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Posts tagged as “Sheryl Lee Ralph”

MUSIC MONDAY: Ultimate “Soul of the Season” Christmas Soundtrack – Deluxe Expanded Edition (LISTEN)

by Jeff Meier (FB: Jeff.Meier.90)

We hope that all of you in the Good Black News family are enjoying the holiday season and all the prep that goes along with it.

As many longtime readers know, Good Black News couldn’t survive the holidays without our Spotify Christmas music mixes playing in the background.

So, today, we’ve updated one of our most popular playlists ever to share with you again, and offer you the chance to deep dive into holiday music that is a little different than the rotation of 20 Andy Williams, Burl Ives and Bing Crosby tunes you might hear on the regular radio.

Back for Year Three is our Ultimate Soul of the Season Christmas Soundtrack – Deluxe Expanded Edition – now filled with more than 60 new tracks, and lasting overall for over 34 hours.

[spotifyplaybutton play=”https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2FHQ8HVPzGR0pd9R4Tu1Zm?si=77040f88ca504bed”]

While you’re wrapping, decorating, baking, or just sipping eggnog by the fireplace, our playlist is a go-to that can last all season long.

Of course you can set it on shuffle and never know what’s coming next, or just let it play through.  We’ve carefully planned it out so that if you just let it play, you’ll get a mix of tempos and artists and soulful styles singing songs you know by heart mixed in with forgotten coulda-been classics and brand new originals that are classics in the making.

As a reminder, musically we’ve set out to create our own ‘radio’-like Christmas playlist, but as only GBN could, comprised entirely of songs performed by Black artists (or in the rare case of Robin Thicke, artists singing in a soulful tradition).

Of course, we’ve got Donny Hathaway, The Jackson 5, The Temptations‘ “Silent Night,” and plenty of Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Johnny Mathis, and yes, Mariah Carey.

But as we did last year, we’ve refreshed the playlist this year with a bunch of new tracks – titles that are freshly released in 2022, as well as older tunes that are new discoveries for us, and even some famous songs that had never before appeared on Spotify.

In the era of streaming music, new Christmas music is being released much differently than it used to be.  There are still a few new full-length Christmas ‘albums’ being issued.

Among them are collections from Alicia Keys, Regina Belle, and recent Emmy groundbreaker Sheryl Lee Ralph (working with gospel producer/artist B. Slade on her new release entitled ‘Sleigh.’).

We’ve got songs from all of the new releases above (although currently Alicia Keys has only made one single from her album available on Spotify).

Harlem's Fashion Row Honors Emerging Designers of Color

Image: Harlem's Fashion Row - Backstage - Spring 2016 New York Fashion Week
NEW YORK, NY – SEPTEMBER 10: Models backstage at the Harlem’s Fashion Row show during Spring 2016 New York Fashion Week on September 10, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by Grant Lamos IV/Getty Images) Grant Lamos IV / Getty Images
Harlem’s Fashion Row has become a New York Fashion Week standard.
Founded and conceived by Brandice Henderson-DanielHarlem’s Fashion Row, known as HFR, held their 8th annual award and fashion show to lead off NYFW on Sept 10.  A sea of people dressed in their most chic attires took over Chelsea Piers.
Some women stepped out in high-split bodycon dresses with sweetheart necklines, while others strutted in bright halter top jumpers.
But what made this scene different than many other packed New York Fashion Week events was the overflow of mahogany and brown faces congregating to support a group of entrepreneurs and creative minds that are widely overlooked.
Over the last 8 years, the event has become a hub where black celebrities and the black fashion elite collide, bringing together entertainers such as Sheryl Lee Ralph, Mary J. Blige and cultural influencers like Emil Wilbekin and Michaela Angela Davis.
One of the goals of HFR is to elevate and showcase up-and-coming designers of color. Most new designers struggle with finding the necessary funding to launch a line and what you’ll find here is a community that not only celebrates one another’s drive and goals, but one that also puts their money where their mouth is.
“Today we have fewer designers than we did in the 70s,” said Tai Beauchamp, host of TLC’s Dare to Wear. “What it really boils down to is financing and funding. The reality is that these designers have the talent and the will and the desire, but often times there aren’t any resources to do it.”
Davis noted that it’s harder for African-Americans to stay in the industry because of the amount of capital it takes to keep a line alive. “It’s not the same as writing or being a painter where you can produce without having a staff. In order to have full collections it takes a tremendous amount of work,” said Davis.
Harlem’s Fashion Row honored multicultural designers and prolific trendsetters, but most importantly, exhibited emerging fashion talent and provided them a platform to further bridge them to the fashion industry.

Tracee Ellis Ross at Harlem Fashion Row on Sept. 10. Johnny Nunez

Tracee Ellis Ross: The Icon

The beautiful, funny and forevermore fashionable Tracee Ellis Ross received the Icon 360 Award. If you’ve followed Ross, especially on the red carpet or on Instagram, you would know that she’s become just as well-known for her bold style as her acting chops. She never shies away from showing off her figure in form fitting, body con dresses and playing with unique patterns and textiles on the red carpet.

Tia Mowry-Hardrict and Michael Boatman Comedy ‘Instant Mom’ Renewed by Nickelodeon For 3rd Season

Instant Mom Renewed Season 3

Breakout Nick at Nite/NickMom family comedy series Instant Mom has been picked up for a 20-episode third season ahead of its second-season premiere on October 2, when it will debut in its new Thursday 8 PM time slot on Nick at Nite. The multi-camera series stars Tia Mowry-Hardrict as Stephanie, a former party girl who becomes a full-time stepmom to three kids when she marries the more traditional Charlie (Michael Boatman). “Instant Mom has proven to be the perfect breakout series for families to enjoy together on Nick at Nite,” said Russell Hicks, Nickelodeon’s President of Content Development and Production.

The pre-emptive Season 3 renewal is the latest vote of confidence to Instant Mom, which also received an order for seven additional episodes before its series premiere. The latest pickup brings the show’s episode total to 66 episodes. Season 1 posted double-digit year-to-year growth and drew 1.2 million total viewers. Additionally, the series launch of Instant Mom on the adult-targeted NickMom nighttime comedy block on the Nick Jr. channel was the block’s highest-rated premiere ever with women 18-49 and total viewers.
Instant Mom is executive-produced by Howard Michael Gould, Aaron Kaplan of Kapital Entertainment and Regina Hicks. The series’ cast also includes Sheryl Lee Ralph, Sydney Park, Tylen Jacob Williams and Damarr Calhoun.
article by Nellie Andreeva via deadline.com