Kyle C. Barker
Migos VERZUZ Mahalia Jackson
I have a theory that the genesis of the ‘unique‘ sounding black names was the crack epidemic. Basically a bunch of crackheads naming their children. If you look at name trends throughout the years, virtually none of these ‘unique’ names were found prior to the 80’s. And you’ll find very few black people from Generation X with a name like Shaquanesha or Tavarion or some shyt. How these names became ‘quintessential’ black names and not being around for more than 30-40 years, I have no idea.
the popularity of the Jackson 5 (specifically Latoya, tito, and Jermaine) might've kicked off that trend.