A Test of the Emergency Rhythm Section
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I know specifically and distinctly how McDonald's can support and empower not just black Gen Z, but black people. My first job was McDonald's. I learned a lot there about customer service and how to relate to people. I still love that place and go there very often. Look out for the change of fashion designers and mentors.

at events like the BET Awards and the Essence Festival of Culture. And follow the journey of the 2024 McDonald's Change Leaders on their Instagram page, WeAreGolden.

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Happy New Year's, ladies. Happy New Year's. I'm Sam Sanders. I'm Saeed Jones. And I'm Zach Stafford. And you are listening to Vibe Check. Vibe Check.

This week, we're doing a special episode on music, which I'm excited about because Sam Sanders, I think, has the best music takes in all history. I just have to say that up top, but we're going to do something fun where we all pick some music that's meant a lot to us. So I'm really excited to dive into that. But before we start sharing our feelings, how are we doing this week emotionally? You know, we've talked about this before on the show, seasons changing. And

And right now in LA, as we tape this episode, it is actually quite cold. And I don't know what to do with myself. I was dressed as if I were exploring the Antarctic this morning, walking the dog.

I'm wearing like camping socks, like the really thick ones. Yeah, those are thick. It's not a game out here in these streets, kids. That's how I'm feeling right now. I will say LA does break you. I can tell the difference in one degree's change because LA has a constant temperature that if it goes like 68, I'm like something has happened. You're like, oh, I can feel a change. Yeah, but it is, to affirm Sam, it is LA cold. We have entered LA winter now. Yeah.

Y'all are strutting. We are. We are. I love the drama of Midwestern weather. I like the change and, you know, because I don't know, it makes me feel like time is passing. But then I woke up this morning and I like turned to my windows and I couldn't see anything. It looked like a white sheet had been hung outside my window and it threw me. And I walked up and I realized that it was like the densest fog.

fog I've ever seen. You could only see for about half a block in any direction. And it's mostly burned off now, but I was like, woof, anyone trying to fly in or out? And then someone said, like, even schools were delayed by two hours this morning because the fog was so bad. Like, even on the ground, like, it was

Is that a metaphor? Do you feel like this is an omen of some sort? It did feel ominous, you know, because I always think of that Stephen King movie, The Mist. Yes, oh my God. So I was kind of like, Cesar, we are not going outside until... I get that. I literally was on a plane recently and my plane landed in fog in New York City that was so dense. We landed a bit sideways. Like I have never had such a bad landing where one wheel, the wings were like kind of slanted.

And I was like, we're riding the soul plane. I was like, fog is no joke. I was like, we're going to die now, maybe? But it was because of the fog. I think they got it messed up. So, no, fog is real. Fog metaphorically, fog physically. You know? Listen. But how are you doing, Zach? I'm good. I'm good. You know, we're in the holiday season, which reminds me I'm from the South, because I have to be here so much in the South. Oh, my God.

It's just like a constant commute to Nashville International Airport, which is... I do have a question about this for all three of us. Do you feel that travel... I feel like post-pandemic, it just feels a little bit more... Ghetto? Okay. Yes. It's bad. Yeah.

I was trying to search for a nice word. Air travel is the ghetto. It feels very Greyhound energy. Greyhound bus energy. People have lost all sense of decorum in airports at this point. 100%. I see people barefoot. I see people loud. I see them watching videos on their phones with no headphones.

People are rude. People will push in front of you. The ghetto. Well, we're going to get to our chat now about music. But before we get into that discussion, I want to thank all of you who have sent us fan mail and tweeted us and DM'd us. We love hearing from y'all. Keep it coming via email. Vibecheckatstitcher.com. Vibecheckatstitcher.com. With that, let's jump in. Let's go. Let's go.

I've picked three songs all on a theme. They are three songs from iconic Black musicians who we love, but these are the kind of songs that we don't go to them for the most. When we think of their most iconic songs, we don't. A little bit different. A little bit different. But my argument for each of these song picks is that these different picks are

are actually the kind of songs that they were always the best at. We just didn't appreciate it. That said, my first pick is Whitney Houston's I Love the Lord. It is a gospel track from the soundtrack to the preacher's wife, written by the legendary classical and gospel composer Richard Smallwood. Listen to who is thorough.

For those who are too young to know, after doing The Bodyguard in 92 and Waiting to Exhale in 95, Whitney Houston made a holiday movie with Denzel Washington called The Preacher's Wife. It was a black church film directed by Penny Marshall, of all people. And the soundtrack to The Preacher's Wife became the best-selling gospel album of all time.

And at this moment in her career, Whitney had gone from making bubblegum pop to more black-influenced R&B. And this was the first time people heard her sing gospel. But my argument is that this is the best iteration of Whitney. And at her heart, she was always a gospel artist.

artist when you hear her sing hasten to his throne with the full choir behind her you say to yourself this is how I was meant to hear her voice like no other song matters once you hear this song I'm getting chills just thinking of the titles of the songs from this album yes yes

And so my first pick is just Whitney singing church music because that is where she came from. That's where her roots are. And I would argue that's where she sounds best. Yeah. It's her going home. And, you know, I feel like with church and her very complicated relationship with religion, her family, where she was raised and where she was trained to be Whitney Houston. Yeah.

I think when she does go back, those moments of gospel music allow her to kind of suspend the reality that is her life, that is one of dealing with drug abuse. All these things go away and she gets to go back to, you know, her happy place of singing in the gospel choir. So it's just really beautiful. I'm sure too. I mean, there's a parallel because I agree. I mean, I listen to the Preacher's Wife soundtrack pretty often. I have, frankly, was traumatized by my experience with the church growing up. So I don't have a lot of...

warm memories there, but that album is transcendent, right? Like even if you're not of the Christian faith, she's able to reach a depth in her and access a part. I think if you're right, Sam, like a part of her voice that you could just feel it, it takes it higher. And it makes me think of, you know, Aretha when she does her gospel album again, like demonstrating I never left the church. Like that resonance is really powerful. Yeah. Oh yeah. It's kind

interesting these black women who I think it's pretty clear that they're all of the Christian faith feeling the need over the course of what four decades to kind of demonstrate like no like this is my faith why am I why are you trying to undermine me in this way that is a kind of insidious thing they must have to deal with oh yeah well and the backstory of Whitney Houston's journey while making The Preacher's Wife is

makes the poignancy of a song like I Love the Lord even more powerful because she was in the throes of addiction while filming this movie and they had to stop production several times for her to get it together. And so the Whitney Houston that you hear on the soundtrack of The Preacher's Wife

was pushing through all of that and still gave you some of the most amazing gospel performances of all time. She made the best-selling gospel album of all time while in the throes of addiction. It's sad, it's tragic, but it speaks to her gifts. It speaks to her gifts. The gift almost conquers all. And it's divine. But also, just to bring a moment of levity before we go to your other songs, can we talk about how A Preacher's Wife is the horniest church movie ever? It's a very horny movie. Well,

Denzel Washington shows up in your church looking like that. It's like, are we going to fuck this angel or not? Are you having sex with the angel or not? And we should clarify, the angel is Denzel. It's Denzel Washington. Yeah. And also the movie is great. The movie is great. There's a moment when the pastor, her husband, asks another man to take his wife out. Like, it's kind of... Yes. There's like, what is it called? Cucking? What's the term? There's some...

There's something going on. Also, don't act like you don't know, Zach. What's the word? Don't do that. Don't put your pearls. The only reason the husband, it seems like, is really angry is because she sang the special song. Like, it's very, like, there's a lot going on. Watch that movie. Watch that movie. All right, Whitney, we love you. We mean it. Also, the music of Richard Smallwood is iconic.

He's probably most known for this song that he wrote for Whitney for this soundtrack, I Love the Lord. But my favorite song of his is a song called Total Praise. And even if you think you don't know this song, you do know this song. Every Black girl who thinks she can sing at one point will sing the refrain at the end. All the men of the world

That's Richard Smallwood, who also wrote this song for Whitney. My second pick is Marvin Gaye. So Marvin Gaye is perhaps most well-known for his smooth R&B and his political lyrics in albums like What's Going On. But I would argue that Marvin Gaye is at his best when he is sensual, and he's at his most sensual not in songs like Let's Get It On, but in the follow-up album called I Want You, came out in 1976.

One of the singles and the lead track on the album was called I Want You.

It is the sexiest, horniest Marvin Gaye song of all the Marvin Gaye songs. And it's one of my favorites of all time. So it is my vote for horny Marvin over political Marvin. It works for me. I have a personal question. I know you listened to Marvin Gaye growing up as a young, very evangelical gay boy who had not really found himself fully as gay yet. But what did you... He stirred my loins. Yeah, I was like, what did you feel? I was like,

I was like, is Marvin Gaye your gateway drug? Yeah. That voice? That falsetto? I mean...

Falsetto is inherently queer. Yes. Yes. Right? It is. Falsetto is queer. Yeah. Yeah. I love that. This song is amazing. There's also a performance he does of this. He's backstage about to go on stage to do some big song, but he's on the couch and his band is in the green room and they've got their instruments and they just start jamming. And then Marvin Gaye laying across the couch with his arm hanging off the couch starts singing perfectly, I Want You.

It is the most beautiful, arousing thing you will ever see. Horny Marvin is the best Marvin, is all I'm saying. Okay. I mean, that's funny, Marvin. I know. All right. My last pick is another version of an artist that I think is the best version of an artist. Okay.

I'm talking about Beyonce. A lot of people think peak Beyonce is pop like single ladies or halo. A lot of people think the best version of Beyonce is Beyonce rapping. A lot of people think that the best version of Beyonce is like throwback old R&B like love on top. I would argue the best version of Beyonce is like R&B for outer space. That's what I call a lot of her music. A lot of the early Destiny's Child stuff where they're just singing and kind of weird with it.

it's like for me iconic Destiny's Child and Beyonce R&B for outer space and I think the best example of Beyonce for outer space music is Countdown which is probably my favorite Beyonce song 8 7 6 5 4 3

It's the kind of song where you hear it and you're like, this is weird, but it's really catchy and I love it. It sounds like it's not of this planet. It's just so hyper and out there. It is so bizarre. But it's also a song that only Beyonce could sing. That's all I got. Beyonce's Countdown. It's the best version of her. I love that. I have a memory when the Countdown video came out. I was in Amsterdam. It was amazing. And I had just taken shrooms for the first time. Yeah.

It's all just like whatever the images and the music you're listening to when your trip starts really kind of deter. And I remember just feeling like Beyonce had like created a roller coaster that I was riding for the next two or three hours. Yeah. Well, this is the thing about Beyonce. Like she's a consummate performer and a musical genius. But at her core, she's kind of a weirdo. Yeah. The thing that she does when she's having the most fun musically are strange things.

She's a music nerd. Exactly. At your next dance party, children, play Countdown. Make the girlies dance. Play that tonight. You don't need a dance party. Just do it. I love this. Those are my picks. That's it. That's all I got. Those were great picks. Thank you. Time for a quick break. When we come back, more music. More, more, more.

This message is brought to you by McDonald's. Did you know only 7.3% of American fashion designers are Black? Well, McDonald's 2024 Change Leaders Program is ready to change the face of fashion. The innovative program awards a monetary grant to five emerging Black American designers and pairs each with an industry professional to help them elevate their brands. I

I know specifically and distinctly how McDonald's can support and empower not just black Gen Z but black people. My first job was McDonald's. I learned a lot there about customer service and how to relate to people. I still love that place and go there very often. Look out for the change of fashion designers and mentors at events like the BET Awards and the Essence Festival of Culture.

And follow the journey of the 2024 McDonald's change leaders on their Instagram page, WeAreGolden.

Here's an HIV pill dilemma for you. Picture the scene. There's a rooftop sunset with fairy lights and you're vibing with friends. You remember you've got to take your HIV pill. Important, yes, but the fun moment is gone. Did you know there's a long-acting treatment option available? So catch the sunset and keep the party going. Visit pillfreehiv.com today to learn more. Brought to you by Veve Healthcare.

All right, we are back with more Vibe Check. And now is the time for me to share my songs. And in typical Pisces fashion, my songs are mostly about my personal feelings and where I was at in my life. Uh-huh.

where I was and why they come to me. So this process was really funny for me because I went through all my liked Spotify and Apple music playlists and I scrolled to the very beginning of those apps, like, you know, 20, 13, 14 to find things. And it was fun. And during this dig, a song that came to me that I forgot how important it was to me, so important to me that I launched a Tumblr based off of the imagery in it, was the song. Oh, wow. Licorice by Azealia Banks. I feel like I'm in your tights, yeah.

Ooh, good song. Do you remember this song, Sam? That was so good. All of her songs kind of run together to me because it's always like... It's the one that she's riding. She rides a horse. She has a bat. She dresses in... You remember Licorice. Come on. I'm sure I do. I mean, I always remember 212 when I think of that girls episode that uses 212. Yes. I mean, this is the same era. 212 was life-changing for me.

That's when I used to sneak into gay bars and they would play 212 at this bar called Scarlet in Chicago. And me and my best friend, Vince Soto, would go dancing. We would order 40s because they served 40s there. It was bananas. Yes, it was a mess. And it was just a time for me. Azalea Banks encapsulates a lot of my moving to Chicago, becoming very, not only aware that I was definitely a black gay man, but becoming incredibly proud of it and licorice.

is a song while complicated. Like the refrain and the bridge and everything's about like, she is licorice. She's a black woman. She's delicious. Don't you want to take a bite? Don't you want to consume her? Doesn't she catch your eye? And it's kind of one of these first records when she kind of hit the scene and blew up as a rapper before the tweets happened that people were like, wow, this is kind of the next Lil' Kim. Like she's able to use sexuality and present a lot of empathetic

And she's also taking us further within this practice and making it really, I mean, it went really mainstream. 212 was everywhere as a song and then Licorice was the follow-up. And to this day, I know people battle their demons like in Kanye West. I no longer battle those demons because that man is very clearly anti-Semitic and clearly needing to go somewhere and sit down.

But Azalea Banks is someone that I think we have never given a lot of grace to, and she has definitely messed up and definitely done a lot of bad things. But I do feel really sad for her because her star was so bright in the beginning, and there were rumors she was going to be in a Beyonce album, a Lady Gaga album, Rihanna. And it all kind of fell apart because we don't give a lot of leeway to black women in music ever. So she messed up a few times and then kept messing up and now continues to mess up.

But in the beginning, when it was pure, it was so exciting to see her step onto the scene. Oh, yeah. I thought she was going to take over the world. I seriously did. Yeah. Loved her. It's a challenge to celebrate her because of... She's a mess. You know, she doesn't make it easy sometimes. Yeah. There's that. The second song is called Catching Feelings by an electronic artist named Raitan. And it's a collaboration with two Nigerian artists named Kylo and Mr. Easy. I'm not got your feelings tonight.

Cause I made up my mind But I get caught up every time Oh, I'm getting faded tonight And I don't want you in my head

But the song is an electronic song. It's wonderful. It's not like the most famous electronic song in the world. But for me, I listened to it at a time in my life where I was working too much. And remember, Sam, you came to me one day at a dinner and like questioned like, why did I work so much? Oh my God. I was like, what are you doing with your life? You were like dead behind the eyes and like on autopilot. I was like, what? Yeah, I was like doing AM to DM. I was the energy of the advocate. I think I had a podcast at Luminaire. It was a lot. I wasn't sleeping. I lived in two places. It was a mess.

And in the midst of that, I was like, I was cracking. Like it was hard. It was very tough. And world pride was coming. And I just like, at the time being so gay professionally, there were days I was like flying to Toronto for the day to do a speaking engagement and coming back to prep for the show. It was just a mess. And for somehow this song, Catching Feelings, like Earworm, it sounds very Caribbean too. Like,

popped into my Spotify feed and I just became kind of this like safe space for me to go in between things to kind of like sit in this like really like Afrobeats exciting song. And then in the midst of this, a friend of mine decided to sneak away to St. Lucia and

And he was like, he was going through his own trouble and his own stuff in his life. And we flew to St. Lucia where we didn't really have wifi service. And before I left, I downloaded a few songs. And one of them was the song Catching Feelings. So for me, it's like this like moment of me sitting on a beach where no one can get ahold of me. And me just listening to the song over and over. And I feel like all of us probably have that song that for some reason you just like live in and love and it becomes like a blanket. And it latches to you. Yeah. And it made it like the lyrics of the song have nothing to do with what I was going through at the time.

But it just kind of was like reprised from a reprieve. It just becomes a soundtrack of that moment. Yeah. Totally. I love it. But it got me through. Now I'm better. I'm more alive behind the eyes. Good. Good. Good. We're here. We like that. And then my final song is To Build on Sam Sanders, another gospel song. And it is Amazing Grace, sung by Aretha Franklin. Was black. Was black.

I see you. Well, there you go. Well, there you go. Gospel hymns are something we all grew up listening to, but when you have these iconic artists take them on to remind you of their roots, which Aretha Franklin at the time, similar to Whitney Houston, people were saying that she was not a Christian, that she was too sexy. She was all these things. She wasn't a church

girl and she did this album to remind people like i grew up deeply in the throes of the church my father is a very famous pastor and like this is so important to me and you listen to the song and it just like i don't care what religion you are even if you don't have religion it just moves you deeply deeply deeply deeply um and it takes me home takes me to my grandmother who passed away takes me to my family all that well and like when you even think about whitney houston coming out of gospel and aretha coming out of gospel these were two women who for decades after their rise

influenced the way everybody else sang in pop. And that just reminds you how much gospel music is the DNA and fundamental building blocks of American popular music. All the shit that we like on the radio that sounds good and sounds up and sounds fun, there's a direct through line to gospel music.

It comes from that. There is no black music without gospel music, which means that there is no top 40 as we know it without gospel music. It's all going back to the source. Even the sexiest, most scandalous songs exist in relation to either rebellion or kind of changing religious transcendental ecstasy into just sexual ecstasy. So even the structure of the songs may actually be surprisingly similar.

Oh, totally. And like these genres, the sacred and the secular are always in conversation with each other. And like the sayings, one cannot exist without the other. But my favorite emerging of sacred and secular, this was like in the mid to late 90s when 90s R&B was just dominant.

There was almost a call and response to that in the gospel world. There were a lot of slow jams written as love songs. But to Jesus, it was so weird. It was so weird. I mean, that's still a thing. I feel like that's like a whole cottage industry. Yeah, yeah. People being horny for Jesus. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like hip-hop church songs and all that kind of stuff. Yeah, yeah.

Anywho, all I'm saying is gospel. It's where it's at. It really is. And gospel also, gospel intersects with house music. It's a really wonderful moment. There's some iconic dance tracks from the 80s that are gospel inspired. So anyway, gospel music is where you should go to find inspiration, find the beginnings of all spiritual or really soulful music. So people should go back. But listen to Aretha Franklin, listen to Whitney Houston, and watch that doc.

Yes. Watch the concert. Amazing Grace. It's incredible. Amazing Grace. It's an amazing, amazing film. All right. Well, with that, we're going to take another quick break. And when we're back, Saeed Jones will finish this episode sharing with us his favorite songs. Stay tuned.

This message is brought to you by McDonald's. Did you know only 7.3% of American fashion designers are Black? Well, McDonald's 2024 Change Leaders Program is ready to change the face of fashion. The innovative program awards a monetary grant to five emerging Black American designers and pairs each with an industry professional to help them elevate their brands.

I know specifically and distinctly how McDonald's can support and empower not just black Gen Z, but black people. My first job was McDonald's. I learned a lot there about customer service and how to relate to people. I still love that place and go there very often. Look out for the change of fashion designers and mentors at events like the BET Awards and the Essence Festival of Culture. And follow the journey of the 2024 McDonald's Change Leaders Awards.

On their Instagram page, we are golden. All right, we are back. Welcome to the chaos segment, children. Wow. Not the Disney villain laugh. I hope you enjoy the thoughtful meditations on music and the secular and the sacred given to us by Sam and Zach because I have come to you with three songs today.

that I used to dance to alone in my bedroom for hours. Let us have it. One of my early cherished possessions that my mom was able to get for me when I was a very little kid was a pretty good, like one of those like CD sound systems that had like, it could hold six CD-ROMs. That was like a big deal at the time. I would lock myself in my room and dance for hours and hours and hours. And this leads to the first song I picked.

I grew up in Dallas, Texas, and Dallas happens to be where Barney, the TV show, is from. I didn't know that. It was public television in Dallas. It was like all the rage. And by that point, I was like, maybe in kindergarten, maybe? Okay. I would be dancing to this first song, C&C Music Factory's Gonna Make You Sweat. Barney's dead!

Wow. I would dance for hours just kind of coming up with – I didn't even know it was like called choreography, just for hours, just like boom, boom, boom until it was time for dinner. So much so that finally one day my mom came into the room and was like, they're having auditions for Barney. Stop. Stop.

You should put together a routine. And I was like, what? Huh? What's an audition? And she was like, it's tomorrow. And then she just like closed the door. And I was like...

Oh, wow. That is amazing. And I just went back to it and I was like, well, what do I do? And I was like, this is the song. And so at some point in probably 1991, 1992, a little Saeed Jones stood in front of three producers in Dallas, Texas. I remember my hand was shaking as I handed them my cherished CD of this.

And again, I didn't understand. So nothing was planned. It was literal. You know that movie, like Little Miss Sunshine? Oh, yeah. You were dancing like that? Oh, no, girl. Just let the spirit just go. And then the song ends. And I was like, and thank you. So I didn't get the role. Wait, do you ever imagine what your life would have been like if you got on Barney at that age? Oh, my God. Probably cursed. Oh, my God. A child star? I couldn't.

I couldn't handle that. I clearly do not have the constitution for that kind of life journey. - That's amazing. - My imagination was just all about that space and I just loved it so much more. So I really gravitated towards songs that I was like, oh, I could put on a show with this one. And the second one, I feel like if you're a black gay man alive now in your thirties, you have a relationship to Janet Jackson's "If."

Janet Jackson in that era, that era of the self-titled album, because If was on the same album as That's The Way Love Goes. That was the one time in my life where I was like, am I actually sexually attracted to this woman on my TV? It was as close as we... I don't know. I was very close.

So good. So this was the beginning of me because the music video was so incredible. I like learned the choreography. And I remember like the incredible, like the songs break down. Like, oh, I loved it. They're like in the desert. Yeah.

Yes. All her cool friends. Yes. Kind of futuristic. And I was just like obsessed, absolutely enamored with the inventory of that damn song. Could do it until probably up until like 15 years ago. I probably could have done the choreography without warning. Just at any moment. I loved it. I loved it. We love that. That is a way to like, you could turn that song on in a club and you would be able to see who's black and gay and grew up right away.

Like an immediate... There's just a... Immediate test of the emergency rhythm section. Yes. Well, and it's also like, I don't think the Gen Z babies understood just how ubiquitous Janet was in that moment. So...

She had had several hit albums before her self-titled album. She comes out of the gate as even a bigger sex symbol. The first single from the album, That's The Way Love Goes, is number one for like 10 weeks. And then the videos from this album live on MTV and VH1 for like two or three years. Yes. She has one of the most successful world tours ever around this album.

And she's on the cover of every magazine multiple times. I mean, the Rolling Stone cover, I think, is still one of the most iconic Rolling Stone covers of all time. We think Britney was big. We think Beyonce is big. One, both of them were taught how to do it by Janet. Right. And Janet was bigger than them all. They would tell you. They would tell you. Yeah. Yeah. No, like, Britney will say, I wouldn't be here if not for Janet. And what's funny enough, there were several songs that Britney took that were meant for Janet.

Biggest among them being I'm a slave for you. Janet was like, I don't get it. To this day, I'm fascinated by them. I'm like, who sat down in front of Janet Jackson from Gary, Indiana and was like, yeah, so here's the song. It's called I'm a slave for you. Okay. Yeah. And it's also, could you imagine that song coming out today, even by Britney Spears? Can't do it. Whoa. Bad vibes. Can't do it. Can't do it.

And then my last song I had to ask, I mean, I loved Brandy. I loved Brandy so much. And I was thinking the other day about how far we've come in terms of sexuality, gender, being able to be our authentic selves. I remember Brandy was like my everything. I loved all of her music, but I was so worried that if someone knew at school that I was a big fan of Brandy's music, it would basically mean outing myself. Yeah.

And so because she was my music, everything, I couldn't even talk about music at school. I've just been thinking about this, like little Said dancing for hours alone in his bedroom. And that it was like, there was so much energy and passion because I couldn't, I didn't feel comfortable talking about Janet or Mariah or Brandy, you know, or Madonna with any of my classmates. And I'm just like, so happy that we can fully kiki out now, but really,

one of my favorite Brandy songs of all time is from the Waiting to Exhale soundtrack. Which is a phenomenal soundtrack. I mean, all hits, no skips. And like star-studded. And I think Babyface produced it and it shows. All hits, no skips. But I think my favorite up-tempo song from that album is Sitting Up In My Room. Sitting up in my room. Sitting up in my room.

I must confess, I'm a mess for you. I'm a mess for you. I'm just a mess for you. First of all, the music video that gives us to that coat. Yes! Oh my God. And I just like, I'm so happy as like a kid of the 90s to have grown up in a time when a black girl next door was on my screen like weekly, you know, like Brandi...

Brandy was Cinderella. Brandy was Moesha. And she was at the top of the billboards just like killing it. And sitting up in my room is a song, baby. And this one, you do dance to it, but it was more like pretending that my bedroom was the bedroom on the music video set. Like that was the vibe I was serving. Oh, God, I love this song.

Brandy's story is so interesting because her parents knew she had the gift from a young age and she wanted to make it. And so they were starting to like do the rounds that parents of potential child stars do. And they would take her to agents and they would take her to folks and they're like, this can be the next like Miss All America. She's got it. She's got the smile. She's got the voice. She can also act. And all these agents and scouting agents would tell her, we don't think a girl this dark can do that. Yeah.

She can't be that kind of all-American girl. And Brandy said, oh, just wait. I'll show you. And she doesn't just have a hit R&B album or a few with this squeaky clean image. She goes on to be in Moesha. She goes on to lead the reboot of Cinderella. She becomes...

Black America's sweetheart to spite those fools. So like the whole path of her career, it's just beautiful. And there's something about how she was allowed to be a little girl through all of this. There was never this desire to over-sexualize her, to take away her power agency. She was allowed to grow up at a good pace,

on our television screens. That was just really nice as a black kid that was younger than her to be like, okay, I can look up to you and I'm going to grow up with you. Similar with your sister's sister. We grew up with them too. So it did feel like, I don't know what the kids watch now where they feel like that parallel happening. I mean, because even with this video and this song, it's very high school crush energy. It's not overly sexual. It's very like, I'm nervous about going downstairs and going to the party and doing the electric slide. It's so cute. It's so awesome.

you know, ultimately there was strain there too. I mean, she got to like a really difficult time in her life where I think performing the expectations of that all American girl were really like taking, you know, a toll on her body and in her health, you know, but I just think she's incredible. I think Brandi Norwood is an American legend and we need to give her flowers and she's still doing great music. I want her to do another. And that have a good saying that she can sing. What do they call her? The vocal

The Vocal Bible? For a reason. For R&B lovers, she is the Vocal Bible. And the album that is like the sacred text of her Vocal Bible is her 2000 album, Full Moon. Oh, yes. The whole thing is produced by Rodney Jerkins. And that motherfucker slaps. That's a good album.

That's a good album, baby. Well, I pay homage to my queens, the queens of C&C Music Factory, Janet Jackson, Brandy. I love you all so much. Little Saeed, thanks you. Little Saeed, thanks you. This was really fun, y'all. I love it.

I love this. It was fun kind of getting to build a playlist with each of you. And of course, listeners, we want to hear what are some of your favorite songs? You know, what are the memories that they bring up for you? I love that, like, the three of us found different ways to kind of think about what we wanted to talk about. This was so fun. And as always, you can email us at fivecheckatstitcher.com. Thank you.

Thank you all for listening to this week's episode of Vibe Check. If you love the show and want to support us, please make sure to follow the show on all of your favorite podcast listening platforms. Also, tell someone to their face to listen to this show. It works. Trust me. Turn to your neighbor and say, neighbor, have you heard of Vibe Check?

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