What will it take to make music videos popular again now that MTV keeps shutting down stations such as MTV Music, MTV 80s, MTV 90s, Club MTV, and MTV Live in the UK? 

Will The Last Dragon have a sequel since it’s in theaters again, entertaining old fans and new? 

Is it Tyler, The Creator’s fault that his fanbase does not appreciate Black music and saw no value in his D’Angelo tribute? 

Should the Purple Rain musical be scrapped? 

Solomon Fox steps outside his work as a producer to release his debut album, Sweettooth. The five-year path to the album included making music with Smino, Thundercat, and Duckwrth. He says, “Sweettooth is an introduction to a new storyteller, with moments for everyone—but the most exciting part for me is finally sharing the intimate songwriting I’ve never let out of my computer before.” Fox’s gentle pipes can be ticklish and flirty, like when he is making promises to a potential lover on “Hush Hush,” but become scary inside the soulful psychedelia of “Sea of Monsters.” Sweettooth is mostly a one-man record because Fox wrote, produced, and played most of the instruments on all of the songs. There are a few collaborators; Duckwrth, Amaria, and Mai Anna add another layer to Fox’s sound that also folds bits of alternative rock into the R&B foundation of the album. Amaria is an aesthetic puzzle piece to Fox on “Fallin’ Back,” as their styles mesh into a head-nodding groove about an on-and-off relationship. Whether it’s love or nightmares as the topic, Fox knows how to engage with his fearless authenticity. The Sweettooth tour starts October 27th and he recently released the satirical video for “Starry Eyes,” featuring Duckwrth, who appears in the clip. 

Tour Dates 

Houston’s Sentury follow up their popular cover of Jeffrey Osborne’s “Only Human” with the single “Forever.” The quartet has dropped the video for the song that is destined to become a new backdrop for courting and weddings. CJ, AJ, Rico, and Leo are welcomed proof that the R&B group is not dead. The video is part musical performance and the other half is a look at the progression of a happy romance. The guys express the meaning of “Forever” in passionate harmonies and production that could easily make you mistake them for a ’90s band. Their sound is a throwback to the future and “Forever” is already showing cross-generational appeal with online R&B crate diggers. 

Eric Benét’s video for “Must Be Love” with India.Arie feels like a close affair even though they were obviously apart when they filmed it. The strength of the song can’t be hindered by a pandemic-styled video. “It Must Be Love” is on Benét’s ninth album, The Co-Star. The album of collaborations with all women came out during the summer. The project is a full-length version of his Duets EP released last year.