Well I made a diy catio and it worked great until my cat found the one week spot... back to the drawing board I guess.

Simbi water spirits are revered in Hoodoo originating from Central African spiritual practices. When Africans were enslaved in the United States, they blended African spiritual beliefs with Christian baptismal practices. Enslaved African Americans prayed to Simbi water spirits during their baptismal services. In 1998, in a historic house in Annapolis, Maryland called the Brice House archaeologists unearthed Hoodoo artifacts inside the house that linked to the Kongo people. These artifacts are the continued practice of the Kongo's minkisi and nkisi culture in the United States brought over by enslaved Africans. For example, archeologists found artifacts used by enslaved African Americans to control spirits by housing spirits inside caches or nkisi bundles. These spirits inside objects were placed in secret locations to protect an area or bring harm to slaveholders. "In their physical manifestations, minkisi (nkisi) are sacred objects that embody spiritual beings and generally take the form of a container such as a gourd, pot, bag, or snail shell. Medicines that provide the minkisi with power, such as chalk, nuts, plants, soil, stones, and charcoal, are placed in the container." Nkisi bundles were found in other plantations in Virginia and Maryland. For example, nkisi bundles were found for the purpose of healing or misfortune. Archeologists found objects believed by the enslaved African American population in Virginia and Maryland to have spiritual power, such as coins, crystals, roots, fingernail clippings, crab claws, beads, iron, bones, and other items assembled together inside a bundle to conjure a specific result for either protection or healing. These items were hidden inside slaves' dwellings. These practices were concealed from slaveholders.

In Darrow, Louisiana at the Ashland-Belle Helene Plantation historians and archeologists unearthed Kongo and Central African practices inside slave cabins. Enslaved Africans in Louisiana conjured the spirits of Kongo ancestors and water spirits by using seashells. Other charms were found in several slave cabins, such as silver coins, beads, polished stones, bones, and were made into necklaces or worn in their pockets for protection. These artifacts provided examples of African rituals at Ashland Plantation. Slaveholders tried to stop African practices among their slaves, but enslaved African Americans disguised their rituals by using American materials and applying an African interpretation to them and hiding the charms in their pockets and making them into necklaces concealing these practices from their slaveholders. In Talbot County, Maryland at the Wye House plantation where Frederick Douglass was enslaved in his youth, Kongo related artifacts were found. Enslaved African Americans created items to ward off evil spirits by creating a Hoodoo bundle near the entrances to chimneys which was believed to be where spirits enter. The Hoodoo bundle contained pieces of iron and a horse shoe. Enslaved African Americans put eyelets on shoes and boots to trap spirits. Archaeologists also found small carved wooden faces. The wooden carvings had two faces carved into them on both sides which were interpreted to mean an African American conjurer who was a two-headed doctor. Two-headed doctors in Hoodoo means a conjurer who can see into the future and has knowledge about spirits and things unknown.

At Levi Jordan Plantation in Brazoria, Texas near the Gulf Coast, researchers suggests the plantation owner Levi Jordan may have transported captive Africans from Cuba back to his plantation in Texas. These captive Africans practiced a Bantu-Kongo religion in Cuba, and researchers excavated Kongo related artifacts at the site. For example, archeologists found in one of the cabins called the "curer's cabin" remains of an nkisi nkondi with iron wedges driven into the figure to activate its spirit. Researchers found a Kongo bilongo which enslaved African Americans created using materials from white porcelain creating a doll figure. In the western section of the cabin they found iron kettles and iron chain fragments. Researchers suggests the western section of the cabin was an altar to the Kongo spirit Zarabanda

i demand that this fandom respect that simbi kali did such an amazing job at acting amanda that it doesn't even seem like she's acting. it seems like shes amanda every day of the year and they just filmed her doing it this time.

its a marilyn monroe in "some like it hot" tier performance: that is, a performance effortless enough that you not only don't realize during it that you're watching 2 adults in stupid ping pong jumpsuits walk in circles while holding a dollar store umbrella, there are people that watch it and straight up dont even think of amanda as a character. amanda is "that person i hate that i met inside the video game." bro thats called being evocative, bro.

perpetually sleepy girl, tatiana 🫶🏽

carmen solano, stripper, mother of two.

would you guys be his friend

-Fire & Blood 🔥

Nina Campbell from 3rd Rock from the Sun played by the lovely Simbi Khali.

I will literally never agree with anything f*ntano says about music

i am back from my hiatus and ready to delete cc <333333

Absolutely lost in the sauce

According to Dr. Yvonne Chireau, "Hoodoo is an African American-based tradition that makes use of natural and supernatural elements in order to create and effect change in the human experience."

 Hoodoo was created by African Americans, who were among over 12 million enslaved Africans from various Central and West African ethnic groups being transported to the Americas from the 16th to 19th centuries (1514 to 1867) as part of the transatlantic slave trade. The transatlantic slave trade to the United States occurred between 1619 and 1808, and the illegal slave trade in the United States occurred between 1808 and 1860. Between 1619 and 1860 approximately 500,000 enslaved Africans were transported to the United States. 

From Central Africa, Hoodoo has Bakongo magical influence from the Bakongo religion incorporating the Kongo cosmogram, Simbi water spirits, and Nkisi and Minkisi practices. The West African influence is Vodun from the Fon and Ewe people in Benin and Togo following some elements from the Yoruba religion.  After their contact with European slave traders and missionaries, some Africans converted to Christianity willingly, while other enslaved Africans were forced to become Christian which resulted in a syncretization of African spiritual practices and beliefs with the Christian faith. 

Enslaved and free Africans learned regional indigenous botanical knowledge after they arrived to the United States. The extent to which Hoodoo could be practiced varied by region and the temperament of the slaveholders. For example, the Gullah people of the coastal Southeast experienced an isolation and relative freedom that allowed retention of various traditional West African cultural practices. Gullah people and enslaved African-Americans in the Mississippi Delta, where the concentration of slaves was dense, Hoodoo was practiced under a large cover of secrecy. The reason for secrecy among enslaved and free African Americans was that slave codes prohibited large gatherings of enslaved and free African people. Slaveholders experienced how slave religion ignited slave revolts among enslaved and free African people, and some leaders of slave insurrections were African ministers or conjure doctors

i don’t know if i’d call myself an alternative simblr. what i am however is a whore

Tati is so cute 🥹 where are her edges from?

RIGHT!! 😖😖😖 and they’re by @ceeproductions ! you can find them here <3

Top 50 Albums of 2022

Back in 2019, I had the first ever dual winner of my Album of the Year title, with both part one and part two of Foals' sprawling Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost project reigning supreme that year. This year it's a similar story with two albums taking the top spot, however this time around it's the first time that two different artists have shared my annual year-end summit.

That said, although they come from two different artists, there are still plenty of similarities between the two records. Both are highly ambitious fifth albums from two era-defining artists. Thematically, they both touch on the pressures of fame, generational trauma and the taboo subject of mental health in the black community. Both albums come from rappers that have now transcended their hip-hop roots to achieve a greater level of artistry that few of their peers can reach. Finally, both artists had my runner-up Album of the Year with their previous effort and have gone one better this time around. Have I made it too obvious?

The second album will be revealed later today but for now, here's my first Album of the Year for 2022.

1(a). NO THANK YOU by Little Simz

Surprise! What is it they say about best laid plans?

Since at least the end of November, my final Albums of the Year list for 2022 was locked, with a strict promise to myself to not tinker any further with the albums included, or indeed the order in which they would appear. Then a week into December and after my countdown had already begun, Little Simz announces she's releasing a new album. I foolishly assumed it would just be a companion piece of Sometimes I Might Be Introvert offcuts rather than a full new project, so I added an honourable mention into one of the blogs and thought to myself that would be sufficient. Lesson learnt – when it comes to Simz, never assume anything less than top tier greatness.

So here we are then – around a year since Sometimes I Might Be Introvert (SIMBI) topped everyone's Album of the Year polls for 2021 (including runner-up in my own) and just a couple of months since she claimed the prestigious Mercury Prize for that same album, Simz has returned with another sure fire, instant classic. Every bit the masterpiece that its predecessor was, NO THANK YOU sees Simz once again team up with producer extraordinaire Inflo and soul singer Cleo Sol for a mind-blowing project that strikes the perfect balance between the beauty and the fury of her music.

Whilst on the surface it may look like Simz has had the best year of her career so far in 2022, NO THANK YOU reveals that between all the critical acclaim and awards success, it hasn't always been smooth sailing. From cancelled US tours to management issues through to personal struggles, Simz uncovers all and takes no prisoners on this no holds barred, tour de force. Sonically the record pretty much picks up where her and Inflo left off on SIMBI, with moments of stirring orchestration in amongst the gorgeous gospel and soul influenced R&B beats. That said, the theatrical element has been noticeably toned back with the dramatic interludes of SIMBI nowhere to be found this time, as it would appear Simz would rather get straight to the point.

Get straight to the point she does too, as the biggest takeaway from this record and the reason to keep returning to it is the outstanding lyricism that is on display. We should hopefully all know by now that Simz is the single best rapper on the planet at this moment in time, but if there were any doubters still left out there, she makes sure that isn't the case by the time you reach Track 10. From intricately woven bar after bar, Simz's penmanship and vocal delivery reaches levels she didn’t even hit on SIMBI last year.

This is evident from the get-go, as the album opens with dazzling scene-setter, Angel. For six minutes, Simz airs her frustrations over a chilled-out beat and some gorgeous guest vocals from Cleo Sol, eventually culminating in the razor-sharp final verse:

“Flo and I comin' like DeNiro and Scorsese, Stop tryin' to box me in, there's no way you can place me, Hit 'em with a classic then I got a little lazy, Had to get a pen when I remembered that I'm JAY-Z”

With her business-head back on, the triumphant horns and swaggering Jurassic 5 sampling bassline introduce Gorilla where Simz continues to drop jaws with her emphatically delivered bars that touch on her evolution as an artist and her own greatness. Silhouette is then a big album highlight, showcasing everything that makes this creative partnership between Simz, Inflo and Cleo Sol so entrancing. Across the song's near seven minutes, Simz once again emphatically tears into her label management as the orchestra swells around her and Cleo Sol delivers the defiant chorus: “I'm protected by the light, realise you can't crush my soul.” It's utterly magical, with every element of the song just completely flawless.

Spiritual title track No Merci (utilising the French language for a clever double entendre) is probably the track where Simz is the most specific about her current label situation, stating “You ain't in the studio with me, but want commission, and if I wanna release my art, I need permission.” She also draws heavy shades to Kendrick earlier this year with the reflectively sung outro, “they do not deserve you, you can't be their saviour, you're only human too” suggesting some inspiration from one of her contemporaries.

The next two tracks are then the peak of NO THANK YOU, starting off with X which is without a doubt one of Simz's finest songs to date. Starting with the sound of African drums and a military-like stomp, Simz comes firing out the gates with “The mercenary don't fight the war for free, they fight the war for a currency, not unity, not peace”, before continuing to touch on one of the record's wider themes of generational trauma via her pinpoint verbal onslaught.The production and arrangement on this track is absolutely sumptuous too, with soaring strings and rising horns leading into a goosebump-inducing gospel-led chorus.

Heart on Fire is then just as brilliant, with a Jesus Walks-like beat as Simz even directly mentions Kanye's early work with the line “Dropped out of college, still, I made it through the wire.” Again, it is the mix of her incisive but heartfelt lyrics combined with the orchestral majesty and gospel chorus that really helps this song to hit home like nothing else this year. Importantly too, although she may be talking about her own celebrity pressures at times here, there is still a relatability and resonance to her words.

Narratively, it also leads perfectly into the album's longest track, Broken, where she moves from her own personal struggles to those that people in the wider black community face every single day. Again, the writing is just exceptional as Simz shows empathy and an astute understanding of the problem, whilst also offering a message of hope and perseverance at the end of it all.

After short, sharp track Sideways, penultimate moment Who Even Cares is a gorgeous, chilled R&B number. It sees Cleo Sol's soft harmonies interspersed with Simz's own distorted vocal passages, which continue the dissection of modern life's struggles that she started on Broken. Finally, the album is brought to a stunning close with Control, a soulful piano ballad that will leave the hairs on your neck standing on end.

It's incredible to think that Simz had to pull an Album of the Year out of her hat for me to even consider adjusting my year-end list this late in the day – anything less than perfection and I would have simply kept it as just an honourable mention. I should never have doubted her though, as NO THANK YOU successfully builds on last year's masterpiece to solidify Simz as one of the best artists from any genre actively making music right now. Lyrically flawless and sonically outstanding, this is another timeless effort that I imagine I will still be returning to in years to come. Also if I was Emily Eavis, I would be striking whilst the iron is hot and booking her to headline Glastonbury in 2023.

So, to quote a certain someone who may have made my other Album of the Year for 2022, Little Simz “dropped one classic, came right back.” See you back here later today to find out who that person is that joins Simz in the top spot!

Best tracks: X, Heart on Fire, Silhouette (���and the rest)

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