Black History Month
SAYMYNAME’s “One Beat” Celebrates Black History Month
On Friday at Los Angeles’ popular Exchange L.A. club, hardtrap pioneer SAYMYNAME plans to host the flagship event of his recently launched “One Beat” series. The evening aims to promote dance music from Black artists in partnership with the Local Hearts Foundation and Insomniac Events. It promises charm and wallop from a cavalcade of POC producers and allies, like BLVCK JESUS, MADGRRL, Dack Janiels, GAWM, ETC!ETC!, JMoss, and Izadi. With a fresh welcome to the family at Paradigm Talent Agency, this seems to be just the beginning for SAYMYNAME too. In addition to a portion of the proceeds from Friday’s event going to feed the needy from the Local Hearts Foundation, “One Beat” aims to continue its past established rhythm in support of numerous Black causes. Recommended Articles M...
Black Twitter Passionately Kicks Off Black History Month As Expected #BlackHistoryMonth
HipHopWired Featured Video CLOSE Source: BojanMirkovic / Getty Black History Month got off to a grand start Tuesday morning (Feb. 1) via social media, most especially among the cultural innovators collectively known as Black Twitter. Via the hashtag #BlackHistoryMonth, folks are kicking off the month-long celebration with passion and pride as expected. Via Twitter’s Explore tab, most will note that the #BlackHistoryMonth hashtag is the top trending topic at the moment. Underneath the tag, Twitter users shared memes, jokes, short clips, historical facts, and much more. First established at Kent State University in 1970, the celebration extended to other parts of the nation in 1976 when President Gerald Ford recognized the month as part of the nation’s Bicentennial. The celebration is held i...
Multiple HBCUs Receive Bomb Threats On First Day of Black History Month
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: MANDEL NGAN / Getty This is not the way Black History Month should be kicking off. Per CNN, multiple historically black colleges and universities have received bomb threats resulting in them having to go in lockdown or cancel classes. As of Tuesday (Feb.1), 13 schools have reported receiving bomb threats. One of them, Howard University, has received a threat on Monday (Jan.31) as well. Speaking with CNN, Baltimore’s Coppin State acknowledged someone called the university claiming there was a bomb on campus. A message on the school’s website read, “If you are on campus, please, shelter in place, and wait for further instructions,” the message stated. “Emergency officials are evaluating the campus, and we will provide updates as soon as possible.” Related S...
Queen Latifah’s Anthem “U.N.I.T.Y.” Still Spells Out a Critical Message About Women’s Rights
Editor’s Note: As Women’s History Month draws to a close, arts critic Okla Jones looks back at the indelible legacy of Queen Latifah and the long-lasting influence her anthem “U.N.I.T.Y.” had on women’s rights, especially in the hip-hop world. The contributions of women to the arts have often been overlooked throughout history. In music (specifically hip-hop), the female artist has been held to an unfair critical standard. The industry requires women to be both talented and desirable, only to allow them to be negated by public opinion if they come across as overtly “sexy” or if their content doesn’t fit some status quo. For quite some time, the music business has served as a microcosm for society’s treatment of women overall: including the verbal and physical abuse, lack of appreciat...
The Pioneering Women of Philly Soul
Fifty years ago, the sound of Philly Soul was born out of the legendary Philadelphia International Records. With the talents of The O’Jays, Patti LaBelle, Teddy Pendergrass, The Three Degrees, McFadden & Whitehead, and others, the label rewrote the standards of soul music by blending in R&B, funk, and doo-wop with massive orchestral arrangements. To celebrate all P.I.R. contributed to the world of music, we’re giving away a Best of Philadelphia International Records prize pack, which includes vinyl, turntables, and headphones. Click here for more information on these prizes and how to enter this exclusive giveaway. The face of soul music as we know it might have been completely different if not for the ambition and drive of a Columbia imprint, once housed in the vacant offices of C...
Foot Locker Celebrates Black Sneaker Influencers with ‘The Sole List’
Source: Foot Locker / Foot Locker You can’t have sneaker culture without Black people, period. In the midst of Black History Month, Foot Locker is celebrating this triple truth with its inaugural Sole List which honors the next generation of Black influencers pushing the culture of kicks forward. The Sole List highlight individuals who are naturally putting others on, launching dope collaborations and bigging up their respective communities. The initial Sole List Class of ’21 is made up 10 Black creatives that include Greg Skye Evans, a child influencer, Ari Chambers, founder of Highlight Her, female sports recruitment network and Dex Robinson, a celebrity stylist and brand manager. Everyone in this clique is doing big things. So if you’re unfamiliar, it would be worth your while to ...
Rick Ross Performs Atop a Throne During NPR Tiny Desk (Home) Concert: Watch
Rick Ross is the latest artist to appear on NPR’s Tiny Desk (Home) Concert series, which is currently celebrating Black History Month. True to his Boss nickname, he performed a lavish 20-minute set while perched atop a gold-plated throne. According to NPR, the concert marks the Miami rapper’s only second time performing with a live band. During the set, which took place in a gallery space owned by Miami artist Rich B Caliente, the Maybach Music Group label head ran through some of his biggest hits, including “B.M.F. (Blowin’ Money Fast)” and “Aston Martin Music”, as well as fan favorites like “I’m Not a Star” and “Tears of Joy”. Ross’ most recent album was 2019’s Port of Miami 2, the sequel to his breakout 2006 debut. In 2020, he made guest appearances on projects by Freddie Gibbs, Te...
All Eyez on Me Captured 2Pac’s Last Moments of Peace
Editor’s Note: 2Pac’s All Eyez on Me originally dropped on February 13th, 1996. The double-album, the last record released while 2Pac was still alive, would go on to change the rap game forever. To celebrate the record’s 25th anniversary, Jayson Buford takes a look back at the album’s indelible legacy. In October 1995, Death Row Records boss Suge Knight paid the $1.4 million bail that was on the head of rap superstar Tupac Amaru Shakur, whose name had increasingly been in the papers for both his talent and troubles. Shakur was serving a sentence of up to four years for sexual assault, a crime that he maintained he did not commit. Alongside that black mark on his reputation, the night before the judge announced the verdict to the world, back in November 1994, 2Pac was shot outside of Quad S...
Black History Month Spotlight: A Beginner’s Guide to the Blues
B.B. King Editor’s Note: Throughout Black History Month, we’ll be publishing a series of stories of Black artists who contributions to music should not be overlooked. You can follow along here. Also make sure to subscribe and listen to our new podcast series, Rootsland, which explores the story of two friends who take a musical and spiritual journey from the suburbs of Long Island to the streets of Kingston, Jamaica. Feel so bad, feel so sad, feel so glad? Blues music has always had a mysterious therapeutic quality about it. How can sad expression — being down in the dumps — bring such comfort, and even joy at times, to listeners? What is it about those chord progressions, those blue notes, and those call-and-response patterns of field songs and spirituals that have the power to make ...
HHW Gaming: Xbox Announces Series of Activations That Will Amplify Black Voices & Promote Inclusive Storytelling
Source: Microsoft / Xbox To celebrate Black history month, Xbox wants to let the gaming community know that Black gamers matter. The tragic deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor lead to a wave of social unrest in the United States and around the world. Businesses and even the video game community, out of respect for the movement, stood in solidarity with Black Lives Matter protestors by doing things like releasing free dynamic themes, loading screens, and in-game gear with the rallying cry. While it was something we loved to see, others did feel the moves were just performative for the moment. In light of Black History Month, Xbox wants to hammer home the point they are down for the cause, and that energy when it comes to supporting Black gamers, creatives within the ga...
All Black Everything: Spotify Celebrates Black History Month with New Playlists, Podcasts, & More
Source: Spotify / Spotify It appears that Black History Month is kicking off with a bang for Spotify listeners after the streaming platform announced the launch of new Hip-Hop podcasts and playlists as a part of the Black History Month celebration. On Monday (Feb. 1), the streaming giant announced a slew of few initiatives, including the launch of a full slate of guest-curated playlist takeovers, brand new podcasts, and more to highlight Black culture, Black music, and Black excellence. According to the press release, the new initiative will also feature new cover art from Black photographers in an effort to showcase a spectrum of Black talent, spanning across both musical and visual art, including work from photographers Shawn Theodore, Adrienne Waheed, Doug Segars, Adrian Octavious Walke...
Honor the Birth of House Music With 10 Influential Black Artists from Chicago
More than 40 years ago in Chicago’s underground club scene, the foundational wave of modern dance music was just starting to hit its stride. It was the 1980s, and house music was booming. Following the decline of disco fever, pioneering Black DJs like Frankie Knuckles and Ron Hardy were quickly thrust into the city’s spotlight as they experimented with drum machines and synths in music for the first time, especially the iconic Roland TR-808. Predominantly Black, Latinx and queer audiences flocked to their venues, the Warehouse and the Muzic Box, respectively, drawn in by the inclusive, sanctuary-like scene. It wasn’t long until fabled record labels like Gramaphone and Trax were founded, devoted to spreading the sound of house music across the country and the globe. ...
