More Than A Magazine, A Movement
Singer-songwriter Amy Speace, 52, has been in the music business for twenty years. Her latest record, which she recorded in the final term of pregnancy with her son, includes characters singing in solidarity with Standing Rock, women’s rights and in pursuit of daily rituals.
Music producers Swizz Beatz and Timbaland have been keeping quarantine “lit” with their Verzuz battles, featuring hip-hop and R&B entertainers live on Instagram battling it out. This weekend’s showdown between neo-soul divas Erykah Badu and Jill Scott was the first women’s battle. But what truly set this “battle” apart were the words of wisdom and the confessions shared between the songs. These women, mothers and mutual friends were ultimately way more interested in connecting than battling.
Beyonce gallops into the rap scene alongside the stunning Stallion! Stallion’s collaboration with Beyonce has created an empowering bop whose proceeds go to helping others during this trying time.
Altísimo, a livestream Latin music and pop culture festival, can bring the Latin spirit to your laptop. All proceeds from the event will go towards the Farmworkers’ COVID-19 Pandemic Relief Fund, which helps over two million U.S. farmers whose work continues to keep food on U.S. tables.
Badu’s online concert is the latest contemporary example of women exploring new territory and breaking boundaries.
A group of feminist musicians, trailblazers for equality and representation of marginalized groups, have teamed up to blow listeners away with heavily-saturated femme power.
“I think people who dismiss her as somehow being a lightweight or a pretty girl with some lucky breaks—as if you can create at that level without thinking critically!—that is actually just another sign of misogyny and how women are discounted for what they create. When we make exquisite things, people assume there are fairies in the night who do it with magic dust instead of looking at the work and the research and the effort that goes into it.”
When I saw Tank and the Bangas headline at the Apollo Theater, I saw a woman like myself—Black, voluptuous, creative—commanding center stage with her nine-piece band.
During the music industry’s biggest night, women grabbed gramophones, performed pop hits and took aim at the Recording Academy’s misogynistic history.
Rose’s classic study, Black Noise: Rap Music and and Black Culture in Contemporary America, turned 25 this year—and was also named one of the top books of the 20th century by Black Issues in Higher Education. To mark the occasion, the American Studies Association featured a panel celebrating Rose and Black Noise featuring hip-hop and black cultural scholars. Rose sat down for an interview with Ms. to talk about hip-hop, feminism and the state of popular culture.