The concept of Afro Futurism is imagining a future through a black cultural lens. Like a lot of science fiction, it often ends up a metaphor for life today. Here’s a list of highlights of musical afro futurists. Sun Ra – Space Is The Place Sun Ra took big band…
+ Read MoreARETHA FRANKLIN What is soul? Aretha Franklin, that’s what it is. GLADYS KNIGHT The underrated. Her voice is as powerful, as sincere, as moving as it ever was. CHAKA KHAN Chaka live blows me away every time. WHITNEY HOUSTON The singer’s singer. NANCY WILSON Her voice is a beautiful as…
+ Read MoreThese artists wrote great songs for themselves and others, and sang the heck out of them. These are artists who deserve your complete attention. Listen deeply to their entire catalogue of music. 1. Stevie Wonder With a body of work that covers two generations, Stevie is the artists’ artist. 2….
+ Read MoreAll month I’m going to assemble a list of great black artists and songs. I’ll start with great black soundtracks, since I won’t be able to do the Black Movie Soundtrack show at the Hollywood Bowl this summer. BLACK ORPHEUS Not only one of the greatest soundtracks, but arguably the…
+ Read MoreCraig Robinson, left, Judith Hill and Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds perform Wednesday at the Hollywood Bowl. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times) As movies go, “Shaft” and “Waiting to Exhale” are about as different as can be. In the former, Richard Roundtree plays a private detective battling enemies on the…
+ Read MoreThe stars came out in droves to celebrate once again The Black Movie Soundtrack II hosted by comedian and actor Craig Robinson on Wednesday August 31st at the Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles. In attendance were Actors Anthony Anderson, Chadwick Boseman who will play Marvel’s Black Panther, Chad Coleman from ‘The…
+ Read More9/1/2016 by Gail Mitchell While co-hosting a special screening of Prince’s Purple Rain in association with the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences earlier this week, writer/director Reginald Hudlin hinted that last night’s (Aug. 31) “The Black Movie Soundtrack II” at the Hollywood Bowl would be “the sickest show…
+ Read MoreBy Dr. Valerie Wardlaw, Contributing Writer, Published September 8, 2016 On Wednesday, August 31, 2016, at the famed Hollywood Bowl – Kenneth ‘Babyface’ Edmonds, Charlie Wilson, Marcus Miller, Gladys Knight, Common, Philip Bailey, Lalah Hathaway, Verdine White and Ralph Johnson to name a few shared the stage for an evening that…
+ Read Moreby Reginald Hudlin When I first came up with the idea of a tribute to Black Movie Soundtracks at the Hollywood Bowl, I made a list of the songs that absolutely had to be in the show. I stopped writing by the time I got to 120 songs. Hopefully we’ll…
+ Read MoreMONDAY, AUGUST 29, 2016 AT 4:45 A.M. BY JEFF WEISS For a pre-adolescent at the dawn of the ’90s, House Party doubled as a beginner’s guide to hip-hop. Before its release, most cinematic depictions of the genre were cash-ins, eager to capitalize on its swiftly rising stature in urban youth…
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