When the Music Slaps & Other Stories

A weekly dose of joy, inspiration & whimsy along with exclusive, never-before-seen strips reserved just for my cherished subscriber babes.

Hi huns,

So, last week I was knee-deep in the joy of rediscovering one of my fave R&B groups from back in the day, Jagged Edge. I’d been watching old performances, singing along, and basking in the nostalgia of simpler times.

Then I found out that one of the members had been convicted of domestic violence.

He served time.

And the band took him back.

Suddenly, that nostalgia felt heavier.

It felt both timely and super disappointing, especially since I’d recently spoken out about Chris Brown and how quickly people excuse violence when it’s wrapped up in talent.

So now I sit with the discomfort. I “could” ignore what I found out, or brush it off because “it was just one member.” But the rest of the band chose to bring him back. That changes things, right? It’s not just about the person who caused harm. It’s also about those who choose to excuse, enable, or overlook it. That’s something we can often gloss over: harm is rarely isolated. It lingers and expands through the people and structures that allow it to continue.

There’s also the disconnect. The gap between the lyrics and the lives. How do you sing so beautifully about love, about commitment and tenderness, while living something so completely misaligned? I don’t expect perfection from artists — obvs, none of us is perfect — but I do believe there has to be a level of integrity. How can you sing about a kind of love you don’t believe in or truly practise?

Maybe that’s naïve of me? It just feels a bit like discovering a stack of ants on your favourite sweet treat. You could try to eat around it, pretend it’s not there, but the truth is, it’s hard to swallow.

I’d love to know your thoughts.

BOOK OF THE WEEK

I’ve already become such a fan of Hanif Abdurraqib’s work, and They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us is the second book of his I’ve read. Knowing the title comes from a sign at a memorial for Mike Brown — the Black teenager killed by police in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014 — really sets the tone for the powerful and urgent reflections inside.

It’s a collection of essays that explores music, identity, race, and the strange, tender brutality of living in America. Even when he writes about artists I don’t usually listen to, he makes them feel vivid and compelling, like I should go and hear what he heard. Honestly, I think I’m about to work my way through everything he’s ever written. I loved it. Thoughtful, lyrical, grounded. It really stayed with me.

If I had to rate it in pure vibe terms?

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

CLIP OF THE WEEK

I’ve watched this clip so many times! Cynthia Erivo explains why Sisqó’s Thong Song is one of her favourite vocal performances, lol. The part about Sisqó begins here, but the entire segment is honestly A1. I love how she breaks down the vocal choices each singer makes. Even with artists known for their vocals, she highlights unexpected performances, and I loved her picks and her insight.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

Toni Morrison and James Baldwin

I came across this photo while reading about an exhibition on Baldwin’s time in France, and it stopped me in my tracks. Of course, they’re two of my faves, but what really got me was thinking about the friendship behind the brilliance. The dinners they might’ve shared, the conversations, the bants, the disagreements. It’s beautiful to imagine them beyond the legacy, as people who lived, talked, and broke bread together.

ALTERNATE ENDING OF THE WEEK

Sometimes when I’m working on an illustration, I come to a crossroads and can’t quite decide how it should end. This week, I went with the version you might’ve seen on socials:

But there was another version I almost posted instead — and for my paid subscriber babes, you get to see it below. Scroll down to see what could’ve been.