Andrew Martone

Aretha Franklin’s Young, Gifted & Black is a Masterpiece

January 24, 2017

Young, Gifted & Black: The Queen On The Throne 45 years ago Aretha Franklin was at her peak. 3 major events mark this era: First, her show stopping 1971 performances at the Fillmore West in San Francisco helped expose her to a brand new audience. Second, her game-changing 1972 gospel album Amazing Grace redefined the gospel genre, and helped bring

Music·Then

Is Aretha Franklin’s “Ain’t No Way” An Undercover LGBT Anthem?

Introduction Before I get started on “Ain’t No Way”, I want to address a few things (in case this crosses Miss Franklin’s eyes). The intention of this piece is not gossip. No malice is intended in these words. I’m simply working off information I’ve learned, and a theory I came up with as

Where Are You Christmas? Mariah Carey’s Unsung Holiday Classic

Faith Hill’s “Where Are You Christmas?” To some, it’s ‘that song from

Me. I Am Misunderstood… The Elusive Chronicles of Mariah’s 14th studio album

Introduction In 2014, Mariah Carey released her fourteenth studio album, Me. I

Maxwell’s blackSUMMERS’night (2016) – Retrospective

July 1, 2021

Featured·Music·Retrospectives

In 2009, Maxwell made a triumphant and long-awaited return to music with BLACKsummers’night, his first album in 8 years. The melancholic lead single “Pretty Wings” soared, proving that Maxwell just gets better with time. To the delight of fans, he announced that BLACKsummers’night was the first installment in a trilogy

What You See Is What You Sweat: Aretha Franklin’s New Jack Swing and A Miss

June 25, 2021

Aretha Franklin·Featured·Music·Retrospectives

What You See Is What You Sweat isn’t at the forefront of the Aretha Franklin canon. In fact, the 1991 album helps bring up the rear, and there’s been very little written on it since its release. It’s just not a solid representation of the tenacity of Aretha Franklin musically

Mariah Carey’s Loverboy: A Musical History

June 19, 2021

Featured·In Depth·Mariah Carey

I still remember excitedly hurrying down to my hometown Sam Goody in July 2001. I was 11. The copies of Mariah Carey’s new single “Loverboy” were in stock and I was getting mine. It was my first full album cycle as a Mariah fan, and I was prepared to devour

Review: DMX “Exodus”

June 2, 2021

Music·Now·Reviews

Prior to his tragic and untimely passing, DMX was working on a new album for Def Jam. It was slated to be his first major label release in a decade and a half. There was a melancholic excitement when initial reports stated that X completed the album before his passing.

Celebrating Aretha Franklin’s Aretha Live At Fillmore West

May 19, 2021

Aretha Franklin·Featured·Retrospectives

“She was afraid she didn’t belong there,” Aretha Franklin’s producer Jerry Wexler told David Ritz in Respect: The Life of Aretha Franklin. That was Aretha’s mentality about staging a show in the heart of the hippie revolution: San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district. For all her hesitance, Aretha Franklin was sitting on

Album Review: DJ Khaled’s Khaled Khaled

May 7, 2021

Now·Reviews

Listening to a DJ Khaled album is a trying experience. His latest release Khaled Khaled is no exception. Khaled’s only verbal contributions are almost exclusively one of his key phrases “We The Best Music,” “DJ Khaled,” and “Another One.” They are frequent and they are annoying. Aside from these incessant,

Revisiting Aretha: A Woman Falling Out Of Love 10 Years Later

May 3, 2021

Aretha Franklin·Featured·In Depth·Retrospectives

I woke up at the crack of dawn on May 3, 2011. I drove from my West Philly apartment down to South Philly’s Wal Mart and basically opened the place up. It took about 20 minutes for a staff member to retrieve a copy from the back because they weren’t

Review: Ava Max “Heaven & Hell”

October 5, 2020

Music·Reviews

Ava Max has been making waves for 2 years, and now her debut album finally arrives.

The Soul of Mariah Carey’s The Emancipation of Mimi

April 12, 2020

Featured·For the Nostalgia·In Depth·Mariah Carey·Music

Mariah Carey opened her mouth and silenced the naysayers on 2005’s The Emancipation of Mimi. The album was the best-selling LP of 2005 in the United States, and yielded one of the longest running number one records in Billboard Hot 100 history. The success and singles are the stuff of

10 Aretha Franklin Songs You Need To Hear

March 25, 2020

Aretha Franklin·Artists·Music

Aretha Franklin’s catalog is so vast that you could listen to one Aretha Franklin song every day for a year and not get through all of her material (trust me, I’ve been working on that on my blog). And while most people can name a handful of Aretha songs, whether

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Andrew Martone

Aretha Franklin’s Young, Gifted & Black is a Masterpiece

Is Aretha Franklin’s “Ain’t No Way” An Undercover LGBT Anthem?

Where Are You Christmas? Mariah Carey’s Unsung Holiday Classic

Me. I Am Misunderstood… The Elusive Chronicles of Mariah’s 14th studio album

Maxwell’s blackSUMMERS’night (2016) – Retrospective

What You See Is What You Sweat: Aretha Franklin’s New Jack Swing and A Miss

Mariah Carey’s Loverboy: A Musical History

Review: DMX “Exodus”

Celebrating Aretha Franklin’s Aretha Live At Fillmore West

Album Review: DJ Khaled’s Khaled Khaled

Revisiting Aretha: A Woman Falling Out Of Love 10 Years Later

Review: Ava Max “Heaven & Hell”

The Soul of Mariah Carey’s The Emancipation of Mimi

10 Aretha Franklin Songs You Need To Hear

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