Teddy Pendergrass was the R&B singer women wanted and who men wanted to be. And the one whose life-sized cardboard cutout stood in one family’s living room.
black music
Posted inArts & Culture, Nonfiction, Story
A History of American Protest Music: Come By Here
How cultural appropriation and erasure turned an African American spiritual into a white campfire sing-along.
Posted inArts & Culture, Books, Nonfiction, Story
Hellhound on the Money Trail
Standard recording contracts screwed Bluesmen out of royalties in the early 1900s, and the system was no different when Columbia released “Robert Johnson: The Complete Recordings in 1990.”
Posted inArts & Culture, Nonfiction, Story
Shelved: The Lady of Rage’s Eargasm
Rapper Robin Allen’s hit song bypassed the hip-hop boys club that held her debut solo album back.
Posted inArts & Culture, Nonfiction, Quote Posts, Quotes
Working to Preserve Traditional Gospel Music
With approximately 75 percent of golden age gospel music lost, the Black Gospel Music Restoration Project is trying to save what’s left.
Posted inArts & Culture, Nonfiction, Quote Posts, Quotes
Still Celebrating the Greatest Day in Hip-Hop
On one summer day in 1998, XXL magazine gathered 177 hip-hop artists for one of the greatest musical photographs of all time: A Great Day in Hip-Hop.
Posted inEditor's Pick
‘Country Music … Was Anything BUT Pure’: An Interview with Bill Malone and Tracey Laird
The co-authors of ‘Country Music USA’ – a revised edition of the genre’s definitive history – talk with music writer Will Hermes about the music’s African-American tributaries, its unpredictable politics, country radio’s woman problem, and working on Ken Burns’ forthcoming doc.