Only Built 4 Moslem Brass

08/21/2026

Which is more important: Knight or Bishop?

08/21/2026

08/21/2026

08/21/2026

In 1926, jazz pianist and entertainer Fats Waller was performing in Chicago when his night reportedly took a very unexpected turn. According to accounts of the story, Waller was leaving the Sherman Hotel after a performance when several men forced him into a vehicle, blindfolded him, and took him to a birthday celebration connected to Al Capone. Waller reportedly discovered that he had been brought there because Capone was a fan of his music and wanted him to perform. What makes the story so memorable is that Waller was not simply asked to play a few songs. He was reportedly kept there for several days, entertaining guests and accepting song requests, with stories claiming he was paid around $100 for each request and given plenty of food and drinks throughout the celebration.

Fats Waller was already a major figure in American music by this time. Born in New York City in 1904, he became one of the most influential pianists, composers and entertainers of the Harlem Renaissance era. His energetic playing helped shape the stride piano style, a form of jazz piano that became an important bridge between ragtime and later swing. Waller also wrote or popularized songs that became standards, including “Ain’t Misbehavin’” and “Honeysuckle Rose.” The Capone story has been repeated for generations, although some details vary between accounts, so it is worth treating the more dramatic parts of the story with some caution. What is beyond dispute is that Waller was an extraordinary Black musician whose talent carried him into rooms and audiences far beyond the Harlem clubs where his career began. His story also captures something important about the era: Black musicians were creating some of the most influential music in America while navigating a society where their talent could be celebrated even as they faced racism, exploitation and limited control over their own careers.

08/21/2026

BEFORE SIMBA, WEST AFRICA HAD SUNDIATA.

Everybody knows the story.

A young prince loses his father.

His homeland falls into the hands of a powerful rival.

The prince lives away from home.

Then he returns, defeats the ruler threatening his people, and establishes a kingdom that becomes legendary.

Sounds familiar?

But this story was being told in West Africa CENTURIES before Disney released The Lion King.

His name was Sundiata Keita.

Born around 1217, Sundiata became the founder of the Mali Empire, one of medieval Africa’s great powers.

According to the Epic of Sundiata, preserved for generations by West African griots, Sundiata faced enormous struggles from childhood. After political upheaval, he and his family spent years away from their homeland.

Then came the return.

Sundiata gathered allies and confronted the powerful Sosso ruler Sumanguru Kanté. Around 1235, tradition places their decisive struggle at the Battle of Kirina.

Sundiata emerged victorious.

But here is where history becomes bigger than the legend.

He did not merely return home.

He helped establish the Mali Empire, which would grow into a major center of commerce, scholarship and political power in West Africa. Later rulers, most famously Mansa Musa, would inherit the imperial world Sundiata helped create.

That is why comparing him to Simba can be fascinating.

Not because Sundiata was secretly “the real Lion King.”

And not because we have evidence Disney copied his life.

But because Africa already possessed its own epic traditions of fallen kingdoms, exile, courage, homecoming and restoration long before modern Hollywood.

Sundiata’s story survived without movie theaters.

Without cameras.

Without Disney.

Griots carried it for centuries through MEMORY.

Perhaps the most remarkable part isn’t that his story reminds us of The Lion King.

It is that millions know Simba…

while far fewer know Sundiata Keita.

That deserves to change.

08/21/2026