Crank up the volume, y’all! It’s time to turn up for Black Music Month.
All June long, we’ll be drilling in this truth: Black music is American music. Many legends helped shape the sound blessing our airwaves today. Evidence is in the accolades. We’ve been crowned royalty in multiple genres. Tina Turner – Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll. Aretha Franklin – Queen of Soul. Michael Jackson – King of Pop. B.B. King – King of Blues. Sun Ra – father of Afrofuturism before the term even existed. These icons inspired the voices dominating billboard charts: Think Beyoncé, Lizzo and Janelle Monáe. And let us not forget that this year we celebrate 50 years of Hip Hop.
There have been many Black legends who didn’t get their flowers until after their lifetime, which stresses Black Music Month’s importance. So slip this newsletter to your friends and fam as we celebrate the healing melodies of Gospel music – and another milestone for Black Joy as well 🥳.
– Starr
Songs of salvation and jubilation
Turn to your neighbor and say, “Black Joy got itself a podcast!”
We’re expanding our media empire with the launch of Black Joy Archive, where we’ll explore the different ways we access joy across the African diaspora. Season one focuses on our Gospel choir series, which touches on our personal connection to the music that made our Grandma, auntie and nem’ shout in praise and catch the Holy Ghost.
We get that not everyone’s church experience was pleasant. Many of us faced the hellfire of judgment in our own sanctuaries, forcing us to nurture a spiritual connection within ourselves after leaving the church. We honor our readers who experienced that trauma and hold you in love. Real talk: those folks who tried to hold you down weren’t living the word of God like they thought they were.
It’s also hard to ignore the Black church’s role in American music. Many vocal legends — Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston and Little Richard to name a few — discovered their…
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