By Aria Brent, AFRO Staff Writer, abrent@afro.com The hip-hop genre and artists alike are celebrating 50 years of influence and impact in 2023. Rappers have undoubtedly shaped culture and helped to shape the perspective on the power of the Black dollar. In 2022 hip-hop generated $15.9 billion off of music streams and purchases alone, according […]
Category: Arts & Culture
Posted inArts & Culture
PRESS ROOM: The Lewis Museum welcomes philanthropist Danny Simmons as he blends poetry, art and jazz to honor Derrick Adams in WordSmith series during Artscape weekend
BALTIMORE, Md. – The Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture (The Lewis Museum) – a Smithsonian Affiliate – today announced Danny Simmons – the prolific artist, poet, and philanthropist who co-created the hit HBO series Def Poetry Jam – will bring his critically acclaimed WordSmith series to Baltimore on Friday, […]
Posted inBaltimore News
Baltimore Artscape festival announces change in headliner
By Aria Brent, AFRO Staff Writer, abrent@afro.com The Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts announced that Grammy Award-winning artist Anderson.Paak will be headlining the main stage on Sept. 22 at this year’s Artscape Festival. When the list of headliners for the three-day weekend event was first announced in August, singer and songwriter Kelly Rowland […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
Black people, estate planning and wills: the push to financially plan for life after death
By the Houston Defender When legendary hip hop artist DMX — born Earl Simmons — died last year from a massive heart attack, a fight began over his extensive rap catalog. Despite selling more than 74 million albums and enjoying a wildly successful career in both music and movies, DMX died without a will. So […]
Posted inHBCU
HBCU New York Classic 2023 kicks off week-long celebration of culture, education and football
By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent, @StacyBrownMedia (NNPA NEWSWIRE) – In a grand celebration of HBCU excellence, the 2023 Toyota HBCU New York Classic kicks off a week-long extravaganza from Sept. 12-16. The event, billed as the world’s largest HBCU homecoming and one that celebrates HBCU culture, promises various activities beyond the […]
Posted inBaltimore News
Murphy Fine Arts Center at Morgan State University celebrates two decades of enchantment
By Eric Addison, Morgan State University Morgan State University’s architectural gem at 2201 Argonne Drive, the Murphy Fine Arts Center, was many years in the making. The long timeline began in the early 1990s, when Morgan Director of Bands Melvin Miles Jr., and Gabriel Tenabe, director of the University’s James E. Lewis Museum of Art […]
Posted inENTERTAINMENT
Baltimore’s Center Stage names Stevie Walker- Webb as new artistic director
By Special ReleaseBaltimore Center Stage altimore Center Stage announced today that Tony Award-nominated and Obie Award winning director Stevie Walker-Webb will join the company as artistic director. Walker-Webb will assume the role Oct. 1, 2023, succeeding Interim Artistic Director Ken-Matt Martin. He joins Adam Frank, BCS’s Managing Director, to form the BCS leadership team. “From […]
Posted inBaltimore News
Collective Minds Festival celebrates 20 years of House music
By AFRO Staff House music fans from around the region gathered in Baltimore for the Collective Minds Festival on Sept. 3. The event has been an annual celebration of all things related to House music for 20 years. According to Collective Minds, the community organization that coordinates the event each year, “House Music originated in […]
Posted inBaltimore News
Billie Holiday Music and Arts Festival spotlights Black music and culture
By AFRO Staff The Billie Holiday Music and Arts Festival took place on Sept. 2 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at 1201 Pennsylvania Avenue in Baltimore. The event was hosted by April Watts and featured a wide range of performances from the likes of John Milton Wesley, the Brencore Allstars and Symphony Black Jazz. […]
Posted inBUSINESS
Meet Maryam Basir, the Black entrepreneur making her own way in the beauty industry
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, msayles@afro.com New York-based actor, Maryam Basir, launched her business, Maryam Beauty, less than a month before SAG-AFTRA went on strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP)—effectively halting her TV and film work. Although Basir said acting was something that found her, she always had aspirations […]
Posted inENTERTAINMENT
Afropunk Festival offers unique glimpse of Black creativity
Special to the AFROPhotos by AJ Johnson Each year the Afropunk Festival offers a unique experience of Black culture. This year under the banner, “Circus of Soul,” the festival featured servings of music, film, fashion and art produced by alternative Black artists. The Afropunk Festival originated in 2005 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in […]
Posted in!Front Page Baltimore News
Review: We had a time at the Baltimore MET Gala!
By Ericka Alston Buck If you live in the region and have been void of opportunities to dress up in your most creative, over-the-top artistic expression; while connecting with visual artists with absolute masterpieces on display; while devouring some of the best culinary art, prepared by our top Black chefs; with an opportunity to give […]