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Greetings and welcome to another episode of Queue Points podcast. I am DJ Sir daniel.
And my name is Jay Ray. Sometimes known by my government as Johnnie Ray Kornegay III. And let me tell you something, sir. Daniel, I got the air back on.
We're going to have a very warm fall season. That's right. But you know, and we're going to keep it even hotter here on Queue Points podcast, because we are the podcast dropping the needle on black music history. And Jay Ray, speaking of the holidays, guess who's heading or guess who's headlining DJ Cassidy's pass the mic live for the holidays.
Ah, the person that we are talking about this evening.
That's right. The one and only Chaka Khan. But. We're talking about Chaka Khan because as of October 7th of this year, 2024, I feel for you was certified platinum by the RIAA, which is the Recording Industry Association of America.
Yes.
And it's a core. Apparently I feel for you out of nowhere has surpassed 85. 8 million streams on Spotify. So Chaka is in the zeitgeist. She is, people are streaming that song and enjoying it, which is, you
¶ Intro Theme
know, I feel for you as a dope song. Is that one of your favorite Chaka Chaka Khan? Is that one of your favorite contracts?
Actually, it's not one of my favorite Chaka Khan tracks. It's not a bad song. Um, it's just not one of my favorite Chaka Khan songs, but I
¶ Welcome to Queue Points Podcast
will say there's a lot of childhood nostalgia attached for me to that
Absolutely.
featuring Grandmaster Melly Mel on the rap, which itself was controversial because Chaka was like not into that. but it actually helped that song to be in the, the hip hop zeitgeist of the era of 1984.
¶ Chaka Khan's Platinum Achievement
So, uh, yeah, I feel for you deserves all the love that it gets. And I mean, it's written by Prince. I mean, come on. Yes.
cover of Prince's song. And, um, yeah, she hates, I think she, what she really despises about the
¶ Discussing 'I Feel For You'
song is the repetitiveness of her name. Like she hated hearing her name over and over and over again. But I mean, Hey, you're Chaka Khan. People are going to want to say your name over and over again. And so this, um, Jay Ray, this achievement actually coincides with the 40th anniversary. Of the album of the same name
Yeah.
of October 1st, I feel for you. The album is 40 years old. Can you believe it?
Now, I, that, if time flies, man, and Sir Daniel, I know you'll agree with me when I say this, I know we talking about, I Feel For You, but you know what the jam from that record is?
What's your jam from that record?
is my night, baby,
I'm going to tell you this thing, which is so funny because. Well, like we always do, you and I are going to compile a list of our favorite Chaka Khan records. And so, you know what, since you said that first one, I'm going to go first. And I'm going to tell you what my first pick for our ultimate. Ladies and gentlemen, our ultimate Queue Points podcast Chaka Khan playlist. My first submission, ladies and gentlemen, for your consideration, this is my night.
I promise you it is on my, it is on my list. I love this song. I have the 12 inch that, that, um, remixes a jam. Why do, why do you like that song so much?
Um, it is the melody. It is, um, just the, the right combination of like early eighties production.
Oh, yes,
Um, and I think it's just like dope. I just think it's a well-produced song and well-written song. It's a party jam.
it is a quintessential 80s jam with synthesizers and, you
¶ Our Favorite Chaka Khan Tracks
know, and those doubled up vocals with your, um, the phrases being repeated. So, you know, in 1984, that's like falls right into like a set if you want to do like a freestyle set
Mm-Hmm.
and it just fell right in with the rest of those. Dope jams from 1984. So
Yes.
this is my night. That's my first pick. So Jay Ray, what is your submission? What is your first submission for the ultimate Chaka Khan playlist?
Oh my God, this is so hard. So what y'all can't see is there's one, two, three, four, five, six. We're not doing six. We're only doing three. And so my first pick for my number three actually going to be clouds. So let me explain,
Okay.
¶ "This Is My Night"
All right.
how I am thinking of this. I decided to approach my list from songs that I consider to be Chaka songs, so they didn't necessarily have to be singles.
Okay.
they had to at least be like, if somebody said, I know nothing about Chaka Khan, I would be like, play this, play
Play that. Yeah.
songs. So clouds is the first song that I'm going to pick. So clouds, of course, written by Ashford and Simpson, who also wrote Chaka songs I feel for you. sorry. Um, uh,
every woman. You
It's a lot of imes. Um, um, and so what I love about clouds is it has that quintessential Chaka mix of jazz and dance like, uh, subdued Chaka and loud Chaka. You get like all the versions of her. So I tend to like Chaka songs that you get like. The mix of her. So clouds is like the perfect thing of that. And you could play clouds in a gospel set or in a dance set and it will fit.
know, you took the words out of my mouth because I love clouds. My favorite part is the, it's gonna rain. It's gonna rain. I love that. That is very, that's very gospel. That's very, the repetition. The, um, I really feel like if you. Saying that outside on a clear night with the moon you could call for rain to actually start pouring Um, yeah, it's it. I look I don't have any faults with that pick clouds is definitely dope So are you ready for my number two pick?
two.
All right, i'm gonna slow it down
Okay.
come to a very slow a halt with this one, but this song um actually
¶ "Clouds"
popped up on the Um And the clockers soundtrack as well as on epiphany, which was her greatest hits album. Um, it is her collaboration with what is his name? The pianist.
Bruce Hornsby.
Bruce Hornsby. It is love me still. And you're probably wondering, well, you, you want to slow jam and certainly there's something very beautiful and sentimental about, and it's a simple song, it's a very simple song, but it's a very poignant to me. Um, I love the way it was placed in the McClockers movie. Um, And I just really, it just does something for me. I like that song, Love Me Still. So that is my second submission for Chaka Khan's Ultimate Playlist by Queue Points.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The Chaka Crescendo.
what I consider to be a quintessential Chaka song lyrics by Chaka. And that is, I know you, I live you once again. Once again, you get of the hallmarks of Chaka. You get the sweet, you get the calm, you get the jazzy, you get the, you
¶ "Love Me Still"
know, the thing that Chaka does. the Chaka crescendo. Um, and so I know you, I live you. And we've talked about this before. This is one of those songs that in today and forevermore, you can absolutely hear at any block party, at any family picnic, It's a multi generation song where people know it. And Sir Daniel, you know this as a DJ, you can't not play that most important part, like that bridge to the end, the people waiting for that.
All the way I call that the flowy the flowy skirt song you have to have ladies have to have on a flowy skirt and non binaries to
Yes.
have on a flowy skirt because you have to pick lift it up by the size and you spin around to that song to I'm to I know you I live you I actually I kind of knew you were going to go for that because I, I have a
¶ "I Know You, I Live You"
feeling, I have a feel for your taste
Okay.
shotgun taste. And we've had conversations about shotgun. We both love that song. So I'll let you have that one because that's one of my favorites as well. But dope, dope pick. And my, our final pick, my final pick is I'm going back to Epiphany.
Okay,
There was a song on there called everywhere
baby. That's the jam.
everywhere is such a jam everywhere It was kind of has that that slick dancehall feel that 90s that mid 90s dancehall feel where you can we can drop it in the dancehall set and you could put it in between like any one of the top shelf rhythms or And put it next to the Chaka Demus & Pliers and just really go in Or start off your reggae set with that song, but it's so cool.
It's so it's laid back, but it's still, it's still, that beat is still driving and it gives you a good, you know, a good dance hall feel, but Chaka is doing her Chaka thing. She starts off kind of mild and then she goes into the Chaka crescendo, which I think is one of her superpowers. Cause I, and I think it's something that we kind of look forward to the only song that I don't think. She does the Chaka crescendo where she really comes out the gate hard.
It's disrespectful when Mary J. Blige, I don't think they come, they both come out,
just come out. Like
they come out swinging like, ah, they come out like mad.
yeah. What, you know, that was part of, you know, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. Um, during that funk, this era, from what I recall, um, were, wanted Chaka.
¶ "Everywhere"
to be Chaka full out. And because prior to that, she had come off of that classy con, which is amazing. Chaka did this jazz standards album. I think it's with the London Philharmonic or whatever, because Chaka is that girl. I
Absolutely. Mm hmm.
yeah, she they came out full out But so it's interesting that for your number two you went with the slow jam because for my quintessential Chaka song my number one now keep in mind We had a conversation with the dream like two years ago. I probably picked, I think I know you, I live, you was on my list for that, but I think the other songs were different, which is fine. Cause I got plenty of Chaka songs. Like I said, I got.
six right here, my number one Quintessential Chaka song is actually from the rufus and Chaka days and it's sweet thing so Yeah, so sweet thing From a cultural standpoint is once again a multi generational song,
For sure.
Young folks still singing that song in
Uh
shows today. No matter which version you play, either the Chaka version or the Mary version,
Uh huh.
the difference. They know how to sing it either way. But what's so beautiful about the Chaka version of that song is it's, it's sweet and it's seventies Chaka. So. One of the interesting things about Chaka is her voice has changed over time. It's actually gotten more Chaka. I call it more Chaka. It's gotten more Chaka over the years. So when you listen to 70s Chaka, her, her voice is much lower. Um, and now she sounds more like a horn today, even way more than she did then.
that was her hallmark is Chaka Khan kind of sounded like a trumpet, you
Yes, she's a living instrument.
She's a living instrument, but Sweet Thing, um, is a beautiful song. She sings it so lovely.
¶ "Sweet Thing"
You get a little bit of that crescendo, but it's not like, know, it's sweet.
Yes.
um, you can play it at any, uh, event and people are going to be able to sing along. And that's my quintessential number one Chaka song.
So I think you and I have started off a really dope Chaka Khan playlist. And I'd like to invite our listeners. If you out there, our viewers and listeners, if you want to add and make submissions to, uh, Our ultimate Chaka Khan playlist, feel free. As a matter of fact, in the comments below this video, please go ahead and leave your submissions. Let us know what you think is your, what are your favorite Chaka Khan songs and why?
I mean, cause Chaka Khan is just, she's just one of those omnipresent. People that has been in our lives since as long as we can remember,
Yes.
the it's the voice. It's the hair. It's all of those things. The, the person that Aries personality. And now, you know what I love now, Jay Ray is that she's turned to this earth mother. Who's doling out advice so calmly while she's meditating, you know, in her backyard somewhere. I love that about her, but she's still singing.
Absolutely. That tiny desk. Woo.
excuse me? Yes. That's rutabaga that tiny desk was amazing, but Jay Ray listeners. Did you all know this Chaka? Her sister Taka
Yes. Yeah.
that is being submitted for a Grammy consideration. Well, they're featured on the song. The artists are called a million sons and.
¶ Creating the Ultimate Chaka Khan Playlist
They are the featured vocalists on the song Misty blue, too. If you look on, um, iTunes, whatever, there's like a hundred remixes of this one particular song.
Yeah.
it's being submitted to the Grammys. So shout out to Chaka, Taka and Mark and a million sons. And here's looking, hoping that you get this Grammy nomination for the song. Misty blue. To
The
Jay Ray
Khan.
people love them some Chaka Khan. That's right. She's won quite a few
Yeah, they
She is they love a Chaka car So Jay Ray, um, if if the listeners want to go ahead and submit their favorite Chaka Khan songs to us Or just want to subscribe to the show. Let them know what they need to do
Absolutely. First of all, if y'all can hear our voices, if you can see our faces, thank you so much. We really appreciate y'all. Make sure that you subscribe wherever you are tuning in. Do us a solid. Tell a friend, tell a family member, tell a co worker. If you love Queue Points, chances are they will love Queue Points too. You can support the show. You could definitely, we, we love a coffee. 10, 20 coffees.
Yes, please
that it helps to keep the lights on here in Queue Points land.
¶ Shoutouts and Grammy Considerations
We'd really appreciate it. And also we have a lot more content over on our Patreon. Visit our website at Queue Points. com because that's where you can get information on completing, uh, submitting your. Favorite Chaka song and why for the Um, and by the way, if you submit your video, if you submit a video or some audio, it might end up in the live show. So, you know, we do our Queue Points live on Thursdays. So your video might end up in that show. So visit the website, Queue Points. com there.
You can, of course, participate in submitting your song, but you can also, uh, read our newsletter. You can sign up, uh, you can read our blog and sign up for the newsletter. Rather. We really appreciate y'all.
We sure do. Thank you for checking out this latest episode of Queue Points podcast. As I always say in this life, you have a choice.
¶ How to Support Queue Points
You can either pick up the needle or you can let the record play. I'm DJ Sir Daniel,
My name is Jay Ray y'all.
and this has been Queue Points podcast, dropping the needle on black music history. We'll see you on the next go round. Peace.
Peace y'all.