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Michael A. Gonzales

Michael A. Gonzales

Michael A. Gonzales has written features for Wax Poetics, One More Robot, Vibe, The Source, XXL, Spin, The Village Voice, Complex and others. His music writing has been reprinted in Best African-American Essays 2009 and cited by the Best Music Writing series three times. The co-author of Bring the Noise: A Guide to Rap Music and Hip-Hop Culture (1991).

Pic: Martha Cooper

Michael A. Gonzales' Blog

Michael in conversation with Todd L. Burns

130 articles

List of articles in the library

By date | By artist | Most recently added

Aaliyah's Age Ain't Nothing but a Number Ages 20 Years

Retrospective by Michael A. Gonzales, Ebony, 27 May 2014

THE LATE SONGSTRESS'S DEBUT ALBUM DROPPED IN MAY 1994, LAUNCHING A TOO-BRIEF CAREER THAT'LL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN ...

Aaliyah, R. Kelly: Aaliyah: Eternal Soul

Retrospective by Michael A. Gonzales, Wax Poetics, August 2014

On the heels of her best-selling debut, Age Ain't Nothing But a Number, fifteen-year-old Aaliyah was rocked by a sex scandal that would have crushed ...

A Tribe Called Quest: We Got It from Here... Thank You 4 Your Service (Epic)

Review by Michael A. Gonzales, The Wire, January 2017

With their secretly recorded sixth and final album, A Tribe Called Quest address the state of their nation with fury, humour and love. ...

Bad Brains, Fishbone, Living Colour: Afropunk Before Afropunk

Retrospective by Michael A. Gonzales, Ebony, 29 August 2014

LAST WEEK, for the first time in years, I missed the Afropunk festival. The musical movement began as an extension of a 2003 documentary of ...

Charli Baltimore: No more drama

Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, XXL, April 2002

Refocused and full of determination, Charli says she's got what it takes to rock the mic right. B.I.G.'s former mistress, Ms. B-More, has returned to ...

Barry White: Blackberry Jam

Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Vibe, February 1995

VIBE: You write a lot about — Barry White: Love. VIBE: Love — BW: Always. ...

The Beatnuts: Strange Brew

Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, The Source, September 1994

A thirst for reckless beats and raw grooves fuels the Beatnuts in their quest through the urban badlands. ...

Eric Benét: True To Myself (Warner Bros.)

Review by Michael A. Gonzales, Vibe, October 1996

SOMEWHERE IN Hitsville, U.S.A., aging music critics wearing faded dashikis and bad attitudes gulp endless glasses of chilled white wine, reminiscing about the days of ...

Bernadette Cooper, Klymaxx: Still Looking Good: Bernadette Cooper

Retrospective by Michael A. Gonzales, soulhead, 31 October 2014

ALTHOUGH FORMER KLYMAXX singer, songwriter and producer Bernadette Cooper has never been anything like the women the Beach Boys harmonized about on their sunshine soundtracks, ...

Blackstreet: Another Level (Interscope)

Review by Michael A. Gonzales, Vibe, November 1996

IT'S ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE to remember the way R&B sounded before producer Teddy Riley created the urban-jungle grooves that became known as new jack swing. ...

Mary J. Blige, Steak-Loving Soul Diva, Really "Vomited" That Precious Song

Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, New York Magazine, 10 January 2010

WHILE POP DIVAS ARE often fashionably late, Mary J. Blige has already ordered her steak when I arrive for our noon lunch at Del Frisco's ...

Mary J. Blige, Brandy, Brandy & Monica, Darkchild, Whitney Houston, Rodney Jerkins: Rodney Jerkins: The Beats Are Mine

Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, The Source, 1999

WITHIN THE rhythmic belly of the Hit Factory studio, chunky-funky 21-year-old producer Rodney Jerkins is beginning to look slightly fatigued. ...

Bobby Brown's Don't Be Cruel turns 25

Retrospective by Michael A. Gonzales, Ebony, 15 August 2013

IT'S HARD TO BELIEVE it's been 25 years since the release of Bobby Brown's groundbreaking Don't Be Cruel. New-jacking the title from an old Elvis ...

Chris Brown: Ladies' Knight

Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Vibe, August 2005

IT'S SPRING BREAK in the concrete jungle of Manhattan, and the rowdy bowling alley at Chelsea Piers has become a teenage refuge in the heart ...

Foxy Brown: In the studio with Foxy Brown

Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, The Source, October 1998

LOOKING MORE like a model just departed from a catwalk than a rapper hustling to finish an album, Foxy Brown sits quietly behind the massive ...

Foxy Brown, Lil' Kim: Lil' Kim & Foxy Brown: Mack Divas

Report and Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, The Source, February 1997

What demons lie beneath the excessive glam and the in-yo face sexuality? The Source gets hip close and personal with hip-hop's twin testaments to divahood: ...

James Brown, George Clinton, Sam Cooke, Curtis Mayfield, Prince: Take The Power Back: Black Artist-Owned Labels

Retrospective by Michael A. Gonzales, Red Bull Academy Magazine, 25 January 2016

At the height of their careers, Sam Cooke, Curtis Mayfield, James Brown, George Clinton and Prince all formed their own imprints. Michael Gonzales tells the ...

James Brown, Funkadelic, The Ohio Players: Who Killed the Funk?

Comment by Michael A. Gonzales, Ebony, 24 July 2013

MICHAEL A. GONZALES REFLECTS ON P-FUNK, THE OHIO PLAYERS, EARTH WIND & FIRE, ETC. AND WONDERS WHERE THE FUNK HAVE ALL THE FUNK GROUPS GONE? ...

Sleepy Brown: Smooth Operator

Profile by Michael A. Gonzales, Vibe, June 2000

IT'S 7:30 a.m., but Patrick "Sleepy" Brown is full of energy as he promotes his solo debut, For the Grown and Sexy, on New York ...

Sleepy Brown, Sleepy's Theme: Sleepy's Theme: The Vinyl Room

Retrospective and Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, soulhead, 23 December 2014

PRODUCER/SINGER/SONGWRITER Patrick "Sleepy" Brown wasn't just inspired by yesteryear funk, the brother grew up in the thick of it. ...

Chic: Props: Chic

Profile and Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Vibe, August 1997

AFTER THE riots, bullets, and civil rights battles of '60s America, the national spirit desperately needed uplifting. Tragic visionaries like Marvin Gaye and Sly Stone ...

Natalie Cole: A Remembrance (1950-2015)

Obituary by Michael A. Gonzales, Ebony, December 2015

STELLAR SINGER and showbiz royalty Natalie Cole has passed away at the age of 65. ...

Common: Center of Chaos: Common's Electric Circus

Retrospective by Michael A. Gonzales, Red Bull Academy Magazine, 24 March 2015

In the wake of the wide-ranging To Pimp a Butterfly, Michael A. Gonzales looks back to Common's most ambitious full-length. ...

Common: Black America Again (Def Jam/ARTium CD/DL)

Review by Michael A. Gonzales, The Wire, January 2017

HARKING BACK to the late 1960s/early 70s protest pop when The Last Poets and Gil Scott-Heron led the rhythmic revolution with powerful poetics soaked in ...

Don Cornelius: The Don

Profile by Michael A. Gonzales, Vibe, September 1995

JUICE? YOU want juice? Bust this: Long before Arsenio or BET, Don Cornelius single-handedly brought black music into living rooms nationwide. And he's kept it ...

Don Cornelius: Love, Peace, and Hair Grease: Remembering Soul Train's Don Cornelius

Retrospective by Michael A. Gonzales, Complex, 2 February 2012

Artists from Ad-Rock of the Beastie Boys to Charlie Wilson of the Gap Band reminisce about the life and legacy of the late Don Cornelius, whose show ...

André Cymone, Alexander O'Neal, Prince: Various Artists: Purple Snow: Forecasting the Minneapolis Sound (Numero)

Review by Michael A. Gonzales, Ebony, 18 April 2014

WHEN IT COMES to the Minneapolis sound, most folks might believe the entire history begins and ends with the musical genius known as Prince. ...

André Cymone, Prince: André Cymone Returns to Rock the Spot

Retrospective and Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Ebony, 28 February 2014

Prodigal son of the Minneapolis Sound returns ...

Cypress Hill, D'Angelo, The Notorious B.I.G., Snoop (Doggy) Dogg, Tricky: Blunted On Reality: A Journalist Recalls Smoking With Snoop Dogg, Biggie, Cypress Hill & More

Memoir by Michael A. Gonzales, Complex, 20 April 2012

"Most marijuana smokers are Negroes, Hispanics, jazz musicians, and entertainers, Their satanic music is driven by marijuana."— Harry J. Anslinger, America's First Drug Czar ...

Cypress Hill, Tricky, Barry White: It's Like That: The Makings of a Hip-Hop Writer

Memoir by Michael A. Gonzales, Longreads, June 2019

Hip-hop was a different kind of music that needed a different kind of writer to cover it. This is how Michael A. Gonzales came of ...

D'Angelo: In the Raw

Retrospective and Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Wax Poetics, July 2010

D'Angelo's organic sweet soul shook up modern R&B ...

D'Angelo: On D'Angelo and the Birth of Neo-Soul

Retrospective by Michael A. Gonzales, Ebony, 14 January 2012

SOULCHILD, LEGEND, BADU, EVEN SCOTT (AS IN JILL) SHOULD THANK THEIR LUCKY STARS FOR THIS CAT ...

Terence Trent D'Arby: Neither Fish Nor Flesh

Retrospective by Michael A. Gonzales, soulhead, 21 October 2015

EVERY COUPLE OF years some former fan-turned-journalist comes along to rattle the fame cage of singer/songwriter/producer Sananda Francesco Maitreya, the man who used to be ...

Betty Davis, The Family Stand, Nona Hendryx, Klymaxx, Labelle, Mother's Finest: Rise of the Funky Divas

Overview by Michael A. Gonzales, Ebony, 12 August 2013

BEGINNING IN THE early 1970s, a small army of female funk-rock performers that included Chaka Khan, Betty Davis, Labelle, Mother's Finest, Brides of Funkenstein, Parlet, ...

DeBarge, El DeBarge: The Rise and Fall of The DeBarge Family

Retrospective and Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Vibe, October 2007

The DeBarge family – El, Marty, Randy, Bunny and James, not to mention Thomas, Bobby, and baby brother Chico – were supposed to be Motown's ...

De La Soul Is (Not) Dead: Inside the Anonymous Nobody

Retrospective and Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Ebony, 7 September 2016

30 years after the release of its groundbreaking first album, 3 Feet High and Rising, we catch up with this legendary crew. ...

Digable Planets, Ladybug Mecca: Ladybug Mecca: Trip the Light Fantastic

Retrospective by Michael A. Gonzales, soulhead, 22 August 2016

EVER SINCE MARY Ann Vieira was a kid growing-up in Silver Spring, Maryland, freedom in life and art has been important to her. ...

Digital Underground: The Body-Hat Syndrome (Tommy Boy)

Review by Michael A. Gonzales, Vibe, November 1993

OVER THE roar of the multicolored cosmic Mothership crashing onto Planet Hip Hop, Digital Underground continue to pray in the wild sound factory of George ...

DMX: It's Dark and Hell Is Hot (Def Jam)

Review by Michael A. Gonzales, Spin, August 1998

FROM THE jailhouse strut perfected by mush-mouthed Edward G. Robinson in the noir classic Little Caesar to the outlaw personae cultivated by dead hiphop heroes, ...

Jermaine Dupri: Song Of The South

Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Vibe, September 1996

Whether shooting pool or making hit records, hotshot producer Jermaine Dupri has one goal: to be the best. By Michael A. Gonzales ...

Jermaine Dupri, Janet Jackson: Jermaine Dupri: In Control

Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Vibe, October 2004

JERMAINE DUPRI maps out the path to Ms. Nipplegate's heart, fights for P. Diddy-style props, and reveals his secret for crafting hits. Michael A. Gonzales ...

D'Wayne Wiggins, Tony! Toni! Toné!: D'Wayne Wiggins: Eyes Never Lie

Retrospective by Michael A. Gonzales, soulhead, 4 August 2015

IT WAS THE winter of 1996 and Tony! Toni! Toné! was on the verge of falling apart. ...

Earth, Wind & Fire 'Promise' to Keep Rocking

Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Ebony, 5 August 2013

WHEN EARTH, Wind and Fire's bass player extraordinaire Verdine White speaks affectionately about his influential group playing shows in the mid-1970s, one is instantly transported ...

Faith Evans Resurrects '90s Swag on Incomparable

Report and Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Ebony, 13 October 2014

In this 20th anniversary of Bad Boy Entertainment, its former First Lady collabs with Missy Elliott for sixth studio album. ...

Faith Evans, Soul-Singing Widow of Biggie Smalls, Misses Kum Kau Kitchen

Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, New York Magazine, 17 October 2010

FAITH EVANS, the soul singer once married to rapper Biggie Smalls (who was shot in 1997; she has since remarried), recently launched her sixth studio ...

Faith Evans: One More Chance

Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, The Source, April 1999

FOUR HUMID Gemini summers before her life morphed from those joyful days of chilled Cristal dreams and gleaming jewelry to the black widow midnights of ...

Faith, Living Colour, Me'Shell Ndegeocello: Fear of Music: A Tribute to Black Rock Coalition

Retrospective and Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Red Bull Academy Magazine, 7 October 2015

Michael Gonzales pens a love letter to the pioneering organization that helped propel Living Colour and others to stardom. ...

The Fugees, Lauryn Hill: Lauryn Hill: Black Magic Woman

Report and Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, The Source, September 1998

LAURYN MAY BE BEAUTIFUL. LAURYN MAY BE BRILLIANT. BUT WE LOVE HER. ...

Marvin Gaye: Inner Sleeve: Marvin Gaye's I Want You (Tamla)

Comment by Michael A. Gonzales, The Wire, August 2018

This month's artwork chosen by Michael A Gonzales. Cover painting by Ernie Barnes ...

Goldie: Saturnz Return (Ffrr Records)

Review by Michael A. Gonzales, Vibe, February 1998

AFTER YEARS of failing to cultivate any homegrown hip hop talents comparable to the likes of Rakim or the Notorious B.I.G., the infamous noise scientists ...

Larry Graham, Chaka Khan, Prince: My father named me Prince

Profile and Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Code, December 1999

The turn-of-the-century artist takes a second look. ...

Groove Theory Revisited

Retrospective and Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Ebony, 23 October 2015

Twenty years ago, singer Amel Larrieux and producer Bryce Wilson unleashed one of the unsung classics of the neo-soul era. ...

Herbie Hancock: The Futureshock of Herbie Hancock

Retrospective by Michael A. Gonzales, Ebony, 8 November 2013

As Sony Music prepares a 34-disc box set for next week, Michael A. Gonzales takes a look back at the pianist's storied career. ...

Herbie Hancock: Vintage Vision: The Futureshock of Herbie Hancock

Retrospective and Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Ebony, 8 November 2013

BLACK MUSIC, especially jazz, has never been afraid of change. Since strutting out of the Storyville whorehouses where piano players and horn blowers created the ...

Umar Bin Hassan: Last Poet Umar Bin Hassan Returns for Revolution

Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Ebony, 7 April 2015

Are We Trapped, the latest from the voice of the Last Poets, flaunts the original Black revolutionary spirit that still inspires the likes of Kendrick ...

Heavy D. & the Boyz: Why Heavy D. Matters

Obituary by Michael A. Gonzales, Complex, 10 November 2011

Though many remember him as "the overweight lover," Heavy D was much more than one of hip-hop's first pop stars. He made some of his ...

Billie Holiday: Blood on the Leaves: Eric Garner and 'Strange Fruit'

Retrospective by Michael A. Gonzales, Ebony, 5 December 2014

"I CAN'T BREATHE," Eric Garner moaned moments before dying on a Staten Island street on July 17 of this summer. As one of millions who ...

Whitney Houston, The Notorious B.I.G., Puff Daddy, TLC: Clive Davis: Big Poppa

Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Vibe, September 1996

The VIBE Q: CLIVE DAVIS, ARISTA RECORDS' LEGENDARY PRESIDENT AND CEO, IS TRULY RUNNING THINGS. THINK NOT? ASK WHITNEY HOUSTON, PUFFY COMBS, TLC, THE NOTORIOUS B.I.G., OR L.A. AND ...

Ice Cube, N.W.A, Public Enemy: When Ice Cube Was Hardcore

Retrospective by Michael A. Gonzales, Ebony, 6 December 2013

ON THE HEELS OF RECENT ICE CUBE AND PUBLIC ENEMY ALBUM RE-RELEASES, MICHAEL A. GONZALES RECALLS WHEN ICE CUBE WAS HARD ...

The Impressions, Curtis Mayfield: Curtis Mayfield: Mighty Mighty

Profile and Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Vibe, April 1996

From the Impressions to Superfly, he's left an indelible mark on American music. Now, six years after a paralyzing accident, Curtis Mayfield is down but not out. ...

The Isley Brothers: Mission to Please (T-Neck/Island)

Review by Michael A. Gonzales, Vibe, June 1996

MY MAMA HAS informed me that when I was six and shaking my booty in front of the stereo, whenever the radio DJ played the ...

The Isley Brothers, Isley Jasper Isley: Chris Jasper on Playing Synths for the Isleys

Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Red Bull Academy Magazine, 20 January 2015

Michael A. Gonzales talks to the inventive, classically-trained keyboardist behind some of the Isley’s most indelible hits ...

The Isley Brothers, Ronald Isley: At 72, Ron Isley Remains Contagious

Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Ebony, 15 July 2013

With one more solo album, This Song Is for You, dropping tomorrow, the Isley Brothers legend stays true to his soulful roots ...

Janet Jackson: 'I Eat To Fill The Void'

Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Daily Telegraph, 22 November 2010

With an Oscar-tipped role in Tyler Perry's new film and a handsome young billionaire in her life, Janet Jackson is, finally, 'in a good place'. ...

Michael Jackson: How Off the Wall Launched Michael Jackson into Orbit

Retrospective by Michael A. Gonzales, Ebony, 27 January 2016

As Spike Lee's new Sundance-debuting documentary celebrates Off the Wall, vintage visionary Michael A. Gonzales pieces together the making of MJ's blackest album. ...

Jay-Z: Change the Game

Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Stop Smiling, Winter 2007

FROM CINEMATIC outlaws Vito Corleone (The Godfather) and Priest (Super Fly) to real life dons like John Gotti and Nicky Barnes, the mythology of gangsterism ...

Jay Z, Public Enemy: Still Smokin': 30 Years of Crack's Influence on Pop Culture

Essay by Michael A. Gonzales, Ebony, 2 May 2014

With Showtime announcing John Singleton's upcoming Snowfall series, crack cocaine's sway on pop culture continues to grow ...

Quincy Jones: Cinematic Soul: The Soundtracks of Quincy Jones

Overview by Michael A. Gonzales, Stop Smiling, November 2007

THE MUSICAL legacy of 74-year-old Quincy Delight Jones Jr. looms large over the landscape of popular culture. While our grandparents might remember him as the ...

R. Kelly: Sittin' On Top of the Game

Profile by Michael A. Gonzales, The Source, April 1999

BEFORE TRANSFORMING himself into the premier rhythm & blues singer/songwriter/producer of the post-soul generation, R. Kelly was just another new jack poser trying to succeed ...

Alicia Keys: Shining Star

Profile and Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, XXL Hip Hop Soul, Spring 2004

She bodied the sophomore jinx in one week, proving that ALICIA KEYS ain't goin' nowhere no time soon. Walk with the New York songbird through ...

Kid Creole & The Coconuts: Kid Creole and the Coconuts

Retrospective by Michael A. Gonzales, Vibe, May 2000

THINKING BACK to uptown Saturday nights past. I remember staring at my slicky-boy expression (circa 1982) in the bathroom mirror while the infectious 'I'm a ...

DJ Kool Herc: D.J. Kool Herc: The Holy House of Hip-hop

Report and Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, New York Magazine, 28 September 2008

On August 11, 1973, D.J. Kool Herc didn't know he was revolutionizing pop music – he was just trying to keep people dancing. The rec ...

Glenn Lewis Cooks Up Grown-Up Soul

Profile and Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Ebony, 29 July 2013

Refusing to become a footnote to modern R&B, the Canadian soulman makes a matured return with his long-awaited sophomore disc, Moment of Truth. ...

Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz, Ludacris: Hip hop’s new home

Report and Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, New York Daily News, 28 September 2003

Southern stars challenge domination of rap by East and West Coast acts ...

Living Colour: 93 Minutes With Corey Glover and Vernon Reid

Report and Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, New York, 4 October 2009

Twenty-one years after 'Cult of Personality', Living Colour has a new album, a few regrets, and no intention of ever wearing neon spandex again. ...

Sananda Maitreya: Pandora's PlayHouse (TreeHouse)

Review by Michael A. Gonzales, The Wire, April 2021

YEARS BEFORE Terence Trent D'Arby renamed himself Sananda Maitreya, he was a mid-1980s sensation embraced by the UK pop media, the US alternative press, Black ...

Curtis Mayfield: Gangster Boogie

Retrospective and Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Wax Poetics, December 2009

Curtis Mayfield injected his own cultural commentary into the Super Fly legacy ...

Curtis Mayfield and the Black Rock Connection

Retrospective by Michael A. Gonzales, Bold As Love, 14 January 2010

With only a few days to go before the BRC Orchestra spends two nights performing the Civil Rights songbook of Curtis Mayfield, Michael Gonzales reflects ...

Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, O'Jays: The Sound of Philadelphia

Retrospective by Michael A. Gonzales, Ebony, 18 October 2013

Sweet Philly soul has influenced the likes of Erykah Badu, the Roots, David Bowie and more. Michael A. Gonzales delves into the1970s sound. ...

Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, Teddy Pendergrass: Teddy Pendergrass, the Heart of Philly Soul

Retrospective by Michael A. Gonzales, Ebony, 20 June 2014

CELEBRATING BLACK MUSIC MONTH WITH SOME OF THE STANDOUTS OF R&B, SOUL AND HIP-HOP, MICHAEL A. GONZALES REMEMBERS THE LATE, GREAT TEDDY PENDERGRASS ...

Method Man, Redman: Method Man: The Tical (Def Jam); Redman: Dare Is a Darkside (Def Jam)

Review by Michael A. Gonzales, Vibe, November 1994

WHAT IS reality in hip hop? Flicking a 50-cent lighter during an old-school concert while the ancient-as-angel-dust Sugarhill Gang chant that "Hotel, motel, Holiday Inn" ...

Mark Morrison: London calling...

Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Vibe, August 1997

RELAXING IN his London home, wearing Adidas tennis shoes and a pair of track pants, England's latest soul rebel, Mark Morrison, is recovering after a ...

Nas's Illmatic Turns 20

Retrospective by Michael A. Gonzales, soulhead, 11 April 2014

WHEN 20-YEAR-OLD MC Nas released his stellar debut Illmatic two decades ago this month, I must've been on the only person on Planet Hip-Hop who ...

Nas: The Golden G's: On Nas and Aging in Hip-Hop

Report and Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Complex, 10 September 2013

How Nas has been able to stay relevant through 20 years in hip-hop. ...

Shara Nelson's: What Silence Knows

Retrospective by Michael A. Gonzales, soulhead, 1 September 2015

SINGER/SONGWRITER SHARA Nelson, who began her career as the first female vocalist to be down with electro-dub b-boys Massive Attack on the Bristol posse's masterful ...

New Kids On The Block: Face The Music (Columbia)

Review by Michael A. Gonzales, Vibe, March 1994

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK have always viewed themselves as a white act making black music, but the young brothers and sisters blasting radios on ...

Nina Simone: Happy Birthday, Wild Child: Celebrating Nina Simone's 80th

Retrospective by Michael A. Gonzales, Philadelphia Weekly, 20 February 2013

A FEW YEARS before Nina Simone decided to become a singer, she was just another black girl from North Carolina living in Philadelphia with her ...

The Notorious B.I.G.: Black Metropolis: Notorious R.I.P.

Obituary by Michael A. Gonzales, New York Press, 19 March 1997

THE CONCEPT of tragic irony is becoming all too popular in the hip hop nation; it has started to affect me on a personal level. ...

The Notorious B.I.G.: Notorious B.I.G.: Life After Death... Till Death Do Us Part (Bad Boy/Arista) (five mics)

Review by Michael A. Gonzales, The Source, April 1997

HOLDING BACK the tears, you can't help but think back to three years ago when the poetic masterblaster known as the Notorious B.I.G. dropped his ...

The Notorious B.I.G.: Notorious B.I.G.: Forever

Retrospective by Michael A. Gonzales, XXL, March 2012

It's been 15 years since the greatest rapper of all time, THE NOTORIOUS B.I.G., was taken from hip-hop, but his legacy continues to loom large. ...

Ol' Dirty Bastard, Wu-Tang Clan: Enter Wu-Tang's 20th Birthday

Retrospective by Michael A. Gonzales, Ebony, 15 November 2013

Reminiscing on the 20th anniversary of the Wu-Tang Clan's debut, Michael A. Gonzales wonders if it was all so simple then. ...

OutKast

Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Vibe, August 1994

LaFace's latest rap group is climbing the charts and having a 'Player's Ball' ...

Freda Payne Talks All That Jazz

Retrospective and Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Ebony, 11 August 2014

Vintage visionary Michael A. Gonzales checks in with the former EBONY/JET cover star's return to the singing stage. ...

Teddy Pendergrass Turns Out the Lights… with Help

Report by Michael A. Gonzales, Ebony, 18 September 2015

Duets – Love & Soul pairs the late soul singer with the likes of Angie Stone, Jody Watley and Rose Royce. ...

Pete Rock & CL Smooth: Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth: Smooth Like A Rock

Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Vibe, November 1994

Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth are blowing up in the biz, but they still got each other's back. ...

The Pharcyde: Pharcyde: Labcabincalifornia (Delicious Vinyl)

Review by Michael A. Gonzales, Vibe, December 1995

WHEN THE Pharcyde dropped 1992's Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde, it was obvious these hip hop cats had spent many evenings with the stereo and ...

PM Dawn: P.M. Dawn: Diff'rent Strokes

Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Vibe, November 1995

Lost in space? No. P.M. Dawn return with a pretty (yet slammin') third album — and a rebel whisper that says there's nothing wrong with ...

PM Dawn: Jesus Wept

Retrospective by Michael A. Gonzales, soulhead, 13 November 2014

BACK IN THE early 1990s, when so-called "realness" began reigning supreme over rap music, most anyone not subscribing to the sinister outlook of street narratives ...

Prince's Around the World in a Day at 30

Retrospective by Michael A. Gonzales, soulhead, 22 April 2015

IN THE SPRING of 1985, there were two types of Prince fans – those who boarded the violet-hued bandwagon years before Purple Rain (both the ...

Puff Daddy & The Family: No Way Out (Bad Boy Records)

Review by Michael A. Gonzales, Vibe, October 1997

That nigga that you see in the videos/That nigga with the jewels and the jiggy hoes/That nigga that'll die for his main man/That nigga with ...

Queen Latifah: Order in the Court (Motown)

Review by Michael A. Gonzales, The Source, July 1998

DAMN NEAR ten years ago, an intriguing Afro-centric mama named Queen Latifah flexed like pure royalty on her debut disc, All Hail the Queen. With ...

Rachid: Prototype

Retrospective by Michael A. Gonzales, soulhead, 21 August 2014

COMING TARDY TO the party, lately it's been all about the Weeknd: continuously YouTube playing the video to his hypnotic 'Wicked Games', packing the weed ...

Rakim Speaks!

Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Ebony, 6 June 2014

WITH BLACK MUSIC Month here, it's a perfect time to reflect on the aural architects who helped shaped the noir soundtracks to our lives. ...

The Roots: Deeper Roots

Profile and Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Vibe, November 1996

THE FUNKY FOUR FROM ILLADELPHIA GET ECLECTIC. ...

Diana Ross: Mahogany and Me

Memoir by Michael A. Gonzales, Cuepoint, 19 September 2014

Diana Ross was the woman she wanted to be and I wanted to have ...

Sade: Interview: Sade

Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Red Bull Academy Magazine, 20 July 2015

Michael A. Gonzales reaches into his archives for an interview with the singer from 1992 ...

Gil Scott-Heron: Shut 'em Down: Reflections on Ferguson and Gil Scott-Heron

Essay by Michael A. Gonzales, soulhead, 2 December 2014

AFTER THE Michael Brown decision in Ferguson, Missouri last week, amid the expected disgust about the so-called fairness of a legal system that allowed murderous ...

Nina Simone: Between the Keys

Retrospective by Michael A. Gonzales, Wax Poetics, September 2011

"White people had Judy Garland. We had Nina." — Richard Pryor ...

Sly & the Family Stone: Still All the Way Live

Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Ebony, 29 July 2015

BACK IN 1967, when funky trumpeter Cynthia Robinson joined forces with musical visionary Sly Stone, most "girls" in band units wore pretty dresses and harmonized ...

SWV: Still Sisters With Voices

Profile and Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Ebony, 22 January 2016

With their fifth studio album, Still, on the horizon, Taj, Lelee and Coko remain sisters after nearly 25 years in the music biz. ...

Robin Thicke: The Blurred Lines of Blue-Eyed Soul

Essay by Michael A. Gonzales, Ebony, 21 August 2013

ROBIN THICKE JOINS JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE, GEORGE MICHAEL AND ELVIS ON THE SOULFUL WHITEBOY TIMELINE. BUT IS IT CULTURAL APPRECIATION OR APPROPRIATION? ...

Timbaland: Wired for Sound: Timbaland

Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Request, February 1999

CREDITS: MISSY ELLIOTT'S SUPA DUPA FLY, AALIYAH'S ONE IN A MILLION, HIS OWN TIM'S BIO; LIFE FROM DA BASSMENT ...

TLC Marks 20 Years of CrazySexyCool

Retrospective by Michael A. Gonzales, Ebony, 18 November 2014

Vintage visionary Michael A. Gonzales speaks with producer Dallas Austin, director Lionel Martin and more about the landmark album ...

TLC's Ooooooohhh... On the TLC Tip

Retrospective and Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Juicy, February 2012

Before they were a crazy, sexy, cool multi-platinum-selling girl group, TLC was three young women from Atlanta out to prove that their debut album, Ooooooohhh...On ...

Toni Braxton: Toni's Secret: Miss Braxton Lets It All Hang Out

Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Vibe, June 1997

"YOU'RE KILLING me," says Toni Braxton breathily when I tell her I want to talk about sex. A heartbeat later, though, the shyness falls away ...

Tony Toni Toné: Family Ties

Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Vibe, February 1997

The trio who helped resurrect the true soul sound say their stunning new album might be their last. Are the brothers going to work it ...

Tony! Toni! Toné!: House of Music (Mercury)

Review by Michael A. Gonzales, Vibe, December 1996

BEFORE D'ANGELO spawned the current '70s soul revival, the groovy trio Tony Toni Tone — drummer Timothy Christian Riley, guitarist Dwayne Wiggins, and singer/bassist/keyboardist Raphael ...

Total: Like, Totally Awesome

Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Vibe, June 1996

First they were just Biggie's background singers. Now with their slammin' debut album, Total prove they are definitely more than the sum of their parts. ...

Trick Daddy: Trouble in Motion

Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, The Source, April 2001

On the run from the ghetto vices of hard drugs, fast women and sheisty po-po, Trick Daddy sees peace at the finish line. But is ...

Tweet Chirps Back on Charlene

Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Ebony, 22 February 2016

Refocusing on her God-given gifts, Charlene 'Tweet' Keys returns with a new studio album ...

Luther Vandross: Make Me Over: On Luther Vandross

Retrospective by Michael A. Gonzales, soulhead, 29 April 2014

THE GREAT SOUL SINGER, producer and interpreter of classic material Luther Vandross would've been sixty-three years old this month. ...

Dionne Warwick: For the Love of Dionne

Retrospective by Michael A. Gonzales, Oldster, 6 October 2021

A new documentary and an art exhibit put 80-year-old Dionne Warwick back in the spotlight. But as far as journalist and critic Michael A. Gonzales ...

Barry White: Big Love

Retrospective and Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Wax Poetics, July 2010

Barry White's unlimited passion took him to the heights of music ...

Amy Winehouse: Slept on Soul: Amy Winehouse's Frank

Column by Michael A. Gonzales, soulhead, 8 July 2015

DOLLED-UP LIKE a Phil Spector creation doo-wopping on a Bronx boulevard, Amy Winehouse came into most Americans' homes with the release of her second album ...

Jaguar Wright: Denials, Delusions and Decisions

Retrospective by Michael A. Gonzales, soulhead, 19 October 2020

HAILED BY TA-NEHISI Coates as "an amazing singer," in 2002, artist Jaguar (Jacquelyn) Wright was destined to be the next big thang, but something happened. ...

List of genre pieces

20 Classic Love Songs: Nuthin' But Love

Guide by Michael A. Gonzales, Amy Linden, Vibe, February 2000

Turn the lights down low, put the champagne on ice, and load your CD player with these modern romance classics ...

A Love From Outer Space: Why Greg Tate Matters

Essay by Michael A. Gonzales, Blackadelic Pop, 25 October 2007

THIS MORNING, I couldn't write. Though I'm on deadline to finish a Village Voice critique about my favorite band Apollo Heights (whose disc White Music ...

Disco Inferno '79

Memoir by Michael A. Gonzales, Cuepoint, 8 October 2014

I lost my disco virginity at the hottest club in town, the same night a wild crowd tried to burn the genre down. ...

Slept on Soul: Paul Mooney's Race

Column by Michael A. Gonzales, soulhead, 28 May 2021

AS A CHILD of the 1970s, I grew-up as a fan of racy Black comedy albums. My "summer mother" Aunt Ricky had a stash of ...

Vintage Vision: Enter Wild Style, 30 Years Later

Retrospective and Interview by Michael A. Gonzales, Ebony, 27 September 2013

THIRTY YEARS have passed since the cinematic rap classic Wild Style opened in a grimy Times Square theatre in 1983, and much has changed in ...

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