music

“After Martin Luther King got killed, I wanted to write a song.” — SYL JOHNSON. Ten years into his role as poster boy for pop soul and peak-hour R&B, Syl Johnson did an unlikely about-face and cut his most inspiring and powerful album. Fifty years later, Is It Because I’m Black is still as relevant as the day of it’s release. No liner notes. No extra tracks. Just the greatest Black concept album of all time.