MMF Celebrates Black History in Music — Feb. 22

Today I wanted to explore some artists that may not even be known of or recognized and one of those are violin duo, Black Violin.

Black Violin consists of viola/violin players Will B and Kev Marcus who met in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida while playing in the high school orchestra. After graduating college they teamed up and became the hip-hop violin duo known as Black Violin. They have performed for the President, hit Broadway, and even took to the Billboard Awards stage in 2004 with Alicia Keys to perform ‘Karma’ and even teaming up with Gym Class Heroes to perform ‘Stereo Heart’ for VH1s Unplugged.

One of their most recent covers and my personal fav is Bruno Mars’, ‘Locked Out of Heaven’ mashed up with Michael Jackson’s ‘Beat It.’

Over the course of a decade the duo has performed approximately 200 shows in 49 states and 36 countries. On top of working with Alicia Keys and Gym Class Heroes they have collaborated with: P. Diddy, Kanye West, 50 Cent, Tom Petty, Aerosmith, Aretha Franklin, and The Eagles.

Black Violin is all about overcoming your obstacles and staying strong. It takes 10 years to become an overnight sensation. This is just the beginning for us. Our best selling point is, we could be anywhere in the world before any kind of audience, when we pull out our instruments, people stop what they’re doing and watch. We’re looking to break out of our own box and grow the brand. We’re living proof that people can overcome their obstacles and triumph. This is something new and fresh. We want people to see what we’re all about.

Wil B – Black Violin

MMF Celebrates Black History in Music — Feb. 20

There are songs that are write for love, heartbreak, happiness, and then there are those written about world peace and current events in the world. There are two classic songs that come to mind when I think of those two topics and it’s Marvin Gaye’s, ‘What’s Going On,’ and Michael Jackson/Lionel Richie, ‘We Are The World.’

‘What’s Going On,’ came from a depressing time in Marvin’s life after losing friend and singing partner, Tammi Terrell. The song was released on January 7, 1971 and in its first week it had sold 200,000 copies. It was #1 for five weeks on the Billboard R&B Charts and #2 on the Hot 100.

The song was nominated at the 14th Annual Grammy Awards for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalists. It was remade in 2001 for Artists Against Aids World Wide on October 30, 2001. A portion of the proceeds benefited the American Red Cross’ September 11th fund.

Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie along with Quincy Jones teamed up for the USA For Africa track, ‘We Are The World.’ The track was released March 7, 1985 and went on to sell over 20 million copies.

The song featured vocals from Tina Turner, Diana Ross, Dionne Warwick, Cyndi Lauper, Stevie Wonder, and dozens more. The album won 4 Grammys at the 28th annual awards: Song of the Year, Record of the Year, Best Pop Performance by Duo/Group w/ Vocal, Best Music Video (Short Form).

The song was remade in 2010, We Are The World 25 for Haiti.

MMF Celebrates Black History In Music, Feb. 4

Janet Jackson released her 3rd studio album, Control, on February 4, 1986 with production by Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis. The album featured 9 tracks with hits ‘Control,’ ‘Nasty,’ ‘Pleasure Principle,’ and more. The album was Jackson’s first to top the Billboard 200 and has been certified 5x platinum by the RIAA.

MMF Celebrates Black History in Music, Feb. 1

On February 1, 2012, Don Cornelius passed away. He was a pioneer in creating a platform for African American artists and more to showcase their talents on Soul Train. Throughout the years of the show there were A-List celebrities to touch the stage including: Michael Jackson (and the Jackson 5), Al Green, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, and countless others. He not only gave a platform to recording artists, but to upcoming dancers as well. A couple dancers to highlight are Jody Watley and Jeffrey Daniel who went on to become 2/3 of the group, Shalamar.

I found this book called Soul Train: The Music, Dance, and Style of a Generation in Barnes and Noble. It highlights the entire Soul Train history through pictures and a few excerpts. It retails for $45, I was able to purchase mine on sale for $25. The book is broken into 3 sections, Love, Peace, & Soul which was Cornelius’ signature at the end of each show.

Here’s a glimpse into the history of Soul Train from VH1‘s special, Soul Train: The Hippest Trip in America.

Cornelius ended his time on the show on June 26,1993 after 22 seasons. From that point there were guest hosts weekly until comedian Mystro Clark took over in 1997 and Shemar Moore would go on to host from 1999 to 2003. After Moore’s exit the show was hosted by actor Dorian Gregory until the shows finale in 2006. The newer version of Soul Train featured more urban artists and highlighted not only R&B, but included Hip-Hop as well which was something that Cornelius had began during his time. Although Soul Train is off the air the Soul Train Awards are still being shown on Centric/BET.

Rest in peace to the pioneer and visionary, Mr. Don Cornelius.