boston progress radio

Shuffled! is a weekly column appearing every Thursday here on BPRLive. Each week, we welcome a person from the APA community to share some thoughts about the music they listen to. Check out the Shuffled! archive for past articles.

Today’s Shuffler: Michelle Myers

Michelle Myers is an Assistant Professor in the Learning Lab Department at Community College of Philadelphia where she teaches developmental English. At CCP, she also serves as the faculty advisor of the Spoken Word Poetry Club and as a faculty editor of the CAP Literary Magazine, both providing support for students who seek to express themselves in various forms of non-conventional creative expression. Michelle is a member of the arts collective Asians Misbehavin’, which recently shot a short film to be aired on a Philadelphia-area public television station, WYBE, during the summer of 2008. In her desire to positively contribute to Philadelphia’s Asian/Asian American communities, she works part-time as Grants Coordinator at the Southeast Asian Mutual Assistance Associations Coalition (SEAMAAC) and as Oral History Project Coordinator at the Asian Arts Initiative. Finally, Michelle is a columnist for the Anti-Racist Parent, a blog for parents who are committed to raising children with an anti-racist outlook, and is a featured artist in Jessica Chen Drammeh’s documentary film Anomaly; the film explores the mixed race experience.

Michelle is also a member of the spoken word group Yellow Rage. They featured last year at East Meets Words. Check them out or better yet go to one of their shows. I hear they’ve got some new pieces.

Let’s check out her Shuffled…

It wasn’t until Eugene asked me to write this post that I realized I am no longer master over my music. Alas, I only exist to keep my kids happy. Observe in my Shuffled.

Crush on You
Kevin So
Yes, Boston’s own Kevin So is at the top of my music list. I’m really not trying to gas up all you Beantowners—my oldest daughter Myong is a HUGE Kevin So fan. That’s right, no Chris Brown or Mylie Cyrus for her. Since I’ve listened to so much of Kevin’s music over the years, I have to say what I’ve always appreciated about him is that he’s very versatile; he can sing smooth R&B ballads, moving folksy storytelling songs, funky Bluesy jams, and fun upbeat pop-like tracks. “Crush” is the song Myong’s had me put on loop for the last couple of weeks. She calls it the “radio song” b/c at the beginning Kevin sounds like a radio dj introducing the song. She also likes “New Day Begun” and “Henry” (all of these are on the Leaving the Lights On CD).

Mean and Vicious
Lupe Fiasco
My son Victor calls this “my song”—as in “Mommy, I want to hear my song–put on my song.” And when it comes on, his little head gets to bouncing and he just waits patiently until the chorus: “There once was a boy that grew up on the West side/ of Chicago liked his hat to the left side . . .” so that he can turn his hat to the left side (you knew there had to be a hat!). There it is! That’s Victor’s part!—Though I must say I’m partial to the second verse.

Keiki O Ka Aina La
Robi Kahakalau
A few years ago, Catzie and I performed in Hawai’i and while I was there I bought this CD called Pure Hawaiian: Music & Images of Hawaii. Myong fell in love with this track from the CD and all my kids love it. The song’s background is pretty interesting. The title translates as “Children of the Land” and the purpose of the song is to teach 4 different traditional Hawaiian stories to children through the song’s lyrics. The first verse translates into English as “Children of the land/ Let us listen together/ To the stories/ Of the ancient days.” Anyway, even without knowing Hawaiian language, the song is catchy and fun. My kids like when the children sing along at the end.

Chelsea Rodgers
Prince
OK, ok, I admit it—I’m a Prince fan. I’m not going to defend it; he’s genius, simply a musical genius (we can argue about it later). And while his latest output Planet Earth doesn’t compete with my favorite Prince albums of all time (Purple Rain, Under the Cherry Moon, Sign O’ the Times, and 1999), I appreciate Prince’s artistry and longevity. My favorite track on PE is “Chelsea Rodgers”—not the most inspired song lyrically, but what I like is its pure musical funkiness. Here Prince takes a back seat from his usual self-indulgence—he’s not even the lead vocals on this—and brings the whole band in to jam unto the joy fantastic. The bass is kickin’ with lots of horns, and funky shake-your-spirit singing. It’s just a song about being free and having fun—and the whole band sounds like they doin it up.

Every Ghetto, Every City
Lauryn Hill
Another musical genius—I LOVE LOVE Lauryn Hill (fellow Jersey girl, hey!). This is the song I listen to when I’m in a bad mood—which is often—b/c I’m always in a good mood when I hear it. Well, that must be true lately b/c it’s #5.

Last 5 posts by shuffled

• Shuffled! Delia - August 14th, 2008
• Shuffled! Giles Li - August 7th, 2008
• Shuffled! Alexander Chee - July 31st, 2008
• Shuffled! Terry Park - July 24th, 2008
• Shuffled! Theresa Vu of Magnetic North - July 17th, 2008

Tags: Shuffled!.