My New Black Magazine - NYU Black Renaissance Noire BRN-FALL-206 ISSUE RELEASE | Page 166

Appendix:

Music References

sara:
I’m still not sure about this, Nikki, and
I got other plans.
nikki:
Your dreams? We all got those. But life
ain’t always sweet. Look at it this way,
if it aint got some trouble in it, it aint
real no way.
sara:
So you saying if I do this for you, it’ll
help me with my plans.
nikki:
It’ll definitely move you forward…
sara:
Is that a good thing?
nikki:
What’s bad is good. What’s good is bad.
And in the end, all roads lead to this
one…drop the mutha fuckin bomb,
Sara. Drop the bomb. Or die trying.
You aint gonna do shit but come back
anyway! So, why be scared? Drop the
bomb like how you fuck ferocious
under trees and shit! A nigga dying,
and you fucking! You know what to do,
shawty. kaboom!
nikki low crawls into the house,
leaving sara in the apartment with a
sleeping khadija.

the mayor: (singing)
One night I was working
Conjuring spirits for true
Throwing bones and watching
Sara do what she do
People think I’m too strange
Some scared of me
They just don’t realize
I’m necessary
I mind my bidness
Do work most won’t
Keep the evil eye out
Your front door
But when things got hectic
They sent this girl to me
Wanted her to find out
What’s in this bag I keep
sara has moved to the window,
listening to the mayor’s song as if
she is in a trance. sara tentatively
looks inside the bag and is both
stunned and empowered by what she
sees. sara rises from the window
and dances her recognition of this
dangerous power and the mission
nikki has placed in front of her.
the mayor shakes his head, sadly.
the mayor: (singing)
Dance girl, dance girl.
Dance girl, dance girl.
Dance girl, dance girl.
Welcome to my world.
the mayor takes his bag and leaves
the window, returning to his space on
the fire escape.

1

Mayor Song #1 “Young Girl, ‘Bout to See the World”
(pages 4-5)– Reggae or Calypso

2 Mayor Song #2 “Dance Girl. Welcome to My Word”
(pages 29-30) – Blues
3

Mayor Song #3 “Grown Woman, Dancing Her
Wasteland” (Subway Scene; pages 64-65) – Rock

4 Mayor Song #4 “Grown Woman, Dancing Her
Wasteland 2” (page 73) – Blues
5 Mayor Song #5 “Your Journey Crowns You Whole
Again” (pages 84) – The Ecstatic/Jump Up/Shout
A Simple Guide — aka — The Musicology Muse
List I and II:
I. It Don’t Mean A Thing, If It Ain’t Got That Swing Doo
Wop Doo Wop Doo Wop — aka —
Take Me Out To The GoGo
1
2
3
4
5
6
7

Chuck Brown and The Soul Searchers
Trouble Funk
Rare Essence
North East Groovers
Back Yard
E.U.
Bela Dona

II. & Mo’ Sounds That Got Me Ovah
1 Sun Ra
2 Parliament Funkadelic
3 Betty Davis
4 Tamar Kali
5 Grace Jones
6 Imani Uzuri
7 Erykah Badu, especially “The Healer”
8 Nas
9 Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five
10 Mingus
11 Okan Ilu
12 Monk
13 Alice Coltrane

BLACK RENAISSANCE NOIRE

nikki:
Soon. You’ll know.

the mayor sings to sara through
an open window in the apartment,
placing his bag on the window sill.
sara dances to his song as she
processes nikki’s message and busies
herself, cleaning the apartment.

165

sara:
When do I go?