#Mario dancing shadows album full#

I think I was scared of the world to a certain degree because I saw what the industry was doing to so many people. And that's what I plan on continuing to do, just being more open and being more vulnerable. I think that being successful has a lot to do with being happy and also being able to express yourself the way you want to. There are a lot of kids suppressing their feelings and suppressing their gifts and trying to follow what they feel like is the quick way to success. I think that's what we've lost the most: the art of expression.

#Mario dancing shadows album full#

I'm focusing on bringing everything full circle and really motivating more artists and more of our people - especially those of us who come from inner cities - to be fearless in pursuing their dreams and expressing themselves. I think people are really gonna see what I've been up to, just in terms of mental, spiritual, and physical. I talk about that on 'Good Times' and I just hope that this album inspires people to think on that level. You know? And I'm saying that out of experience. That's the main goal, right? So if you continue to just shine and overcome those fears, freedom is on the other side of fear. I feel this way because what a lot of people want to do is to keep you in fear of your own power. So I think that we as a culture just have to continue doing what we do best and that means being our authentic selves. Plus, there's a lot of influence our culture has in music, in film, in everything. We don't have to mention any names, but there are a lot of popular socialites who wanna rock braids now and want the fat ass and curves, things that a lot of black women naturally have and a hairstyle that they - and black men - originated. Well, are worthwhile, just look at how everybody wants to wear braids now. I didn't know at all that people would relate to the song that much. Then Harold, who was more experienced with writing, just wrote the lyrics and we just killed it. That's it.' And he was like, 'That's the song right there! We need to write a song about you just being a young kid, just wanting to do something simple, like going home and getting your hair braided, but we're gonna make it super melodic.' So I went into the booth and started singing melodies to the ideas he was having. I just wanna go home and let my girl braid my hair. So I said, 'I don't know, I don't feel like singing today.

The instrumental track for 'Braid My Hair' was playing and Harold was like, 'What you wanna talk about?' And I just remember being just over the whole promotion process. I came into with my hair half-way braided and half-way out. Mario: So, we were in the middle of finishing my first album and I was working with Harold Lily and Warryn Campbell, who also worked on 'Just a Friend.' I'd just arrived in New York after being on the road doing promo and it was my first time really traveling the world talking about music and breaking into being an artist. So in true Sankofa looking-back-to-move-forward fashion, I met with the singer-actor three days before his album launch to take a deep dive into the song and video that redefined cornrows for a generation.

And wouldn't you know that the opening track and first single 'Drowning' positions both listeners and Mario in familiar territory: I never thought I'd be in between her legs, while I'm still thinking about you. Now, exactly 16 years and one month later, Mario has released his fifth studio album Dancing Shadows. The 16-year-old chart-topping crooner had graduated from being just a friend to spending a night of physical intimacy between his girl's legs. This wasn't your typical Sunday night braiding session with Mom. I swear I can't wait for you to braid my hair.ДЄnd take away the stress and drama in my life, But it wasn't until R&B teen prodigy Mario dropped his 2002 smash 'Braid My Hair' that I came to fully appreciate the imaginative pairing of the erotic and the everyday. While my preteen self didn't fully understand what juice had to do with pony rides or why it'd be flowing down one's thigh, I had watched enough movies and television shows to understand that something else was at work between the lines. If the mark of a gifted athlete is making a difficult sport look easy, then the mark of a gifted slow jam singer is making an ordinary topic sound sexy as hell.