
K-Quick Talks: Opening for Legends, Building Legacy, and Staying Rooted in the DMV
Kicking off my first interview is DMV based rapper K-Quick
In 2005 R&B group Silk followed up their first album as a quartet 2003’s, Silktime, with a Christmas EP titled A Gift from Silk. On November 29, 2005, the EP hit stores with then group members Big G, Jimmy, Timzo, and John John displaying their vocal talents for the holiday season. A brief interlude, “Happy Holiday,” opens with the project with John John’s trademark falsetto. Next is the lovely ballad “Make Time for Christmas,” featuring lush four-part harmony.
My first encounter with this song occurred in the United Kingdom when I served in the Air Force. The lyrics were very relatable because even though I was single at the time, I knew that God was saving a remarkable woman for me, whom I would meet a little under two years. A great cover of Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas” follows and, in my opinion, tops the original and any cover version of the song. Timzo leads the song with a smooth bass, while John John comes in on the second verse. I love this version of the song because the group takes us to church and reminds us of simpler times.
Before closing out the EP with a smooth suite version of “Make Time for Christmas,” Silk gifts fans with another acapella song in the form of “Merry Christmas.” While the EP is brief, the group’s handling of the material makes the listener yearn for more. I would have loved to hear the group cover The Temptations version of “Silent Night” or Alexander O’Neal’s “Our First Christmas” or “Thank You for a Good Year.” Nevertheless, this is a fine EP and a great addition to your holiday playlist.
Final Grade: A-
A Gift from Silk is available on all streaming platforms.

Kicking off my first interview is DMV based rapper K-Quick

On the morning of February 8, 1977, Tony Kiritsis walked into a mortgage office in Indianapolis convinced the system had finally turned on him. What followed was one of the most unsettling media spectacles of the decade: a 63-hour hostage standoff in which Kiritsis literally wired a sawed-off shotgun to both his victim’s neck and his own chest. It was desperation theater, broadcast live, raw and ugly, and fueled by a man who believed grievance was the same thing as righteousness.

Eric Benét’s holiday album, “It’s Christmas”, finds the four-time Grammy nominee embracing comfort rather than challenge. He delivers a collection that is impeccably sung and tastefully arranged, though it ultimately feels a bit too cautious for an artist of his talent and history.