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The stars keep aligning for Jennifer Lopez, and the star is reflecting on her growth in her musical experience film, This Is Me… Now: A Love Story, which premiered on Tuesday (Feb. 13) just days before her long awaited new album arrives on Feb. 15.
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In the Dave Meyers-directed movie, the 54-year-old multi-hyphenate follows an astrologically charged journey to find love, which only comes to her once she learned to truly love herself and her inner child. “I was raised in a time of fairytales and Cinderella and Prince Charming and I’m just the type of person since I was very young that really believed in love and was a hopeless romantic from a very, very young age,” she tells Billboard of the inspiration behind the film’s concept, which features Lopez continuing to trust that love will come her way despite the heartbreak, all to the tune of her newest songs. “As I became an artist and started making music, love was my main subject.”
Love is certainly on the brain for Lopez, who rekindled her romance with Ben Affleck nearly two decades after they called it quits before their 2004 wedding. The duo tied the knot in July 2022, something the “Waiting for Tonight” star didn’t see coming, especially after having three marriages end in divorce. “I never thought that he and I would get back together,” she says of her relationship with the actor. “I just just couldn’t give up on idea that there was something amazing out there for me, even when it got really bad — and it did at times. I always believed deep, deep down to not give up completely. It wasn’t until I got to the point where I was really OK on my own and not having to be in a relationship when I feel like universe kind of opened up and said, ‘Well here you go.’”
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Another full circle moment is the upcoming release of This Is Me…Now, the sequel album to her 2002 album, This Is Me…Then — which just so happened to have been written at the time of her then-relationship with Affleck. “This Is Me…Then was something that I wrote at that point in time that wound up capturing a moment where I fell deeply in love for the first time in that way, and I didn’t know that I would look back and I think. ‘What a kind of poetic thing to say,’” Lopez reflects.
She continued, “Then to have this kind of crazy, strange, magical, surrealistic plot twist where I wound up back with that person, it was insane and it was also very inspiring. So I went back in the studio, and in the way that This Is Me… Then captured that first moment in time, I wanted to capture this moment in time. It’s even more beautiful and inspiring than the first time. I have something to say about love now that I’ve been looking for which is — I’m sure people wonder because I did — does true love exist? Is that type of love real? Does anything last forever? When I felt like I had the answers to that, I wanted to share that with all the people who’ve been on this journey with me, who watched me get up and fall down, in and out of relationships. It may not be a straight road, but the love is there.”
And of course, because the film features a guardian angel council of astrology gods and goddesses played by Trevor Noah, Sofia Vergara, Keke Palmer, Post Malone, Jane Fonda and more, Lopez had a lot to say about her own astrological sign (Leo) and its compatibility with Affleck’s (also Leo). “Let me tell you it’s fiery! It’s great,” she says of a two-Leo marriage. “And it’s challenging. We are both very willful. If you know what Leos are like, you know we’re passionate. Oh my God, so passionate, the both of us. One of us gets on a tangent about something, it’s like, ‘Just sit down and let him have his moment.’ Or he needs to sit down and let me have my moment. We know each other in that way and we’re getting to know each other again, which is really beautiful too.”
This Is Me… Now: A Love Story, a 65-minute musical film drops on Amazon Prime video on Friday (Feb. 15) alongside the album. The singer also announced a 30+ city tour in support of the project. Check out the full list of dates below.
June 26 — Orlando, FL @ Kia Center
June 28 — Miami, FL @ Kaseya Center
July 2 — Austin, TX @ Moody Center
July 3 — Edinburg, TX @ Bert Ogden Arena*
July 5 — San Antonio, TX @ Frost Bank Center
July 6 — Dallas, TX @ American Airlines Center
July 9 — Phoenix, AZ @ Footprint Center
July 11 — Los Angeles, CA @ Kia Forum
July 13 — Anaheim, CA @ Honda Center
July 16 — San Francisco, CA @ Chase Center
July 17 — Sacramento, CA @ Golden 1 Center
July 19 — Palm Springs, CA @ Acrisure Arena
July 20 — Las Vegas, NV @ T-Mobile Arena*
July 22 — Denver, CO @ Ball Arena
July 24 — Tulsa, OK @ BOK Center
July 26 — Rosemont, IL @ Allstate Arena
July 27 — Indianapolis, IN @ Gainbridge Fieldhouse
July 30 — Pittsburgh, PA @ PPG Paints Arena
July 31 — Detroit, MI @ Little Caesars Arena
Aug. 2 | Toronto, ON @ Scotiabank Arena*#
Aug. 5 — Montreal, QC @ Bell Centre*#
Aug. 7 — Boston, MA @ TD Garden
Aug. 9 — Belmont Park, NY @ UBS Arena
Aug. 10 — Newark, NJ @ Prudential Center
Aug. 13 — Philadelphia, PA @ Wells Fargo Center
Aug. 14 — Washington, DC @ Capital One Arena
Aug. 16 — New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden
Aug. 20 — Cleveland, OH @ Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse*
Aug. 22 — Nashville, TN @ Bridgestone Arena
Aug. 24 — Raleigh, NC @ PNC Arena
Aug. 25 — Atlanta, GA @ State Farm Arena
Aug. 27 — Tampa, FL @ Amalie Arena
Aug. 30 — New Orleans, LA @ Smoothie King Center
Aug. 31 — Houston, TX @ Toyota Center*
*Verizon Up Presale Not Applicable | #Citi Presale Not Applicable
Just one week after confirming an April 18, 2025, release for the upcoming Michael Jackson biopic, the creators behind the film have cast their young King of Pop.
Nine-year-old actor Juliano Krue Valdi will portray Michael Jackson during his formative years in the Jackson 5 — the legendary family band behind such timeless hits as “I’ll Be There,” “ABC” and “I Want You Back.” Valdi is well-known across social media for his Michael Jackson impersonations, with videos of him flawlessly executing the moonwalk garnering thousands of likes and views. He joins Jackson’s nephew, Jaafar Jackson, who is set to play the older version of the late music icon.
“This opportunity is really important to me because Michael Jackson is the King of Pop, and he is very special in my heart. I’ve been dancing to his songs for five years now,” Valdi said in a statement. “He makes me feel really special and makes me feel good about myself. I love the energy of Michael Jackson.”
Titled Michael, the forthcoming biopic will be directed by Antoine Fuqua, the filmmaker behind 2001’s Oscar-winning Training Day and 2022’s Will Smith-starring Emancipation. In a statement regarding Valdi’s casting, Fuqua said: “Casting the role of the young Michael was more difficult than casting the adult role, because where do you find a child actor with the chops of the greatest entertainer who ever lived? In the end, that was our focus — talent — and we looked far and wide for an actor who could embody Michael’s spirit through his voice, his charisma, and his dance skills. Juliano’s undeniable, raw talent put him at the top of our list.”
Michael also features a slew of accomplished producers, including Graham King of the Oscar-winning Bohemian Rhapsody and John Branca and Jon McClain, co-executors of Jackson’s estate. John Logan, a Tony winner and three-time Oscar nominee, wrote the script. Michael is set to survey Jackson’s life and historic four-decade career. Principal photography begins next week (Jan. 22).
Michael Jackson is one of the most successful artists of all time. As a soloist, he earned 13 Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hits, including “Billie Jean” (seven weeks), “Rock With You” (four weeks) and “Black or White” (seven weeks). Over on the Billboard 200, the music legend score six No. 1 albums, including 1982’s Thriller (37 weeks), 1987’s Bad (six weeks) and 1991’s Dangerous (four weeks).
In the new film JUNE, premiering today (Jan. 16) on Paramount +, vintage footage from 1998 focuses on singer-songwriter June Carter Cash, then age 70, seated with her autoharp at the Cash Cabin Studio in Hendersonville, Tennessee, recording her first solo album in more than two decades.
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At one point, as she wraps recording for the day and walks out the front door of the studio, she says, “Let’s press on,” a phrase Carter Cash repeats multiple times throughout the film, an adage that became the title of her 1999 Press On album — and a mantra that led Carter Cash through over six decades as a performer.
“I think that footage is important, because the family from the beginning wanted to make sure to tell a full story,” JUNE director Kristen Vaurio tells Billboard. “This footage from [photographer/videographer] Alan Messer, a lot of that was new to the world, and it’s wonderful because that album is her telling her story through music. It was a gift as far as framing the movie and being able to circle back to it.”
The film’s title alone speaks to the motivation to focus on her complete body of work as an artist — beyond her roles as part of the Carter Family, the “First Family of Country Music,” and wife to superstar Johnny Cash, as well as half of a musical partnership with Cash that brought the Grammy-winning duets “If I Were a Carpenter” and “Jackson.” JUNE reveals the full breadth of this multi-hyphenate singer, songwriter, performer, comedian, actress and author.
Sandbox Succession, a division of Jason Owen’s Sandbox Entertainment which represents the Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash estates, worked with Sony Entertainment (and Owen serves as one of the film’s producers). The documentary features interviews with family members and friends including Carter Cash’s children and step-children, Carlene Carter, Rosanne Cash and John Carter Cash, musicians including Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Ronnie Dunn, Kacey Musgraves and Larry Gatlin, and actors Reese Witherspoon (who won an Oscar for portraying June in the film Walk the Line) and Robert Duvall, among others.
As the daughter of Maybelle Carter, who in 1927 formed The Carter Family along with Sara and A.P. Carter, June Carter Cash grew up in show business, teaming with her sisters Anita and Helen, along with Maybelle, to form Mother Maybelle and The Carter Sisters. They would help launch the career of guitarist-producer Chet Atkins, and were offered a job on the Grand Ole Opry in 1950.
JUNE showcases many of those early performances, alongside artists including Roy Acuff, where Carter Cash’s rural comedy bits, quick wit, and gregarious stage presence were prominent.
“She would do these crazy things on stage, just swing from the curtain, something like that,” Carlene Carter tells Billboard. “Things that Garth [Brooks] did later, June was doing them, and she could always make a joke out of it.”
“She had so many notebooks of jokes and skits,” Vaurio tells Billboard of the thought and work that Carter Cash put in to making those comedic skits seem spontaneous. “She was writing all the time. There was one notebook I read of hers, where it was right before she had John Carter and she’s writing songs and poems right up until the day he was born, and then again, right after.”
Through the Opry, Carter met Carl Smith, who at the time was one of the Opry’s biggest stars, notching three multi-week No. 1 Hot Country Singles hits and several top 10 hits. They were wed in 1952 and had one child, Carlene. The country music power couple divorced in 1956, sending shockwaves through the industry.
Carter Cash was determined to find her own way, decamping to Manhattan to study acting under Sandy Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of Theater. In the 1950s through 1970s, she appeared on Gunsmoke, The Adventures of Jim Bowie and Little House on the Prairie. She was in the 1958 film Country Music Holiday, 1986’s remake of Stagecoach, and multiple episodes of hit primetime Western drama Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. In the process, Carter became a forebear to later female country artists who blended work in music, film, and television — including Dolly Parton, Reba McEntire, Trisha Yearwood and Carrie Underwood.
“For most of my childhood, I had the bug that I wanted to do Broadway — because to me, that was all of it: You could sing, act, dance,” says Carter, who notched her own top five country hits in the 1990s, including “I Fell in Love” and “Every Little Thing.” “That was inspired by my mom, and I think she loved that aspect of it because there was a depth to her that a lot of people didn’t know. They just thought she was a funny, talented lady, but she really thought about what she was doing and she always wanted to do the best that she could.”
As a solo artist, Carter Cash anchored a segment of the Opry, and sometimes also wrote advertisements for Grand Ole Opry commercials to bring in extra money. She also opened shows for Elvis Presley — and it was Presley who would introduce her to the music of another charismatic, rockabilly artist: Johnny Cash. The film details how Presley would tune his guitar by singing a line from Cash’s 1955 hit, “Cry, Cry, Cry.”
“I would say this about my mother: No moss grew on the bottom of her feet. If she was going to do something, she committed to it,” Carter says.
The Carter Sisters joined Johnny Cash’s roadshow in 1961, sparking what would become one of music’s most well-known love stories. As a songwriter, Carter Cash wrote with Merle Kilgore what would become Johnny Cash’s passionate 1963 classic “Ring of Fire,” which spent seven weeks atop Billboard’s Hot Country Singles chart. Cash and Carter also co-wrote their follow-up No. 2 hit “The Matador.”
Carter and Cash wed in 1968 in Franklin, Kentucky, and she gave birth to John Carter in 1970. The film doesn’t flinch when addressing both the highs and hardships the Cash/Carter marriage navigated over the years — including the idyllic early days, Carter Cash’s support of her husband during Cash’s career slowdown in the 1980s, and the couple’s journey in navigating Cash’s drug addiction.
As music and marriage built the legacy of Johnny and June over the decades, and as June moved into the matriarchal role of The Carter Family, the film highlights how she was not only a bedrock for her family, but for the greater musical family around them in Nashville — offering a welcome respite for artists at their lakeside home in Hendersonville, Tennessee. Along the way, she championed the music of then-newcomers such as Kris Kristofferson and Larry Gatlin.
“We’d have beautiful dinners in the dining room with all her china. Then we would all huddle up in the music room, everybody picking and singing,” Carter recalls. “No matter who was there, everybody had to do something, whether you told a joke or played a song or did a dance. I got to sit there and hear Kris Kristofferson, James Taylor, Mickey Newbury — all these artists, just one after another. I’ve had to follow Roy Orbison and Paul McCartney, and that’s not an easy job.”
When Cash joined forces with Kristofferson, Nelson and Jennings in the 1980s with The Highwaymen, Carter Cash continued that support role, joining them for much of the ensuing decade on the road. But Carter Cash still harbored ambitions to be fully recognized as an artist in her own right.
To that end, Carter Cash reunited with fellow Meisner acting student Duvall, appearing in the 1997 film The Apostle. She also began revisiting her familial roots in Virginia, and with her 1999 album Press On, reclaimed her own story.
She bookended Press On with Carter Family songs but filled it with self-written songs drawn from her own life. Press On earned Carter Cash her first Grammy as a solo artist, for best traditional folk album, bringing full circle both Carter Cash’s solo ambitions and her familial legacy. In one key moment, JUNE shows Carter Cash standing alone on the Grand Ole Opry stage, celebrating the album’s release and basking in the audience’s applause—this time, applause meant solely for her.
Carter Cash died on May 15, 2003, at age 73. Her final album, Wildwood Flower, released posthumously that same year, earning Grammys for best traditional folk album and best female country vocal performance for her solo rendition of The Carter Family classic, “Keep on the Sunny Side.”
And yet, with all of Carter Cash’s accolades and roles as both trailblazer and flamekeeper of country music, she has yet to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. (When The Carter Family was inducted into the Hall in 1970, the accolade included only Maybelle Carter, Sara Carter and Sara’s husband A.P. Carter.)
“I think a big motivator for that was that they felt that she just hasn’t had her recognition,” Vaurio says of making JUNE. “I think what lit a fire under all of us is that she’s not in the Country Music Hall of Fame, which we all feel is a grave injustice.”
Overall, Carter says she hopes fans see the broader spectrum of her mother’s artistry after viewing the doc.
“I hope they take away inspiration to be curious,” Carter says. “My mom was curious and had a love affair with creativity. I think that was a wonderful gift that she got from God.”
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You may not be able to catch her now, but the Oscars just might be able to.
As awards season kicks into high gear, Olivia Rodrigo has her sights set on the Academy Awards. At the Academy’s 14th annual Governors Awards on Tuesday, the Grammy-winner dished on the Oscar chances for her song “Can’t Catch Me Now” from The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes and her plans for her upcoming 21st birthday.
“It’s so incredible,” Rodrigo gushed to Access Hollywood of her Hunger Games prequel track making the Academy’s shortlist for best original song. “There’s just so many people on that list who I’m inspired by, so many songs that I think are incredible, so it’s an honor.”
Rodrigo, alongside go-to collaborator Dan Nigro, co-wrote and performed “Can’t Catch Me Now” for the box-office-topping Hunger Games prequel starring Rachel Zegler, Viola Davis, Hunter Schafer and Tom Blyth. The haunting Americana-inflected track reached No. 56 on the Billboard Hot 100. At the 2023 Hollywood Music in Media Awards, “Can’t Catch Me Now” won best original song in a sci-fi, fantasy or horror film.
In addition to “Can’t Catch Me Now,” other notable songs on the Academy’s shortlist include Billie Eilish‘s “What Was I Made For?” (from Barbie) — which won the equivalent Golden Globe Award on Sunday — Fantasia‘s “Superpower (I)” (from The Color Purple), The Osage Tribe’s “Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People)” (from Killers of the Flower Moon) and Jon Batiste‘s “It Never Went Away” (from American Symphony).
Although she finds herself among stiff competition, Rodrigo didn’t write her Hunger Games track with the intention of entering the Oscar race. “I think that if I was writing a song and thought about how other people were gonna hear it, I just would be so overcome by anxiety that I couldn’t write at all,” she told Access Hollywood. “So I try to kind of block that all out and just write for me.”
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Later on the red carpet, the “Traitor” singer spilled her birthday plans to Entertainment Tonight. “It is a big birthday,” she said. “I think I’m gonna have a party with my friends and pop some champagne, you know? It’s the 21st!” The multihyphenate turns 21 next month (Feb. 20), but she says Vegas isn’t quite in her line of sight yet. “I’ll save that. I’ll save that for later,” she said.
Shortly before her birthday, Rodrigo will enjoy the 66th annual Grammy Awards, where she boasts six nominations, including in album of the year (Guts) and record and song of the year (“Vampire”). The High School Musical: The Musical: The Series alum already has three Golden Gramophones to her name; she took home best new artist, best pop vocal album (Sour) and best pop solo performance (“Drivers License”) at the 2022 ceremony.
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21 Savage is headed to the silver screen. The Grammy-winning rapper released the trailer for his upcoming film American Dream: The 21 Savage Story on Monday (Jan. 8). Directed by Donald Glover, Stephen Glover, Jamal Olori and Fam Udeorji, the four-minute trailer features three generations of 21 Savage — played by Caleb McLaughlin (Stranger Things), […]
From Barbie: The Album to Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, soundtracks tied to blockbuster films have dominated much of the year. As 2023 draws to a close, Quincy Jones, Scott Sanders and Larry Jackson hope their new expanded soundtrack, released last Friday (Dec. 15) for the forthcoming Color Purple movie musical (which hits theaters Dec. 25), marks a new era for R&B soundtracks and continues the healing Alice Walker sparked with her paramount novel 41 years ago.
Walker’s story has undergone countless iterations over the past four decades: an Oscar-nominated Steven Spielberg-helmed film in 1985, a Tony-winning Broadway musical in 2005, a Grammy-winning Broadway revival in 2015, and now a new movie musical directed by Grammy nominee Blitz Bazawule. Led by Fantasia, Danielle Brooks, Taraji P. Henson, Colman Domingo and Halle Bailey, the new film offers a fresh perspective on the timeless narrative, as evidenced by its accompanying star-studded, globe-traversing Inspired By soundtrack. The new set is comprised of 21 new songs inspired by the film, in addition to 16 tracks taken from the Broadway musical. The genre-spanning set is heavily rooted in R&B — a conscious decision given the way R&B has been counted out by major labels over the past decade.
According to Sanders, who produced the 2005 Broadway musical and serves as executive producer on both the 2023 film and its soundtrack (released through Warner Bros. Pictures/WaterTower Music/gamma), Warner Bros. was always planning to do a soundtrack. “We knew it would be an opportune moment for them to add another dimension to The Color Purple brand extension,” he remarks.
And that’s precisely what the new soundtrack is. As cinematic universes continue to dominate mainstream media, The Color Purple has been crafting its own interconnected web of stories for 40 years — and the new soundtrack became a holy site for reunions and healing among the producers, artists, and cast.
The idea of a proper Inspired By soundtrack started to take form during an April lunch between Sanders and Jackson after the gamma. CEO had seen the film and felt its impact on early audiences. “Whatever veneer of impenetrable stoicism I had at that time, [the film] pierced it,” Jackson reflects. “To me, the great Black films are the ones [where] people are talking back to the screen, they’re applauding, there’s conversations going on, and whooping and hollering. It’s an interactive spirit, and this film has that.”
For Jackson, it was Fantasia’s performance that most moved him. The Billboard Hot 100-topping R&B star leads the film as Celie Harris-Johnson, a role for which she has already earned a Golden Globe nomination. Almost 20 years ago, Fantasia captivated America’s hearts and won the fourth season of American Idol. Shortly after her victory, she headed to the studio to record her debut LP, a Grammy-nominated effort on which Jackson would serve as A&R. That album featured singles such as “Truth Is” and the Missy Elliott-assisted “Free Yourself,” a collaboration that now has a three-way connection to The Color Purple universe.
“That was a lot for me at that time of my life — [Fantasia and I] were basically the same age and really related to what needed to be achieved,” Jackson reflects. “I was saying to Missy Elliott last night, she really helped me craft the sound for Fantasia’s first album.”
On the soundtrack, Elliott appears on two remixes: the Shenseea-featuring “Hell No,” a song from the original musical, and “Keep It Movin’,” a new addition to the musical co-written by Bailey. Like most of the artists involved in the soundtrack, Jackson says that the “Work It” rapper decided to join the project after a private screening of the film. It’s the same way he landed Alicia Keys, who co-wrote and co-produced the soundtrack’s lead single (“Lifeline”), Johntá Austin, whose “When I Can’t Do Better” marks his first collaboration with Mary J. Blige since their iconic “Be Without You,” and The-Dream. Fresh off a Grammy win for his work on Beyoncé’s Renaissance, The-Dream could be headed down to the Oscars thanks to “Superpower,” a new song he penned for the Color Purple end credits.
Often, end-credit songs are performed by artists who don’t appear in the film — but in the case of The Color Purple, everyone was in early agreement that Fantasia was the only correct choice to belt the closing ballad. For one, both the song and the movie are Fantasia’s formal re-entry into the public eye as a performer, but her specific voice and story were the best vehicle for The-Dream’s lyrics. “This is older Celie singing to her younger self — it is a quintessential ‘it gets better’ song,” Sanders gushes. “It’s so f—king moving. I can’t stop listening to it. I cry when I listen to Fantasia’s rendition.” For “Superpower,” Jackson told The-Dream, “I just want a spiritual, a song that will move on far past our time. Something that will be sung in high school graduations.”
Although the SAG-AFTRA strike almost prevented Fantasia from recording the song, the timing worked out and she was able to cut her vocal in time. Given that Fantasia played Celie on Broadway for eight months during the Broadway show’s original run, her rendition of the end-credits song is the kind of full-circle moment that most artists dream of. “Superpower” is a rousing song – one in which she deftly displays the expanse of vocal range and control – and a potential comeback vehicle for not just Fantasia, but the R&B soundtrack in general. In crafting The Color Purple (Music From and Inspired By), Sanders, Jackson and film director Blitz Bazawule drew inspiration from iconic R&B film soundtracks of decades past, including Sparkle, The Bodyguard, Boomerang and Waiting to Exhale.
“It had always been on my bucket list to do a soundtrack that felt like the great soundtracks of the 1970s, or the ones in the ‘90s,” Jackson says. “I’ve been involved in a few of them, but Clive [Davis] was always the one who was leading it. It never was something that I was driving with my own personal taste and sensibility, and this was an opportunity for that.”
The Color Purple soundtrack bookmarks a year that began with troubling layoffs for one of the most storied labels in Black music history. In the middle of Black History Month (Feb. 16), Billboard reported that Motown was set to be reintegrated under Capitol Music Group – hence the layoffs – making for a less-than-preferable outcome after the company attempted a run as a standalone label back in 2021. Despite a precarious start to the year, R&B artists have once again forged a spot at the forefront of the mainstream, thanks to acts such as SZA, Victoria Monét, Usher, Coco Jones and more. It’s a level of momentum, Sanders and Jackson hope to continue with their generation-bridging Color Purple tracklist.
In addition to the cast, The Color Purple soundtrack features contributions from Jennifer Hudson, Keyshia Cole, Mary J. Blige, Mary Mary, H.E.R., Ludmilla, Megan Thee Stallion and more. Like Fantasia, Jennifer Hudson’s track marks another full-circle moment for The Color Purple universe. Hudson took home the 2017 Grammy Award for best musical theater album thanks to the Broadway revival, and, of course, she was a contestant on the same season of American Idol as Fantasia. In another connection, Hudson herself also starred in a blockbuster Black movie musical that hit theaters on Christmas Day: 2006’s Dreamgirls, for which she won the Academy Award for best supporting actress.
Although Walker’s novel specifically highlights the stories of Black American women in the American South during the early 20th century, the new Color Purple soundtrack both globalizes those narratives and translates them to contemporary times. Megan Thee Stallion’s remix of “Hell No” — a selection from the original musical – carries a special weight given the way she has refused to let misogynoir drown out her voice over the past few years. Jamaican cross-genre star Shenseea appears on a different “Hell No” remix, and her inclusion on the tracklist – alongside Brazilian singer-songwriter Ludmilla – highlights how The Color Purple’s narrative resonates with Black women around the world.
“Every day was meeting to reaffirm why I’m doing this, to remind myself the importance of this work,” explains director Blitz Bazawule. “It’s daunting. You’re talking about a legacy that you don’t approach if you don’t have anything real to contribute.” Bazawule aimed to contribute new perspectives of childhood and Celie’s inner dialogue in his version of The Color Purple. In translating a Broadway play to the silver screen, Bazawule was pushed to think about which characters and moments in the plot needed songs. “Keep It Movin’,” co-written by Bailey and Grammy-winning songwriting duo Nova Wav, was one of those songs. “Nettie’s character, as I saw it, needed to impart to Celie some level of confidence that will stay with her sister before they reconnect at the very end,” Bazawule says. “[The song] shows a young girl’s innocence which will very soon be snatched away quite violently. I need that moment to be memorable and really reflect the love the sisters have for each other.”
Bailey, who starred as the titular Little Mermaid earlier this year, is, of course, one-half of the Grammy-nominated sister duo Chloe x Halle. The “Angel” singer drew from her relationship with her sister for “Keep It Movin’,” a dynamic that exemplifies the symbiotic healing nature of The Color Purple soundtrack. As artists completed their contributions to the project, they experienced moments of healing themselves. According to Bazawule, those moments occurred throughout filming, spurred by the omnipresence of faith and gospel music on set. Gospel music is a clear throughline between the original music, the Inspired By soundtrack, and the way the musical’s songs were reworked for the film.
“Gospel is the foundation. When you think about how our version of The Color Purple functions, which is the oscillation between joy and pain and turning our pain into power, it’s the definition of gospel,” remarks Bazawule. “You don’t have anything without gospel, so, for us, it was central to how we advanced everything. I also was very clear that I’d have to split my musical journey into 3 three parts: gospel, blues and jazz.” To bring a more cinematic, gospel-infused feel to the original Broadway music, Bazawule tagged in Billboard chart-topping gospel star Ricky Dillard; He also recruited Keb’ Mo’ to bring in the blues, and Christian McBride for jazz. He even made sure his DP (Dan Lausten) and production designer (Paul D. Austerberry) got an authentic Black church experience. With both Fantasia and Domingo regularly leading the cast and crew in prayer, The Color Purple transformed into “spiritual work that shows up in the amount of healing that a lot of us went through making this film,” says Bazawule.
“You cannot work on The Color Purple without understanding what anointing looks like,” Bazawule asserts. “When those singers open their mouths, that’s church talking. That was very clear and it stayed critical up until the end.”
Just days before The Color Purple is set to open in theatres, a Hollywood Reporter piece exploring the hesitancy of studios to promote movie musicals as musicals started to make the rounds online. Black movie musicals are few and far between, especially when holiday films and biopics are removed, and The Color Purple is hoping to dispel the notion that audiences aren’t interested in seeing musicals on the big screen.
“I hope [The Color Purple] opens the door to many more and I hope directors and studios take more chances with Black movie musicals,” muses Bazawule. “Again, when it comes to music, we are unmatched, so you just have to find the narratives. I hope and pray our movie will move the needle.”
Although The Boy and The Heron, the first film from beloved Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki in a decade, was released internationally in July, the breathtaking fantasy has caused quite a stir since its wide release in the U.S. on Dec. 8. The story of a troubled boy who enters a mysterious world following the death of his mother, The Boy and The Heron grossed nearly $13 million in its opening weekend to top the North American box office – the first Miyazaki film to do so.
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As more moviegoers discover the wonder of The Boy and The Heron, they’re also interacting with “Spinning Globe,” the moving end-credits song performed by longtime Japanese star Kenshi Yonezu. Years after Miyazaki first approached the artist about contributing a song to his long-awaited new film, “Spinning Globe,” a heartfelt ballad that blooms into a giant pop sing-along while incorporating element of Scottish folk music, has developed a following in its own right. The song earned 1.1 million official on-demand U.S. streams through Dec. 7, according to Luminate, and that number will surely rise following the film’s North American debut.
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Prior to The Boy and The Heron hitting North American theaters, Kenshi Yonezu discussed the creation of “Spinning Globe,” and how the song yielded one of the most unforgettable moments of his career, in an email interview with Billboard.
What was your reaction when Hayao Miyazaki first approached you to write the theme to his next project?
I was simply flabbergasted, like, “What!?!”
Naturally, I thought, “Why me?,” you know. I heard some background stories of the approach and it turned out that Mr. Miyazaki had heard “Paprika” [a hit song Yonezu produced] on the radio. At a nursery school run by Ghibli, children were singing and dancing to the song; one day, Mr. Suzuki noticed Mr. Miyazaki singing along with them. He thought this could be some kind of destiny and brought up the idea, “How about asking the one who wrote this song to make the theme song of The Boy and the Heron?” and Mr. Miyazaki said, “That’s a good idea.”
Actually, I remember little of the first impression I had on their proposal. It could have had an impact on my memory, but I don’t even remember most of the scene either. I wonder why, and come to think of it, it was an honor, but at the same time, it was very much a scary thing. While it was the biggest honor in my life, chances were, it would put an end to my life as a music maker. That vague anxiety remained intact throughout the four years of making the song. So, to be honest, I don’t really remember how I felt at first.
How much pressure did you feel to create a song worthy of his genius?
For the past four years, this movie has always been in the corner of my head. No matter what I did – when I was writing a song that had nothing to do with it, or just living everyday life, a thin membrane that had the phrase The Boy and The Heron on it was always screening my view. It certainly put a heavy pressure on me, and there was always a sense of preparation for it.
Upon making the theme song of The Boy and The Heron, I thought once again, about what Ghibli movies were, and furthermore, what Mr. Hayao Miyazaki was to me. Then I realized that I have never had anyone to call my master. For instance, in neither music nor art, I experienced being taught something clearly by someone. I have never been into schoolwork and hardly experienced senior-junior or boss-subordinate relationships. I took a look back at my life and realized that I had very little experience of learning from older people and being greatly influenced by them as I shaped my personality. So perhaps I was looking for a master-like figure in Mr. Hayao Miyazaki, as a great master, or if I would say further, a father-like figure.
While his movies are full of celebrations, his books are full of poignant remarks. So, his words do deny me, but at the same time, tell me, “It’s okay for you to live.” I realized only recently, but somewhere in my mind, I might have been seeking that sort of fatherliness in him.
Ever since childhood, his movies have saved my life. And into adolescence, I just started considering him my mentor without asking. Personally speaking, he is probably my all-time number one master. And now I get to work with The Man. Here I am, face-to-face with him, who is seated at the other side of the table… I must take in his every single move, deed, and word. At first, I was trying so hard to look big, strained with tension.
“Spinning Globe” was inspired by the story of the film, but also your passion for Miyazaki’s work. How did you try to capture that passion in the music and lyrics?
At the first meeting I had with Mr. Miyazaki, he said that he would depict all the parts he had “hidden” in his past works, which were “the darkness and mess inside” of himself.
I thought the movie was entirely focused on them. And I had been fully aware since day one that it was simply impossible to make a song by summarizing the story itself. Then how should I do it? I came to the conclusion that the only way to make sense of this song was to focus on the relationship between the two axes: myself, who had grown up watching his movies, enjoying them, and gazing at his back creating them, and Hayao Miyazaki.
Therefore, although the (Japanese) title of the movie could be translated as “How do you live?,” my stance on making this song was more like, “I have lived my life this way,” or, “This is how I will keep going on with my life.” The only way for me to do this was to recapture Hayao Miyazaki in that sense and turn it into music. Therefore, the lyrics were written in that way as well. Having said that, this song is, of course, not on personal matters. I wrote this song for the movie; it projects the main character and what had swirled in the story. But at the same time, all sorts of things, such as Mr. Miyazaki himself and myself growing up watching Miyazaki movies, are also unraveled here while still in opacity. The lyrics go all the way back to one’s birth and into how to live life.
I wanted to start the lyrics from absolute celebration. Mr. Miyazaki has made movies to this day to tell children that “this world is worth living.” Taking that into consideration, I was pretty sure that the song should start from “You were brought into this world to be wanted,” otherwise it wouldn’t make sense.
How did “Spinning Globe” evolve over the years between Miyazaki first approaching you about the theme and its eventual release?
I received the storyboard in 2019, and spent the next four years reading it over and over again, and seeing the rushes of the movie.
At the beginning, it was the time to see if there was anything I could take in from the storyboard, or what to take in. When I received the storyboard, the movie did not have a release date yet; it was probably going to be quite far away in the future. So, I didn’t start working on the song immediately, but instead, spent a very long time figuring out what the movie was all about, and how I felt through looking at it with my own eyes. In fact, for about two years, I had the storyboard at the back of my head while working on other songs and living everyday life.
Then I found myself gradually becoming unable to see the storyboard in an objective way. Even the songs I had been working on at that time, I wondered if they were really okay. Maybe that was the time I had the deepest experience of such things. And when you take a long time working on a song, your appetite comes with eating… you might wonder if you should make it more gorgeous. So, I told myself not to forget the primal sensation of when I first thought it was okay. I created a demo first, and always went back to the feeling of the moment when I thought it was okay, and took a long time disciplining myself, “Adding will do no good… Adding will do no good…”.
Mr. Miyazaki said to me, “Be ambitious when you make a song.” I interpreted it my way, and making “Paprika 2” or something splashy with strings [is] something lazy for me. If asked if such things are ambitious, I don’t think so. As a music maker, I have always sought for something that was not there at that time. With each and every song, I have made it by taking in new elements, no matter how many. Personally speaking, that is what I call ambition.
This time, I made the song extremely simple and earthy. In a sense, it may make the song less pop, but I believe there are things and words that can only be depicted that way. Therefore, to me, this song – “Spinning Globe” – is a very ambitious piece of music.
One day, I had Mr. Miyazaki listen to the pre-recorded demo on the CD I had burned. I went to see him as if I had been on death row, thinking, “Do I have to be there?” We sat around a table, and while listening to this song coming from the speaker, Mr. Miyazaki shed tears in front of me. That is the most memorable moment in the past four years. I will carry it in my heart for the rest of my life.
The film focuses on profound loss, among other issues. Was it difficult to translate that theme into a pop format?
From day one, I already had the foundation of the song, which started with an idea of “creating a Scottish folk tune.” Why Scottish folk tune? It’s very hard to explain, but I have always felt something close to Scottish folk tunes to Mr. Miyazaki’s movies. And at the same time, I wanted to make something simple. Rather than layering different instruments to make it sound gorgeous, I wanted it to be really simple, with minimal instruments like the piano, and use my voice for the rest. I should make music that won’t age but not novel either. In other words, I should make something that is old from the start, in the format that you can listen to it for a long time. That idea has been my focus from the beginning.
I wanted to take an elaborate [creative] process for this song. As pre-production, I crafted the demo as I did the recording at the studio. However, although I did a proper recording, I was trying different instruments, and the mic setting was not really fixed yet. Then, even the creaking sound of the piano pedal made it in the demo. It was not intentional, but when I actually had it, I really liked the sound. I recorded the piano under proper recording circumstances, but the results were always not enough. I tried recording in many settings too.
I went to different studios and tried many pianos. Still, I couldn’t wipe away the feeling that nothing could beat the first piano with that creaking pedal…
I ended up recording with the piano that Yuta Bandoh, the co-arranger of the song, had at his parents’ place. It was an ordinary piano at a very general household. We set up a mic in the room he had lived since childhood, using this old piano his mother had played and passed onto him. The piano had not been maintained regularly, but the texture of its sound was the best to me.
What has the reaction to the song been like since its release, from both your fans and Miyazaki fans?
What kind of presence was the song “Spinning Globe” in The Boy and the Heron? Was it able to serve its role? I consciously try not to be a part of such discussions. I had four years of working face to face with this movie, and in the course of time, many forms were born and gone. It has been several months since the movie was out; I see four years’ worth of flashbacks come and go. But those should not be told anymore. The song “Spinning Globe” should be evaluated by the fans. Now I’m ready to face the next songwriting process.
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: Avery Kelley / Handout
Filmmaker Avery Kelley—who is 15—is adding her name to the list of creatives eager to present authentic and respectable images of Blackness to the world.
Raised on Chicago’s South Side, she witnessed successful, enterprising Black businesswomen who inspired her to pursue the arts. Originally a dancer, Avery found her talent in film, writing and producing content. In the four years since she started her production company, Inspired Melanin, she’s garnered award after award for her works, which include a historic documentary on the impact of the Soul Train television show, as well as a documentary on Chicago’s storied Studio One Dance Theater.
Critically acclaimed, her most recent work, The All-Aroundz, is touring film festivals stateside and internationally. More than just a worker, she’s equally known for her commitment to social causes, which includes her Give Love and Carry On fundraiser, which donates clothing to foster children.
Hip-Hop Wired: How are you? Recently, your organization hosted a clothing drive for foster children, called “Give Love and Carry On.” What inspired you to choose this as a fundraiser for you and yours?
Avery: I found out about the plight of children in the foster care system from my mother, and from there I began researching to learn more about the situation. I know that I can’t just solve every single problem that goes on within the foster care system, but I wanted to start somewhere, so I knew this was a way that I could start. I started by deciding to raise duffel bags and luggage tasks. That’s where the idea came from. I did research, saw a problem and wanted to fix it.
It’s a great idea! Who were some of the sponsors for your event?
Oh my gosh, we have an entire list of sponsors. So I’m so incredibly grateful for it. I’ve never had sponsors for anything in my life. So to be able to have it for this event, to be able to help us raise these bags just really warms my heart. I can name the main six. First, we have Riley’s Way Foundation. They were not only a sponsor, but are also the fiscal sponsor for the Give Love Carry On event as it’s not a nonprofit. Next, we have Over Time Elite, which is an Atlanta-based basketball league with teenagers. They are amazing. For the event, they donated bags for foster children. They also donated swag bags filled with game day tickets and merch to be able to give to the guests.
Then we have True Star Media, which is a Chicago-based youth media program. We have Project Osmosis, which is also Chicago-based but works nationally. They help students throughout the arts. Fifth, there’s Project I Am, which works to be able to create blessing bags for the homeless. And last, we have my production company, Inspired Melanin.
You were born and raised in Chicago and recently moved down to Atlanta. What was life like for you growing up in Chicago, particularly on the South Side?
Growing up in Chicago is amazing. It’s the best. It’s the best city in the world. And I know, I know there may be just a little bit of bias to that because I’m from there, but I’m serious. I grew up in a very family-based environment. I lived no more than like six minutes away from my grandmother my entire life. Of course, I know there’s always the serious type of Chicago that has violence and shootings, but there’s so much more to it than that. I grew up around so many powerful black women who inspired me to be able to go after what I wanted. I went to great schools with great teachers who helped shape people and helped shape me. I loved growing up there, and I wouldn’t change it for anything.
Was film your first dream? If not, how long did it take for you to recognize you had a talent behind the lens?
It’s not something that I knew originally. I’ve always known that I wanted to do something that has to do with the arts. I’ve been dancing since I was 2 years old, and at my dance studio, I was around so many entrepreneurial-based mindsets that I always knew it was something that I wanted to do. I just didn’t necessarily know which art field yet. I originally assumed, “oh, hey, I’m going to be the next Zendaya or Viola Davis.” So I kind of went after that dream, and I did different auditions.
During one audition, we had to write our monologue. I wrote a little monologue, and I performed it. And I was like, “OK, the self-tape was OK, but this monologue was pretty good!” I was only like 9 or 10 at the time though, and so after writing that monologue, I told my mom I like this. I was able to find my passion from that. And it was very unexpected, but I’m so grateful for it because film is like one of the best things ever. And I’m so glad I get to be able to tell different stories through this art form.
I think the world is grateful that you found it, too. So from this seed of screenwriting, you started a production company, named Inspired Melanin. What’s the inspiration behind the name?
It’s such a funny story to me. When I knew I wanted to start a production company at 11, I completed my very first short film called Backrow, which is about a group of seven kids that all sat in the back row of class. I didn’t want to just stop here. So I researched what a production company was and said “OK, but what am I going to call it?” I knew what I wanted to do. I knew that I wanted to be able to represent the underrepresented, which is a kind of umbrella. But I didn’t know the name. That same morning I was talking to my mom about tattoos I wanted. I was 11. Why am I over here thinking about tattoos, I don’t know! But I was telling my mom I wanted a tattoo on both arms, one saying inspired, and the other saying melanin.
Suddenly, I was like, “oh, wait, that kind of has a nice little ring to it.” My parents were like, “Why don’t you name the company that? It aligns with the mission that you want to be able to do.” It’s two tattoos that I wanted at the time and two tattoos that I still want, not just because of the name of the company, but because through the work that I do, I want to be able to inspire melanated people.
There’s a constant theme of representing teenagers and making art for teenagers. As you begin to grow, is your focus going to remain on inspiring teenagers?
I’m a teenager right now so I want to be able to write work that’s for teenagers in the future. When I’m an adult, I want to be able to do that as well and tell adult stories. I want to be able to explore a bunch of different avenues and use them to inspire this generation. For example, my favorite show is A Different World. It’s touched so many people and left a positive impact on the black community. It affected everything from music, style and television and just changed so many different things. A Different World made my dad go to college. And so when thinking about just the impact that film can have, that’s kind of similar to the impact that I want to be able to have.
You grew up around the type of Black excellence that people associate with Atlanta. Why did your family move to Atlanta?
I moved right before my freshman year. So it was the very end of my eighth grade. My family and I decided to move to Atlanta because it is such a huge film hub. There are so many more opportunities in the film space in Atlanta currently than there are in Chicago. Once I arrived here, my mom mentioned the Black Girls Film Camp to me in 2022 after scrolling on Instagram. When those applications opened at the end of 2022, I was like, “this is the time for me to apply.” I applied on the last day, made a pitch video and submitted it at almost 11:59 p.m.!
And when I got my interview and found out that I was accepted, I was like, “oh my gosh, this is God.” Because I almost missed this amazing opportunity, Black Girls Film Camp has changed my life. It changed the way that I see myself as a storyteller, the way that I see myself as a writer, a director and a creative. It’s opened so many doors for me to be able to explore different fields of the industry and meet so many Black women powerhouses, like those who are heavy hitters in the industry currently in the past.
Tell me about the films you’ve made. What was your first work and how did it come to be?
Back Row, which I touched on a little bit before, was the first script that I ever wrote. It was my very first short film that I ever did. I was able to have it in a film festival and it got a lot of amazing feedback. Next was the Teen Dom Talk Show, which originally started as Teen Dom. It was my project. It was a talk show for the kids, the teens and everyone in between that I began back in 2020. It was non-scripted, and we had two full seasons of the show, one of which was all livestream while the other was pre-recorded. Then I have the Soul Train Soul Change documentary. It originally started as a school project for the Chicago Metro History Fair, but it advanced to the National History Day Competition and won one of the best Illinois entries. It was also highlighted in a week-long exhibit in the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
After that, I did a 10-minute documentary, called One Step at a Time, which is the first feature-length documentary I’ve done. It is one of the projects closest to my heart because it focuses on the story of my dance studio, Studio One Dance Theater in the Chicago area that highlights Black excellence, black love, black sisterhood and family. Due to the pandemic, it was unfortunately shut down. That brings me to my most recent work, The All Aroundz, which is a short film that I did as a part of the Black Girls Film Camp 2023 cohort. I’m so grateful and blessed and thankful to Black Girls Film Camp because thanks to them and thanks to this experience, I was able to enter into so many different festivals. Also, more projects are coming soon.
How have your parents helped you in your journey?
I’m so grateful because without my parents none of this would be happening. First, legally, I’m a minor. Beyond the legal aspect, they’re just my biggest supporters and they know that this is something that I genuinely want to do. They have done nothing but constantly support me throughout this entire process and helped me balance doing filmmaking, school, dance, and all of these other fantastic things; school, which is a top priority for them.
Do you have any final thoughts?
I do want to say that for the Love Carries On Drive, we still are accepting donations until the end of this year. We are looking for the goal to be able to raise 1000 duffel bags for foster children in need. My social media has a link labeled Love Carries On Drive, and you can learn all the information about the drive. From there you can click the Amazon wish list to donate and then just click the Love Carries On address and send a bag over. We are looking for as many bag donations as possible. Feel free to follow the Love Carries On Drive on Instagram. You can also follow my Instagram @askaveryk for Love Carries On Drive updates as well as for film updates and more. Last, check out the Inspired Melanin website. We’re updating it.
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: Avery Kelley / Handout
Filmmaker Avery Kelley—who is 15—is adding her name to the list of creatives eager to present authentic and respectable images of Blackness to the world.
Raised on Chicago’s South Side, she witnessed successful, enterprising Black businesswomen who inspired her to pursue the arts. Originally a dancer, Avery found her talent in film, writing and producing content. In the four years since she started her production company, Inspired Melanin, she’s garnered award after award for her works, which include a historic documentary on the impact of the Soul Train television show, as well as a documentary on Chicago’s storied Studio One Dance Theater.
Critically acclaimed, her most recent work, The All-Aroundz, is touring film festivals stateside and internationally. More than just a worker, she’s equally known for her commitment to social causes, which includes her Give Love and Carry On fundraiser, which donates clothing to foster children.
Hip-Hop Wired: How are you? Recently, your organization hosted a clothing drive for foster children, called “Give Love and Carry On.” What inspired you to choose this as a fundraiser for you and yours?
Avery: I found out about the plight of children in the foster care system from my mother, and from there I began researching to learn more about the situation. I know that I can’t just solve every single problem that goes on within the foster care system, but I wanted to start somewhere, so I knew this was a way that I could start. I started by deciding to raise duffel bags and luggage tasks. That’s where the idea came from. I did research, saw a problem and wanted to fix it.
It’s a great idea! Who were some of the sponsors for your event?
Oh my gosh, we have an entire list of sponsors. So I’m so incredibly grateful for it. I’ve never had sponsors for anything in my life. So to be able to have it for this event, to be able to help us raise these bags just really warms my heart. I can name the main six. First, we have Riley’s Way Foundation. They were not only a sponsor, but are also the fiscal sponsor for the Give Love Carry On event as it’s not a nonprofit. Next, we have Over Time Elite, which is an Atlanta-based basketball league with teenagers. They are amazing. For the event, they donated bags for foster children. They also donated swag bags filled with game day tickets and merch to be able to give to the guests.
Then we have True Star Media, which is a Chicago-based youth media program. We have Project Osmosis, which is also Chicago-based but works nationally. They help students throughout the arts. Fifth, there’s Project I Am, which works to be able to create blessing bags for the homeless. And last, we have my production company, Inspired Melanin.
You were born and raised in Chicago and recently moved down to Atlanta. What was life like for you growing up in Chicago, particularly on the South Side?
Growing up in Chicago is amazing. It’s the best. It’s the best city in the world. And I know, I know there may be just a little bit of bias to that because I’m from there, but I’m serious. I grew up in a very family-based environment. I lived no more than like six minutes away from my grandmother my entire life. Of course, I know there’s always the serious type of Chicago that has violence and shootings, but there’s so much more to it than that. I grew up around so many powerful black women who inspired me to be able to go after what I wanted. I went to great schools with great teachers who helped shape people and helped shape me. I loved growing up there, and I wouldn’t change it for anything.
Was film your first dream? If not, how long did it take for you to recognize you had a talent behind the lens?
It’s not something that I knew originally. I’ve always known that I wanted to do something that has to do with the arts. I’ve been dancing since I was 2 years old, and at my dance studio, I was around so many entrepreneurial-based mindsets that I always knew it was something that I wanted to do. I just didn’t necessarily know which art field yet. I originally assumed, “oh, hey, I’m going to be the next Zendaya or Viola Davis.” So I kind of went after that dream, and I did different auditions.
During one audition, we had to write our monologue. I wrote a little monologue, and I performed it. And I was like, “OK, the self-tape was OK, but this monologue was pretty good!” I was only like 9 or 10 at the time though, and so after writing that monologue, I told my mom I like this. I was able to find my passion from that. And it was very unexpected, but I’m so grateful for it because film is like one of the best things ever. And I’m so glad I get to be able to tell different stories through this art form.
I think the world is grateful that you found it, too. So from this seed of screenwriting, you started a production company, named Inspired Melanin. What’s the inspiration behind the name?
It’s such a funny story to me. When I knew I wanted to start a production company at 11, I completed my very first short film called Backrow, which is about a group of seven kids that all sat in the back row of class. I didn’t want to just stop here. So I researched what a production company was and said “OK, but what am I going to call it?” I knew what I wanted to do. I knew that I wanted to be able to represent the underrepresented, which is a kind of umbrella. But I didn’t know the name. That same morning I was talking to my mom about tattoos I wanted. I was 11. Why am I over here thinking about tattoos, I don’t know! But I was telling my mom I wanted a tattoo on both arms, one saying inspired, and the other saying melanin.
Suddenly, I was like, “oh, wait, that kind of has a nice little ring to it.” My parents were like, “Why don’t you name the company that? It aligns with the mission that you want to be able to do.” It’s two tattoos that I wanted at the time and two tattoos that I still want, not just because of the name of the company, but because through the work that I do, I want to be able to inspire melanated people.
There’s a constant theme of representing teenagers and making art for teenagers. As you begin to grow, is your focus going to remain on inspiring teenagers?
I’m a teenager right now so I want to be able to write work that’s for teenagers in the future. When I’m an adult, I want to be able to do that as well and tell adult stories. I want to be able to explore a bunch of different avenues and use them to inspire this generation. For example, my favorite show is A Different World. It’s touched so many people and left a positive impact on the black community. It affected everything from music, style and television and just changed so many different things. A Different World made my dad go to college. And so when thinking about just the impact that film can have, that’s kind of similar to the impact that I want to be able to have.
You grew up around the type of Black excellence that people associate with Atlanta. Why did your family move to Atlanta?
I moved right before my freshman year. So it was the very end of my eighth grade. My family and I decided to move to Atlanta because it is such a huge film hub. There are so many more opportunities in the film space in Atlanta currently than there are in Chicago. Once I arrived here, my mom mentioned the Black Girls Film Camp to me in 2022 after scrolling on Instagram. When those applications opened at the end of 2022, I was like, “this is the time for me to apply.” I applied on the last day, made a pitch video and submitted it at almost 11:59 p.m.!
And when I got my interview and found out that I was accepted, I was like, “oh my gosh, this is God.” Because I almost missed this amazing opportunity, Black Girls Film Camp has changed my life. It changed the way that I see myself as a storyteller, the way that I see myself as a writer, a director and a creative. It’s opened so many doors for me to be able to explore different fields of the industry and meet so many Black women powerhouses, like those who are heavy hitters in the industry currently in the past.
Tell me about the films you’ve made. What was your first work and how did it come to be?
Back Row, which I touched on a little bit before, was the first script that I ever wrote. It was my very first short film that I ever did. I was able to have it in a film festival and it got a lot of amazing feedback. Next was the Teen Dom Talk Show, which originally started as Teen Dom. It was my project. It was a talk show for the kids, the teens and everyone in between that I began back in 2020. It was non-scripted, and we had two full seasons of the show, one of which was all livestream while the other was pre-recorded. Then I have the Soul Train Soul Change documentary. It originally started as a school project for the Chicago Metro History Fair, but it advanced to the National History Day Competition and won one of the best Illinois entries. It was also highlighted in a week-long exhibit in the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
After that, I did a 10-minute documentary, called One Step at a Time, which is the first feature-length documentary I’ve done. It is one of the projects closest to my heart because it focuses on the story of my dance studio, Studio One Dance Theater in the Chicago area that highlights Black excellence, black love, black sisterhood and family. Due to the pandemic, it was unfortunately shut down. That brings me to my most recent work, The All Aroundz, which is a short film that I did as a part of the Black Girls Film Camp 2023 cohort. I’m so grateful and blessed and thankful to Black Girls Film Camp because thanks to them and thanks to this experience, I was able to enter into so many different festivals. Also, more projects are coming soon.
How have your parents helped you in your journey?
I’m so grateful because without my parents none of this would be happening. First, legally, I’m a minor. Beyond the legal aspect, they’re just my biggest supporters and they know that this is something that I genuinely want to do. They have done nothing but constantly support me throughout this entire process and helped me balance doing filmmaking, school, dance, and all of these other fantastic things; school, which is a top priority for them.
Do you have any final thoughts?
I do want to say that for the Love Carries On Drive, we still are accepting donations until the end of this year. We are looking for the goal to be able to raise 1000 duffel bags for foster children in need. My social media has a link labeled Love Carries On Drive, and you can learn all the information about the drive. From there you can click the Amazon wish list to donate and then just click the Love Carries On address and send a bag over. We are looking for as many bag donations as possible. Feel free to follow the Love Carries On Drive on Instagram. You can also follow my Instagram @askaveryk for Love Carries On Drive updates as well as for film updates and more. Last, check out the Inspired Melanin website. We’re updating it.
Jamie Foxx knows the true meaning of Christmas: lighting your house up so you can see it from space. The actor/singer who has been keeping a low profile since an as-yet-unexplained “medical complication” sent him to a hospital in April spread some holiday joy on Monday in a short video chronicling the North Pole-worthy decorations at his California mansion, a display he said was inspired by his more modest childhood Christmases.
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“When I was a kid the only lights we could afford for outside the house was a red light bulb… I said when I’m finally blessed enough. I’m GON LIGHT IT UP!!! Murrrrrrkrima,” Foxx wrote. The clip — cued to Nat “King” Cole’s iconic “The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas)” — appears to be a drone-shot fly-over of the sprawling estate.
It opens with a swoop past giant red letters spelling out “JOY,” which leads to the snowman-flanked front gate, hung with snowflakes and Jewish stars. An overhead shot gives a glimpse of the long driveway studded with colorfully lit-up trees, leading up to a smiling Black Santa statue near the circular driveway outside the front door.
The flight then takes us for a spin around the house, which is festooned with lights from top-to-bottom and a final shot of the star’s tennis/pickleball courts and a last look from above proving that Foxx is no Grinch.
Foxx made his first public appearance since the medical issue on Dec. 4, where he told the Critics Choice Association’s Celebration of Cinema and Television: Honoring Black, Latino and AAPI Achievements that the incident was horrifying.
“I couldn’t do that six months ago, I couldn’t actually walk to [the stage]. And I’m not a clone, I’m not a clone. I know a lot of people saying that I was cloned out there,” the Oscar-winner told the crowd at the Fairmont Plaza Hotel in Century City in Los Angeles according to The Hollywood Reporter. “It feels good to be here. I cherish every single minute now, it’s different. I wouldn’t wish what I went though on my worst enemy because it’s tough when it’s almost over, when you see the tunnel. I saw the tunnel, I didn’t see the light. It was hot in that tunnel too, I don’t know where I was going. ‘S–t, am I going to the right place?’”
The unannounced appearance marked Foxx’s first official public appearance since his hospitalization; to date, spokespeople for Foxx, 55, have not given any details about what medical condition prompted the actor’s hospitalization. “I have a new respect for life, I have a new respect for my art. I watched so many movies and listened to so many songs trying to have the time go by,” he said. “Don’t give up on your art, man, don’t give up on your art. When you realize that it could be over like that… I got to tell you don’t give up on your art and don’t let them take the art from you either.”
Check out Jamie Foxx’s Christmas display below.
