Morning Coffee

By Ta-Nehisi Coates

A few days ago, via Twitter, I offered a few notes on the aesthetic of 80s R&B groups."Shiny" was the buzz-word. Vaseline and jheri juice were primary components. But by the 90s, the processed aesthetic had given way to something different--the era of Black Love.

Somewhere around 91-92, a style emerged--perhaps influenced by hip-hop--that featured the R&B singer in his natural idealized habitat. Out with the pleather and S-Curl. In with the Kinte Cloth hat and braids. More--in with the TMI. The era of Black Love gave us the gratuitous " love scenes of Boomerang and Jason's Lyric.

I think a lot of this came from the fact that we hadn't enjoyed many chances to depict ourselves as sexy, on our terms.Or maybe, it's just about the fact that I haven't had my coffee yet.

Hmmm.

Either way, this joint was on all of my high school slow-jam tapes. It's that rare cover that I actually like more than the original.

This article available online at:

http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2011/10/morning-coffee/246777/