Sade, one of the 1980s most important Black superstars, has reemerged on the recording scene and what a 21^st century debut she delivers. She rocks the soul to make the body come alive. Music, the healing force of the universe, packs a powerful punch with each of the eleven songs on this must have CD.

On "Immigrant" she tackles Black self-identity and self-worth while at the same time making a delightful soundtrack to tell this important story of Black people in a "neo-colonial world."

"Slave Song" a song of redemption and spiritual uplift also contains an enjoyable soundtrack that gives it a special spice. "I pray to the Almighty," she sings, "Let us not do as he has unto us. Teach my beloved children, I’ve been a slave, but reach for the light continually… ."

In whatever capacity her fans might find themselves in the game of love, whether all the way in or just coming out, male-female relationships are the centerpiece of this CD. On this album, there’s something for everyone especially in the world of romance.

Meanwhile, Ex-centric Sound System’s "Electric Voodooland" on Loud Records delivers an excellent blend of reggae, West African and jazz-fusion. The group’s members hail from the "global village" including Ghana, Mococco and the West Indies. Their soundtracks resemble the stylings of Manu Dubango’s "Soul Makossa, "Steel Pulse’s "Handworth Revolution," Burning Spear’s "Garvey’s Ghost" and Angelique Kidjo’s "Voodoo Child."

Indeed, their funky blend of reggae grooves and percussive driven rhythms make this a perfect album to play on your car stereo during those long commutes or at an aerobic dance class. "Roots Detective," "Chenki" and "Ex-Centric Dub Show" are strong songs on this album that progressive music buyers will not want to miss.

In keeping with the Million Family March, songwriter Nile Rodgers, "We Are Family," remains an important item in the most discrimination CD buyer’s library. Sister Sledge, a super group of the 1970s, delivered this legendary song to the "great Black music hall of fame." Currently, Mr. Rodgers, a former Black Panther, remains a pivotal force in the onward march of great music working with the Paterson, N.J. hip hop group, F.O.D.

"I want to have a company that will give a voice," he disclosed in a statement to the press, describing his two-year old company Sumthing Distribution. "If you don’t stand for sumthing you’ll fall for anything," is their company motto.

There’s a message in Black music, a message of love, peace and happiness. As the success of the Million Family march finds its way inside the heart of every conscious Black man and woman, rest assured that love conquers all.

It's been a decade since Sade first burst upon the international popular music scene. Since then, this uniquely multifaceted artist has become an indelible presence in the public eye and ear. As a media figure, her sleekly classy looks have graced many a magazine cover and contributed to a personal mystique as potent as any in modern popular culture. More significantly, her talents as a singer and songwriter have established her as one of today's most beloved recording artists.

Her four albums -- all of which have placed in the Top Five on Billboard's Pop and R&B charts -- have sold more than eleven million copies in the U.S. and more than 27 million worldwide, while such singles as the Top Five Pop smashes "Smooth Operator" and "The Sweetest Taboo" and Top Ten R&B hits like "Never As Good As the First Time," "Nothing Can Come Between Us," "No Ordinary Love," "Kiss of Life" and the #1 R&B entry "Paradise" have become modern standards. Her work embodies timeless qualities of elegance, understatement, taste and passion, while remaining completely contemporary in sound and attitude.

Those qualities are present in abundance on her most recent collection entitled The Best Of Sade,which collects sixteen of the singer/songwriter's greatest performances, drawn from her four multi-platinum Epic releases. Also included is Sade's impassioned reading of Percy Mayfield's torchy R&B classic "Please Send Me Someone to Love," originally included on the soundtrack to the film Philadelphia, which makes its first appearance on a Sade album. Simultaneous with the compilation disc's release is Sade Live, a 90-minute, 17-song home video of a 1993 Sade concert that captures the singer and her band at their live best.

In a pop climate obsessed with changing sounds and the language of the street, Sade has shown herself to be a pop classicist more interested in creating a durable body of work than in keeping up...[Her] best songs find fresh images for expressing time honored sentiments and placing them in settings that distill particular moods with a special intensity.

Sade was born Helen Folesade Adu in Nigeria, the daughter of a Nigerian teacher and an English nurse. Her parents separated when she was four, and she moved with her mother to London's North End. In her teens, she worked a succession of part-time jobs from waitress to bike messenger, yet devoted all of her free time to music, inspired by the likes of Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, Marvin Gaye and Al Green. Subsequently, Sade studied fashion design at St. Martin's College in London, and even saw some of her work shown in New York in conjunction with Spandau Ballet's first U.S. appearance. But her musical passions quickly overtook her budding fashion career, and soon Sade was performing as one of three vocalists in a promising jazz-funk collective known as Pride.