Enjoy this custom playlist by our outreach director Shannon Shird. Lemonade a Seat at the Table
All posts tagged Black Music
Long Live Prince
See a 1982 concert by the legend
Our hearts go out to the entire Paisley Park family. May he rest in power.
Posted by Progressive Pupil on April 21, 2016
https://progressivepupil.wordpress.com/2016/04/21/long-live-prince/
Future of Black Girls in Music
SZA? FKA twigs? If their names are not unconventional enough, their music certainly is. Several critics and fans alike have used phrases like “experimental R&B” and “avant-pop” in an attempt to describe their sound, but neither of those descriptions is as yet able to truly do their music justice. While their sound may not necessarily submit to easy, or straightforward categorization, there is undoubtedly a certain neo-futuristic element to their music that has propelled both of these small town girls to stardom. However, beyond merely rewriting the sound of music today, SZA and FKA twigs are—perhaps even unbeknownst to them—redefining the traditional cultural expectations of what Black girls in the music industry should sound and look like.
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Posted by Progressive Pupil on March 28, 2015
https://progressivepupil.wordpress.com/2015/03/28/future-of-black-girls-in-music/
Progressive Pupil’s Top 5 Favorite Holiday Songs (This Year)
Happy Holidays! As we celebrate our holidays this season, we wanted to take you on a nostalgic trip by presenting you the top five favorite holiday classics performed by Black artists. These artists put a unique spin on these tunes that always brings us peace and joy!
Posted by Progressive Pupil on December 19, 2014
https://progressivepupil.wordpress.com/2014/12/19/progressive-pupils-top-5-favorite-holiday-songs-this-year/
The Raw Ones
Out of a woman-formed and led artists’ movement in Cuba comes Las Krudas–a rap trio, formed of 3 Cuban women.
Krudas is a derivation of the Spanish word “cruda” meaning crude, raw, unrefined, real; Cubensis is a Latin word for those of native Cuban descent. Cruda is precisely what these women are: they are raw, unrefined, and real. They celebrate and defend diversity, while actively engaging in being not the norm. Las Krudas practices what they preach.
Posted by Progressive Pupil on September 26, 2014
https://progressivepupil.wordpress.com/2014/09/26/the-raw-ones/
Mighty Real
Any study of disco music would not be complete without songs like You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) or the familiar cowbell sound of the 1070s that is used in Do You Wanna Funk. Sylvester James was a drag performer in San Francisco. Although he rejected the title of drag queen, he was a gender-bending performer that defined androgyny. For marketing reasons, his music label attempted to “butch him up,” to which he responded by attending meetings in full drag. And that’s who Sylvester was — an unapologetic Black man in drag that could set a stage on fire with his falsetto voice.
Posted by Progressive Pupil on June 11, 2013
https://progressivepupil.wordpress.com/2013/06/11/mighty-real/