2006 - A Musical Year In Review


It is amazing how quickly a year can go by. Before the year ends, through the news, entertainment programs, and the like we will be reminded of all that has taken place this past year.

We would be remiss if part of that moment of reflection didn’t include taking a look back at the year in music.

There were some great if not interesting achievements in music this year.

For example, for the Oscar’s category of Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original Song), Three 6 Mafia became the first African American rap group to win this award with “Its Hard out Here for a Pimp” for the movie Hustle & Flow.

But the world of music experienced loss as well.

Some of music’s greats that have fallen asleep in death were: James Brown, Gerald Levert, Wilson Pickett, Billy Preston, June Pointer and Lou Rawls. All made significant contributions to the world of music and will truly be missed.

Like beauty is in the eye of the beholder, music is to the ear of the listener. And of course no retrospective is truly complete without providing a list of what was hot and what was not.

I decided to share my list (in no particular order) of CD’s that were released this year that were hot and should definitely be in one’s music collection or at least taken note of. I also was curious to know if some of my choices matched up with some of the industry’s “professional picks.” I was pleasantly surprised that some of my selections did make their lists.

I guess I am on my way to being a real pro.

Here are some of my top picks for the 06.

· Chris Brown – Chris Brown
· Corrine Bailey Rae – Corrine Bailey Rae
· Game Theory – The Roots
· In My Own Words – NeYo
· Kingdom Come – Jay -Z
· Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor – Lupe Fiasco
· Moments Like This – Carol Riddick
· Once Again – John Legend
· Seasons of Life – Janita
· Testimony: Vol. 1 Life & Relationships – India.Arie
· The Breakthrough – Mary J. Blige
· The Evolution of Robin Thicke – Robin Thicke
· The Healing – Strange Fruit Project
· The Red Clay Chronicles – Anthony David

Until next time, peace.