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Posts published in “Pop/R&B/Dance”

Pharrell Named to Apollo Theater’s Board Of Directors

By goodblacknews on November 3, 2014

pharrell-williams-getty
“It’s Showtime!”
Pharrell Williams continued his incredible run of musical accomplishments on Tuesday, by being named to the Apollo Theater’s Board of Directors. The multi-talented producer joins a list of 32 that includes New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, Quincy Jones, John D. Dempsey of Estee Lauder, and many more.
Skateboard P made his debut on the famed stage on June 3, which was streamed live as part of a digital series, Unstaged. The project was directed by Spike Lee and sponsored by American Express, and seemed to open new doors for hollowed grounds. The global reach of Pharrell’s performance coincided with the technological upgrades that the venue is going through, as part of a $20 million dollar initiative for its 21st Century Apollo Campaign.
The singer/songwriter stated that he’s excited to preserve and expand upon the Apollo’s legacy in American culture. In other words, he’s “Happy.”
article by @TheKidSkoob via theurbandaily.com

James Brown Finally Gets Harlem Street Named After Him on November 22

By goodblacknews on October 31, 2014
brown
It’s been eight years since the “Godfather of Soul,” James Brown (pictured) passed away at age 73.  Now after an uphill six-year effort by historian Jacob Morris, along with the National Black Theatre, a street behind the famed Harlem Apollo Theatre is finally being renamed James Brown Way to honor the musical icon, according to the New York Daily News.
The street that will bear the name of the legendary performer is located on 126th between Adam Clayton Powell Jr. and Frederick Douglass Blvds.  According to Morris, he was also looking to have some fanfare attached to the renaming of the street, a ceremony of sorts that would truly pay homage to the caliber of performer Brown was, the archivist tells the New York Daily News, “I didn’t want to put the sign up until we could do a ceremony that’s of James Brown stature.”
apollo
The guest list of luminaries who will reportedly attend the November 22 street renaming will be none other than the Rev. Al Sharpton, who will be a keynote speaker and who also considered Brown a mentor and father figure.  A few of Brown’s relatives will also be present for the eventful honor, including his daughter Deanna Brown Thomas.
Brown had a long history of playing at the Apollo, the venue where he made his explosive debut and honed his reputation for high energy, dynamic concerts.  Two days after Brown’s passing from congestive heart failure on Christmas day in 2006, his body was transported in a gold coffin to the legendary theater and put on view, so that the public could visit and pay their respects to the soul showman.  Brown Thomas told the New York Daily News, “It [the Apollo] is where the eyes of the world came to watch my father.  If he was here he’d be thanking God for people loving him enough to put his name on that street.”
The ceremony will commence at 1 p.m. and will be followed by a 2 p.m. screening of “James Brown: The Man, The Music & The Message” at the National Black Theatre.
article by Ruth Manuel-Logan via newsone.com

Chris Rock and Prince Set for November 1st Episode of "Saturday Night Live"

By goodblacknews on October 14, 2014

Chris Rock Prince Split - H 2014
Chris Rock and Prince (AP Images/Invision)

Chris Rock is returning to Saturday Night Live.  The comedian and former SNL cast member will be back at Studio 8H to host the Nov. 1 episode, the show announced Tuesday. Rock was part of the main ensemble for three seasons, from 1990-93.
Joining him as the musical guest will be Prince, who released two albums, Plectrumelectrum and Art Official Age, earlier this month.
Rock marks the latest ex-SNL cast member to take hosting duties during the show’s 40th season. Sarah Silverman, who was a main player from 1993-94, and Bill Hader, who left in 2013, have both led episodes. Rock next stars in Top Five, a Toronto title that hits theaters Dec. 5.
Jim Carrey, promoting Dumb and Dumber To, has been set as host for the Oct. 25 episode with musical guest Iggy Azalea.
article by Philiana Ng via hollywoodreporter.com

Sasha and Malia Obama, Mo’ne Davis Top Time Magazine’s "25 Most Influential Teens Of 2014" List

By goodblacknews on October 13, 2014

Mo'ne Davis
First Daughters Sasha Obama and Malia Obama, Little League superstar Mo’ne Davis and Jaden Smith are included in Time Magazine’s “25 Most Influential Teens of 2014” list.
Davis (pictured above), is the first girl to earn a win and pitch a shutout game in Little League World Series history.  The braided cutie is also the first Little League baseball player to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated as a Little League player.
The Obama girls are bright, opinionated and it is already very evident that they will one day be accomplished, strong, opinionated leaders in their own right, just like their famous mom and dad.
Jaden Smith (pictured), the 16-year-old son of Hollywood A-listers, Will and Jada is an accomplished actor in his own right and the kid already has quite a way with words.  Known for his brow-raising Twitter postings, Jaden has managed to garner 5 million followers on the popular social medium.
The unranked list, which was released Monday morning, “analyzed social-media followings cultural accolades, business acumen and more” in order to highlight worthy candidates who influence society in a positive way.
article by Ruth Manuel-Logan via newsone.com

Born on This Day in 1958: Michael Jackson, the Incomparable King of Pop

By goodblacknews on August 29, 2014

It’s been 5 years since Michael Jackson died.  Five.  There have been constant tributes, celebrations and memorials since that shocking June 25th in 2009, when we collectively learned that one of the most undeniable musical forces ever to walk the Earth was no longer with us.  So it’s not like there hasn’t been time to process the reality and finality of his passing – but for me (and I know I’m not alone), as every year passes, Michael’s death hits harder and harder.

I love that his music and legacy live on not only in his family and children, but also in every (and I do mean every) modern entertainer alive today.  Usher, Justin Timberlake, Justin Bieber, Jason Derulo, NeYo, Bruno Mars, Chris Brown, Beyoncé… who among them doesn’t echo Michael in their movements, their singing, their showmanship?  But when I hear the posthumous Jackson album “Xscape” from earlier this year – which, even though critically referred to as “B” level Michael, is better than most pop music currently out there – or a current song that sounds like it could have been a Michael song (see Timberlake’s “Take Back The Night”), the totality of his loss is all the more evident.

There is comfort in the fact that he existed at all and gave us a lifetime filled with thrilling, soul-stirring and oft-emulated art via dance and song.  And according to the Orlando Sentinel, today, on what would have been Jackson’s 56th birthday, he is being remembered in different ways around the world.

Cirque du Soleil in Las Vegas has launched the #MJWeAreOne campaign in conjunction with MichaelJackson.com.
Fans worldwide are urged to use Instagram by sharing videos — using the hashtag #MJWeAreOne — honoring MJ and sharing ideas of how to make the world a better place.
The MJ Global Party has fans celebrating Jackson’s birthday in live-time around the world using the hashtag #MJGBP2014. Check out the website here.
The fifth annual Michael Jackson Tribute Festival of the Arts is underway in Jackson’s birth home of Gary, Indiana. The three-day festival celebrates Jackson’s life and career while helping revitalize part of Gary.
So on this day, remember the King of Pop in your own way. Listen to your favorite MJ song. Watch your favorite Michael video for the thousandth time.
Below I’m posting one of my all-time favorite Jackson songs and videos, the John Singleton-directed “Remember The Time” and I know I’m going to shake my head (for the thousandth time) when Magic Johnson says “Behold, great Pharoah Ramses!”, laugh (for the thousandth time) when Eddie Murphy’s eyes bug out at Iman crushing on Michael, stare in awe (for the thousandth time) at the dance moves, and lose it (for the thousandth time) when Michael sings the “Rah dah /dah dah dah / What about us, girl?!” part because it is just so uniquely Michael, uniquely musical and uniquely inspiring.

article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (follow @lakinhutcherson)

Pop Debut Shows Off Atlanta Teenager Raury’s Epic Scope

By goodblacknews on August 25, 2014
Raury, performing in June in Atlanta on his 18th birthday, his first proper headlining performance. He called it Raurfest. Raury’s debut album, “Indigo Child,” will be released on Monday. (Troy Stains for The New York Times)
Raury, performing in June in Atlanta on his 18th birthday, his first proper headlining performance. He called it Raurfest. Raury’s debut album, “Indigo Child,” was released on Monday. (Troy Stains for The New York Times)

ATLANTA — In June, on the day Raury turned 18, he woke up earlyish and went to the aquarium here with an old friend for a low-key afternoon. He’d just graduated from high school, but this night was the real cause for celebration — a concert he’d been planning for months. He called it Raurfest.

It was an ambitious name for his first proper headlining performance, but Raury’s taste for the epic is among his most appealing characteristics. So that night, in a gallery space/abandoned industrial building near downtown, a dinner was organized in his honor, followed by a show under the stars.

Yesterday, Raury released his first album, “Indigo Child” — free online at indigochildproject.com, though he is signed to Columbia. It is, for the most part, an astonishingly assured debut, full of multipart songs teeming with deeply felt ideas. He has an easy way with melody but also a consistently grand-scaled sense of theater, which makes for music that’s intimate and imposing all at once.

It’s an album, he said, “made from frustrations, made from being looked down upon, made from being an outcast and not like everyone else.” His response to those obstacles is elegant pop that takes in tender soul, muscled rock and flickers of hip-hop attitude.

“I want it to sound like a World War III benefit concert,” he joked.

“God’s Whisper,” his breakthrough song, is like anarchic gospel, with a hollow stomp that could almost be borrowed from Mumford & Sons. “Cigarette Song” owes at least some of its silken attitude to Terence Trent D’Arby. Elsewhere, there are shades of Kid Cudi, Outkast and MGMT.

Sugar Hill Record’s Co-Founder Sylvia Robinson Biopic In The Works

By goodblacknews on August 24, 2014

Sylvia Robinson
The film rights for the “Mother of Hip Hop,” the late Sylvia Robinson (pictured), who helped put the musical genre on the map, was acquired by producer Paula Wagner, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Robinson co-founded Sugar Hill Records, the label that produced the Sugarhill Gang’s 1979 classic “Rapper’s Delight,” credited as the first monster hit to get folks to sit up and pay attention to Hip-Hop.  Robinson was also the machine behind such early Hip-Hop artists as Grand Master Flash and the Furious Five, who recorded the classic song, “The Message.”
Wagner secured the rights to Robinson’s life story from her son, Joey, who will reportedly act as the biopic’s consultant and executive producer. Grandmaster Melle Mel, another Hip-Hop pioneer, will also wear the hat of consultant on the film.
According to Wagner, the film will span Robinson’s four decade career and encompass all of the important aspects of her busy life, including the music business, her mercurial love life and the indelible mark she left on a genre of music that has grown to immense proportions.
“Sylvia Robinson’s life story has all the elements of a great film,” said Wagner in a statement according to The Hollywood Reporter. “It is not only the story of female empowerment at a time when the world of music was male-dominated, but it’s also a story of the origin of Hip-Hop and how this woman’s determination, immense talent and savvy business sense fostered an entire musical movement.”
“This movie is going to show how my parents were able to remain independent, keep control of their publishing and master recordings and how they later dealt with the major record labels and mob associates,” added Joey. “Sugarhill paved the way for a new genre of music that the industry had no knowledge of back in 1979. You will see the struggles of what Sugarhill went through to keep Hip-Hop music alive when the industry wanted to bury it.”
Besides navigating the musical careers of performers, Robinson, herself, was a recording artist with such hits under her belt as “Love Is Strange” in 1957, as part of the duo Mickey and Sylvia and the 1973 R&B hit, “Pillow Talk,” which was a solo project.
article by Ruth Manuel-Logan via newsone.com

Seattle Breaks Ground on Jimi Hendrix Memorial Park

By goodblacknews on August 14, 2014
The City of Seattle officially broke ground on a long-awaited park in honor of former resident, Jimi Hendrix.  Jimi Hendrix Park will be a memorial garden encompassing two-and-a-half acres in the city’s Central District.
The park’s organizers, the Jimi Hendrix Park Foundation, have raised over $1million for the project and say they envision the land as being “a place where people of different backgrounds will find the motivation to explore music and art, while celebrating Seattle’s cultural heritage,” according to Rolling Stone.
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The guitar legend’s sister, Janie Hendrix, who is also the president and CEO of Experience Hendrix – the company that manages the singer’s estate, said: “Every project endorsed by our family which bears Jimi’s name is meaningful to us, but this park holds special significance.
“Seattle will always be Jimi’s home. This very area is where Jimi grew up, where his dreams cultivated and his creative energy awakened, in many ways. So to see this amazing place of beauty, dedicated to Jimi and his artistry, blossom into reality is indescribably fulfilling.
“Having been involved in every facet of the park’s creation, I can honestly say that this musical garden is a fitting representation of Jimi’s imagination. It is truly inspired.”
The concept for the park was first announced by the organization in 2011 and was intended for completion in time for what would’ve been the singer’s 70th birthday the following year. It is believed the bulk of construction work is set to take place next year.
article via blackamericaweb.com

Michael Jackson's Indiana Hometown To Name School In His Honor

By goodblacknews on July 24, 2014

Michael Jackson
GARY, Ind. (AP) — Plans are in the works to name a school after Michael Jackson in the late pop star’s Indiana hometown.
The Gary Community School Board approved Tuesday a memorandum of understanding with Jackson’s mother, Katherine Jackson. The agreement that Jackson signed last month says the district “seeks to honor Michael Jackson and to inspire children to excel in the arts and education.”
District superintendent Cheryl Pruitt said she’s working with the Jackson family on which school to rename.
“A close relationship with the Jackson family to improve the quality of programs for the Gary Community School Corp. can mean tremendous gains for the school district and the city as a whole,” she told the Post-Tribune (http://bit.ly/1luhGfp ).
Michael Jackson spent the first 11 years of his life in Gary. His family moved to California after the Jackson 5 struck it big in 1969 with the release of their first album. Jackson, who died in 2009, last returned to Gary in 2003 and received an honorary diploma from Roosevelt High School near his childhood home.
Pruitt said renaming the school came up in a conversation with Katherine Jackson, who donated $10,000 during the Gary Promise scholarship event hosted by former NBA star Magic Johnson in April.
“She’s always wanted something left here,” Pruitt said.
The district has long struggled with high poverty levels, and the school board voted in June to close six of its 17 schools because of a $27 million deficit blamed in part on declining enrollment and the state’s property tax caps.
article via huffingtonpost.com

James Brown is Celebrated in "Get On Up", Opening this Friday

By goodblacknews on July 23, 2014
Chadwick Boseman as Brown in the new biopic “Get On Up.” (Credit: D Stevens/Universal Studios)

It’s just the kind of movie clip YouTube was made for. In the 1965 Frankie Avalon vehicle,“Ski Party,” James Brown and his backing vocal group, the Famous Flames, enter a ski lodge after rescuing a frozen reveler. Resplendent in a white-and-red sweater, tight black slacks, black pointy-toed shoes and a regal pompadour, Brown performs “I Got You (I Feel Good),” giving the lily-white crowd of clapping skiers a taste of the showmanship that had made him a star on the so-called “chitlin circuit” among blacks. Even in a movie as disposable as “Ski Party,” Brown turned a corny scene into genuine entertainment.

In the biopic “Get On Up,” opening Friday, the filmmakers recreate this moment, trying to see it from Brown’s point of view. While he glides through his steps, we see slow-motion shots of the listeners as if they were creatures from another, whiter planet, one Brown is reluctantly visiting in hopes of reaching a wider audience. In that scene, Brown dances off the set. In the new film, he does a split but doesn’t come up, apparently having ripped his pants. The new moment is slightly comic but undercuts Brown’s mastery.

Depicting James Brown on screen has always been a seductive proposition. As one of the greatest stage performers of the 20th century, he has inspired documentarians, playwrights, comedians and other artists who see the outlines of his greatness. But capturing the man inside, and the meaning of his life, is a tricky business.

Brown at the Roseland Ballroom in New York in 2004.CreditFrank Micelotta/Getty Images

There was a fluidity to his identity that was reflected in his many stage nicknames: Mr. Dynamite, the hardest working man in show business, Soul Brother No. 1, the Godfather of Soul and the Original Disco Man, as he variously billed himself. All enduring pop stars have the ability to shift with the culture, but Brown’s moves — from staunch integrationist to proto-black nationalist and back, from civil rights role model to wife beater, from disciplined bandleader to drug addict — suggest an inner turmoil that belied his outer confidence. Shortly after his death, I helped edit a collection of articles that spanned Brown’s long career, and in reading the pieces was struck by how many journalists saw the contours of the man but struggled to truly penetrate his psyche. With a feature film about to arrive and a coming documentary, it’s time to take stock of this imposing figure.
Brown, who died on Christmas Day 2006, began his career in the ’50s under the spell of Little Richard and ended it as a major influence on current singer-dancers like Usher and Chris Brown. Michael Jackson and Prince, of course, were acolytes. Reared on gospel, blues and jazz, Brown was a dominant force in the soul ’60s, created funk, inspired disco and laid hip-hop’s foundation with his beats.

As important as Brown was on vinyl, his stage show and personality are legendary: Tilting a mike stand far forward and, before it hit the stage, pulling it back via the cord. Dropping into and rising out of splits. Feigning exhaustion and donning a regal cape before returning to sing again. Executing every new dance from the ’60s to the ’80s with deft steps and body control made Brown a dominant figure during an explosive era for pop music.