Disco never died. It just went underground, came back as a sample, and spent forty years proving the......

Isaac Hayes won an Oscar for the Shaft theme in 1972 -- the first Black composer to win Best Original Song. He showed up to the ceremony in a tuxedo made of chains. The soundtrack is a psychedelic soul masterpiece: wah-wah guitar, strings that sound like they're from a different movie, and a voice that could narrate the end of the world and make it sound cool. Richard Roundtree's John Shaft walked so every action hero after could run. Who's the black private dick? Shaft. Damn right.

Johnny Otis was a white Greek-American who grew up in a Black neighborhood and decided as a teenager: if society dictated you had to be Black or white, he would be Black. Johnny Otis lived his entire life as a Black man and became the Godfather of R&B.

Most of us grew up with free radio. Then corporations took over the playlist. Then we found Spotify and YouTube -- until the algorithm quietly decided what we liked, and suddenly we were stuck on repeat again. There's so much music out there, and only so much time to hear it.

At HotSupper, we just want to open things up a little. Maybe you'll stumble on an artist you've never heard of. Maybe you'll rediscover a song you'd completely forgotten. Maybe you'll just tap your toes. Either way, it's yours to explore. And if you have ideas to make this place better, we're all ears.