Cry for Me”
Kandi’s girl group has the best harmonies of any girl group out right now, and they’re making a play for Destiny’s Child and En Vogue if we’re keeping it a buck. Stop sleeping on them.
Day 26: Your life depends on getting every lyric and adlib. What song are you choosing?
Sunshine Anderson “Heard It All Before”
Many people can attest: If I start singing this song, I’m not going to stop until I’ve gotten to the end.
Day 27: A song that’s lowkey trifling or petty
MoKenStef “He’s Mine”
Not even lowkey at all.
Day 28: The sample that made you love the original (share both songs)
Shades “Tell Me (I’ll Be Around)” and Bernard Wright “Who Do You Love”
I knew the Shades version for years and years before I found out the original and they run neck and neck for me.
Day 29: A song that makes you relate to something that never even happened to you
Teedra Moses “You Better Tell Her”
I would never in my life be jealous enough to want to fight some lady OVER A MAN, but Teedra had me right there in the club beside her.
Day 30: Your idea of the perfect song
Janet Jackson “If”
Everything about this song is chaotic perfection. It’s inspired by Native American chanting with a Supremes sample, fuzzy guitars, and Janet singing at the very tip top of her range. If this song came out today, it would still make a splash. 30+ years and counting, few artists can capture this energy on a track.
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