May is Black Music Month and EBONY is celebrating the accomplishments of pioneers in the entertainment field who have paved the way for the game changers in today’s music industry. The article entitled, “Black Music’s Bosses, Legends, and Game Changers” was written by Kevin Powell.
“It was an honor to write the four cover stories for EBONY magazine’s Black Music Month special collector’s edition, and to also pen the additional four mini-features inside,” said Powell. “Rarely do you see today’s unstoppable stars like Beyoncé, Rihanna, Kanye West and Jay Z packaged with legends like Tina Turner, Donna Summer or Tupac Shakur, but we did it because when it comes to Black music, it is important to note the deep connection between the musicians of yesterday and today.”
The 25-page, special collector’s issue, has four different covers with Beyonce, Jay-Z, Rihanna and Kanye as they fall into four categories: “Diva,” “Mogul,” “Rebel,” and “Poet.”
Artists are spotlighted in comparison such as: Michael Jackson and James Brown, Beyonce and Tina Turner, Marvin Gaye and Usher, Tupac and Kanye, Beyonce and Tina Turner, Prince and Jimi Hendrix, Lauryn Hill and Simone, Mary J. Blige and Billie Holiday and others.
Michael Jackson and James Brown – The Kings (Excerpt)
Take away James Brown and Michael Jackson from American music, and you actually take away generations of artists, musicians, producers, songwriters and a rainbow coalition of fans.
Michael often said there would have been no him had it not been for James. He didn’t lie. James truly was the first multigenerational Black pop star we ever had. From “Please, Please, Please” in the 1950s to those soulful tracks hip-hop bboys and bgirls went bananas over in the 70s and 80s–hell, to this day –there ain’t a groove or kind of artist JB did not impact. The Godfather of Soul was a singer, songwriter, arranger, bandleader. In fact, it was his ” I Got That Feelin’” that 10-year-old Michael sang while dancing like his idol for the Jackson 5′s Motown audition, the audition that launched the group.
But if James opened up the mainstream door with his Jim Crow informed Blackness, then Michael blew it off its hinges and didn’t stop until he became the King of Pop. We knew there was something special about the skinny kid.
We got a whiff of how truly special he was when 21-year-old Michael dropped Off The Wall on us in 1979. But no one could have predicted the impact of Thriller, a singular event in the world’s music history. The night MJ moonwalked across the stage at Motown’s 25th anniversary celebration in March 1983 as he sang, “Billie Jean,” you just knew something was about to change.
Whereas James was our raw, unapologetic Blackness, Michael was our unapologetic humanity, Black or White or all the colors in between.
The June issue is on newsstands now.
Source: Ebony Magazine / All Things Michael
