“Can’t Wait” Red Hands feat. Jonathan McReynolds Black Suit Music (release date: October 29, 2021) By Robert M. Marovich The six-member Ohio band Red Hands sways and swaggers like The Roots sans brass while Jonathan McReynolds moves and grooves as the featured vocalist on “Can’t Wait.” The funky and optimistic arrangement, amplified by the wide-eyed wonder apparent in McReynolds’ voice, portrays the journey from this life to the next not something to fear but to anticipate as eagerly as summer vacation. Finger popping all the way up the heavenly staircase. Over there is unity, singing, and worship. (I’m hoping also ...

Someone Has to Care: The Roots and Hip-Hop’s Prophetic Calling. By Christian Scharen. Eugene, Oregon: Cascade Books. 130 pp. (paperback). Illustrations, Notes, Bibliography. ISBN 978-1-5326-1217-6. $18.00 By Robert M. Marovich As Christian Scharen observes in his new book, Someone Has to Care, the titles of albums by hip-hop group The Roots exist on three levels: as a barometer of The Roots’ personal and creative state, as a commentary on the current status of hip-hop as an expressive art, and as a socio-political critique of longstanding oppression and suffering. Employing the same rule of three, Scharen, author and pastor of St. ...