Read on Twitter
It's Black History Month and today, I want to talk about Black historical things.
Here's a thread of some pieces that I've written exploring some interesting corners of Black music history:
Here's a thread of some pieces that I've written exploring some interesting corners of Black music history:
The influence of Kraftwerk on Hip Hop and Detroit Techno has been written about a lot.
In this piece, I wanted to explore the bidirectional musical dialogue that happened between Kraftwerk and Black America. https://www.thewire.co.uk/in-writing/essays/kraftwerk-john-morrison
In this piece, I wanted to explore the bidirectional musical dialogue that happened between Kraftwerk and Black America. https://www.thewire.co.uk/in-writing/essays/kraftwerk-john-morrison
Sun Ra moved his Arkestra to Philadelphia in 1968 and he left an indelible mark on the city's musical culture.
For this piece, I spoke with elders in the city's Jazz community and Sun Ra collaborators to paint a picture of Sun Ra's Philly years. https://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2019/07/sun-ra-philadelphia-years
For this piece, I spoke with elders in the city's Jazz community and Sun Ra collaborators to paint a picture of Sun Ra's Philly years. https://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2019/07/sun-ra-philadelphia-years
Speaking of Sun Ra, I wrote about his keyboard rig throughout the decades.
I learned that Sun Ra got his first electric keyboard from a music store in Birmingham that didn't practice segregation.
The store recently closed after 120 years in business https://reverb.com/news/sun-ras-cosmic-keys?utm_source=braze&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=DealsandSteals_20201111_(US)&utm_term=Variant_2
I learned that Sun Ra got his first electric keyboard from a music store in Birmingham that didn't practice segregation.
The store recently closed after 120 years in business https://reverb.com/news/sun-ras-cosmic-keys?utm_source=braze&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=DealsandSteals_20201111_(US)&utm_term=Variant_2
I wrote this piece on Earle Sebastian's classic 1994 documentary that not only pairs contemporary Hip Hop acts with Jazz legends but also speaks some powerful truths about racism, politics, and the HIV and AIDS crises. https://www.jazzrightnow.com/stolen-moments-red-hot-cool-documentary-retrospective/
I wrote this piece out of love for one of my favorite writers, the late, great, Amiri Baraka.
His wife, Amina, told me that this piece was "beautiful", so I'm proud of it for real. https://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2017/03/amiri-baraka-feature
His wife, Amina, told me that this piece was "beautiful", so I'm proud of it for real. https://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2017/03/amiri-baraka-feature
If you're Black and you live in Philly, you have elders in your family that do The Bop.
I spoke with my mom and other elders in the city for this piece about the origins of the dance: https://thekey.xpn.org/2020/06/17/the-philly-bop-history/
I spoke with my mom and other elders in the city for this piece about the origins of the dance: https://thekey.xpn.org/2020/06/17/the-philly-bop-history/
Women have played a significant role in Philly Hip Hop from the literal beginning.
For this piece, I interviewed a few of the OGs that were running the scene back in the 80s. https://thekey.xpn.org/2020/03/03/women-philly-hip-hop-80s/
For this piece, I interviewed a few of the OGs that were running the scene back in the 80s. https://thekey.xpn.org/2020/03/03/women-philly-hip-hop-80s/
North Philly's finest @TheePhantom5000 founded the world's first (and best!) Hip Hop Orchestra.
This was a wonderful conversation that we had on bridging the gap between Hip Hop and Classical and playing at Carnegie Hall: https://thekey.xpn.org/2017/04/11/bartok-breakbeats-philly-son-thee-phantom-bridging-hip-hop-classical/
This was a wonderful conversation that we had on bridging the gap between Hip Hop and Classical and playing at Carnegie Hall: https://thekey.xpn.org/2017/04/11/bartok-breakbeats-philly-son-thee-phantom-bridging-hip-hop-classical/
