Very cool essay. I must say one thing though--Lauryn gifted us with one great album, but Sly had at least ten if you count the post-Riot joints, which many folks don't. I love me some Vernon Reid, but when he said Riot was the last great album I just thought about how much I loved Fresh and Small Talk. The "Black genius" catagory, as we've seen with D'Angelo (3 albums in 30 years), is a slippery slope. I encourge you to buy "Sly & the Family Stone: An Oral History "by Joel Selvin for a deeper look behind the music and mayham.
Appreciate you, fam. Yeah, the Joel Selvin book is definitely a great read. I thought about the fact that Lauryn only has one album, but the top-of-the-pack-to-silence trajectory made sense to me.
Very cool essay. I must say one thing though--Lauryn gifted us with one great album, but Sly had at least ten if you count the post-Riot joints, which many folks don't. I love me some Vernon Reid, but when he said Riot was the last great album I just thought about how much I loved Fresh and Small Talk. The "Black genius" catagory, as we've seen with D'Angelo (3 albums in 30 years), is a slippery slope. I encourge you to buy "Sly & the Family Stone: An Oral History "by Joel Selvin for a deeper look behind the music and mayham.
Appreciate you, fam. Yeah, the Joel Selvin book is definitely a great read. I thought about the fact that Lauryn only has one album, but the top-of-the-pack-to-silence trajectory made sense to me.