The Color Purple
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Source: Paras Griffin / Getty / Boosie Badazz
Boosie BadAzz is keeping that same alleged homophobic energy for 2024.
Spotted on HipHopDX, Boosie BadAzz is kicking off the new year with his signature heada**ery. The Louisiana rapper’s latest ridiculousness comes after leaving the movie theater after viewing The Color Purple.
Taking to X, formerly Twitter, the “Wipe Me Down” crafter expressed his disappointment with the movie, which takes its cues from both Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book and the hit Broadway play because, in his eyes, “it seemed gay,” and was pushing an agenda.
The post read:
“I HAD TO WALK OUT THIS COLOR PURPLE MOVIE ( N TWO OTHER OLDER COUPLES WALKED OUT ALSO.),” he wrote. “BECAUSE I HAD MY LITTLE GIRLS WITH ME N IT SEEMED LIKE A [GAY] LOVE STORY.
“GOOD ACTING BUT WHOEVER WROTE THE SCRIPT IS PUSHING THE NARRATIVE HARD AS A PARENT I WILL NOT LET MY LITTLE GIRL WATCH THIS FILM.”
You Can Count On Social Media To Always Check Boosie
Boosie’s post immediately came under scrutiny, and it was all well deserved. It confirmed that Mr. BadAzz didn’t read the book or see the 1985 film because what he witnessed in Blitz Bazawule’s reimagining of The Color Purple is nothing new, and everyone on X let him know.
Fans checked the rapper for his penchant for being homophobic and at the same time being a walking contradiction by reminding him of his lyrics from the song “Do The Most” where he rapped “Two redbones kissing in the backseat. I like girls who like girls that attract me.”
That’s not the same case regarding the Black women he saw on screen in the Oprah-produced film.
“But I’d be ok if you were in the mix of the two ladies? You’ve done way worse and said even more disrespectful things in your music than what that movie included,” one X user said. “It’s 2024, find some common sense.”
Others were quick to remind him that he has a gay daughter while pointing out his lack of knowledge of the source material.
“U clearly never seen the first one either, AND u got a gay daughter. This tweet all over the place!,” another post read.
Not one lie detected in either post.
Boosie BadAzz is firmly stuck in his ignorant ways.
You can see more reactions to his dumb take in the gallery below.
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Photo: Paras Griffin / Getty
3. Got him
4. Make it make sense
6. A read!
Wonka is dominating the New Year’s weekend box office race. The Willy Wonka origin story, starring Timothée Chalamet, is on track to earn $31.8 million in the U.S. during the four-day holiday weekend, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Those numbers will reportedly give the Paul King-directed musical a total domestic tally of $142 million through […]
Just two days after The Color Purple broke a slew of records upon its Christmas Day debut, Usher and H.E.R. have released the steamy new music video for “Risk It All,” their acclaimed collaboration off The Color Purple (Music From and Inspired By).
With Usher sporting nothing but a pair of skin-tight black boxer briefs, the “Good Good” singer effortlessly reminds us of his sex symbol status as H.E.R. matches his energy and equally embraces her sensuality on screen while wearing a low-cut black corset paired with black shorts. The two Grammy winners lip sync to their respective verses as they join background dancers performing modern dance choreography set to the somber, piano-backed ballad. “Sometimes it’s tragic, so problematic / People are cryin’ for it, people are dyin’ for it / Always the reason, we still believe it / Somethin’ that leaves us hurtin’ is worth it,” they croon.
Co-written and produced by H.E.R. — who also stars in the blockbuster movie musical — and Oscar and Grammy winner Jimmy Napes, “Risk It All” embodies the narratives of love, survival, determination and liberation that course through The Color Purple. The song appears on The Color Purple (Music From and Inspired By), which also includes new music from the likes of Fantasia, Halle Bailey, Megan Thee Stallion, Mary J. Blige, Jennifer Hudson, Coco Jones, Alicia Keys, Missy Elliott, Black Thought, October London, Shenseea, Mary Mary, Jorja Smith, Keyshia Cole and more.
The Color Purple opened in theatres on Dec. 25, 2023. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the movie — which is a film adaptation of the 2005 Tony-winning Broadway musical based on the 1985 Steven Spielberg-helmed film and Alice Walker’s 1982 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel — outpaced expectations and pulled in over $18 million in North America alone. That marks the largest Christmas Day opening for a film since Sherlock Holmes in 2009, as well as the second-largest Christmas Day opening of all time.
Starting on Dec. 27 at 11:00 a.m. ET/8:00 a.m. PT, the Dave Meyers-directed video will premiere on MTV and air every hour on MTVU, MTV Live & MTV Biggest Pop. “Risk It All” will also be included on Usher’s Coming Home, his forthcoming ninth studio album, which is set to arrive the same day he graces the Super Bowl Halftime stage (Feb. 11).
Watch the racy new “Risk It All” music video above.
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Academy Award-nominated actress Taraji P. Henson is opening up about the struggles of being a Black actor.
The star became visibly emotional as she shared that she has considered quitting acting after regularly being underpaid.
In an interview with Gayle King on SiriusXM, and The Color Purple co-star Danielle Brooks and the film’s director, Blitz Bazawule, Henson addressed a report that she thought about ending her illustrious career as she struggled financially despite her fame.
“I’m just tired of working so hard, being gracious at what I do, being paid a fraction of the cost,” Henson said, according to The Huffington Post. “I’m tired of hearing my sisters say the same thing over and over. You get tired.”
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The actor became visibly emotional as she detailed the financial expense of managing her career.
“I hear people go, ‘You work a lot.’ I have to. The math ain’t mathing,” she said. “Big bills come with what we do. We don’t do this alone. The fact that we’re up here, there’s a whole entire team behind us. They have to get paid.”
According to Complex, Henson shared in another recent interview that she replaced her entire team after they failed to capitalize on the success of her role as Cookie Lyon on Empire.
In response to being asked what her best decision was as an actor, Henson replied, “Firing everybody after Cookie. Everybody had to fucking go. Where is my deal? Where is my commercial? Cookie was top of the fashion game. Where is my endorsement? What did you have set up for after this?”
Despite Oscar nominations and critical acclaim, Henson notes that she feels underpaid compared to her white counterparts.
“It seems every time I do something and I break another glass ceiling, when it’s time to renegotiate, I’m at the bottom again, like I never did what I just did,” she told King. “And I’m just tired. It wears on you, you know?”
This Christmas, Henson will star alongside Brooks, Fantasia Barrino and an all-star Black cast in the reimagining of the beloved film, The Color Purple. Henson plays the iconic Shug Avery in the Oprah Winfrey-backed release.
Henson was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button where she starred alongside Brad Pitt. She has previously said that despite asking for “half a million” in pay for the role, she was ultimately paid only $150,000. The film went on to earn $127.5 million domestically and $208.3 million in foreign markets, with a total gross of $335.8 million, according to IMDB.
“Listen, I’ve been doing this for two decades and sometimes I get tired of fighting because I know what I do is bigger than me. I know that the legacy I leave will affect somebody coming up behind me,” Henson recently told The Hollywood Reporter. She added that she is advocating for other Black actors. “My prayer is that I don’t want these Black girls to have the same fights that me and Viola [Davis], Octavia [Spencer], we out here thugging it out.”
Henson received support from Gabrielle Union who wrote on X (former Twitter) “Not a damn lie told. Not. A. Damn. Lie. We go TO BAT for the next generation and hell even our own generation and above.”
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.”
As The Color Purple draws nearer, the film’s star-studded cast and production team are hitting the media circuit to promote their forthcoming movie musical. In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Oprah — who serves alongside Steven Spielberg, Scott Sanders and Quincy Jones as one of the film’s producers — recounted the process of bringing the films to life, including some pressure to cast a star on the level of Beyoncé or Rihanna.
“To be completely honest about it, if you were doing this film for $30 or $40 million, the interest in the cast would be very different. Once the film moved to $90 to $100 million, then everybody wants us to bring Beyoncé,” Oprah said. “‘Can you get Beyoncé or can you get Rihanna?’ So we’re sitting in a room saying, ‘Listen, we love Beyoncé. We love Rihanna, but there are other actors who can do this job.’”
Of course, both Beyoncé (Dreamgirls, Obsessed, Austin Powers in Goldmember) and Rihanna (Ocean’s 8, Battleship, Home) have made plenty of crossovers into the film world, but The Color Purple cast came together without the two music titans. The Blitz Bazawule-helmed picture is led by 2024 Golden Globes nominee Fantasia Barrino, with fellow nominee Danielle Brooks, Taraji P. Henson, Halle Bailey, Colman Domingo, Corey Hawkins, Ciara, H.E.R. and Phylicia Pearl Mpasi rounding out the ensemble.
While Rihanna has been busy with partner A$AP Rocky and their new bundle of joy, Riot Rose, Beyoncé has been dominating theaters on her own. The “Break My Soul” singer recently topped the domestic box office with Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé, a documentary concert film that chronicles the creation and execution of Queen Bey’s Billboard 200-topping Renaissance album and its record-breaking world tour.
Clearly, the powers that be were aware that landing Queen Bey would be a tall ask. “I do remember conversations about, ‘Y’all, Beyoncé is going to be busy this year.’ It wasn’t even a negotiation, because you’re not getting Beyoncé,’” Oprah quipped.
The Color Purple is the film adaptation of the 2005 Tony Award-winning stage musical of the same name, which is, in turn, based on the 1982 Alice Walker novel and its accompanying 1985 Oscar-nominated film. On Dec. 15, The Color Purple (Music From and Inspired By) will hit DSPs, featuring original songs from Usher, Alicia Keys, Megan Thee Stallion, Coco Jones, Mary Mary, Jennifer Hudson, Mary J. Blige, Keyshia Cole, Black Thought, Jorja Smith and more.
We just got one step closer to Halley Bailey’s debut solo project. In a new interview with Cosmopolitan, the younger half of Grammy-nominated R&B duo Chloe x Halle revealed that her debut solo EP will “definitely” be released “before the end of the year.”
Last month (Aug. 4), Bailey unleashed her debut solo single, a gospel and jazz-tinged empowerment anthem titled “Angel.” In her Cosmo interview, the multitalented artist touched on how her recent life experiences have influenced the creation of her upcoming project. “Ariel was my college experience. She was the one to say, ‘Look, look what you have in you. You can.’ Nettie was the same type of lesson, almost in a spiritual way. These characters are speaking to me and teaching me,” she said. “It’s cool to learn things about life through their eyes. And all musical inspiration really just comes from life experiences. Love has been a really big one for me too, because that’s something I’m experiencing for the first time.”
This winter Bailey will star as Young Nettie in the film adaptation of The Color Purple musical directed by Blitz Bazawule and produced by Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, Scott Sanders and Quincy Jones. The Color Purple, which is currently slated for release on Christmas Day, will also star Fantasia Barrino, Taraji P. Henson, Ciara, H.E.R., Aunjanue Ellis, Colman Domingo, Danielle Brooks and Phylicia Pearl Mpasi.
The film will mark the second cinematic event that Bailey has lent her talents to this year. A few months ago, she starred as Princess Ariel in Disney’s live-action remake of The Little Mermaid, which grossed more than $118 million during its opening weekend, which happened over Memorial Day. Bailey also blessed the Rob Marshall-helmed film’s hit soundtrack with her inimitable voice, treating audiences to stunning renditions of Little Mermaid classics such as “Part of Your World” and impressive new songs including “For the First Time.”
“This has been a really beautiful transformative time for me. I have all this new material to write about,” she gushed. “I was very creatively inspired, and then from there, I fell in love. And so I really just played with those themes in my music. Sound-wise, it’s a little modern R&B-ish, with all the jazz elements and hints of pop that I love.”
Once her EP arrives later this year, both members of Chloe x Halle will have officially released solo projects. Older sister Chloe Bailey, known mononymously as Chlöe, released In Pieces, her debut solo studio album, earlier this year. Featuring singles such as “Pray It Away” and the Chris Brown-assisted “How Does It Feel,” In Pieces peaked at No. 119 on the Billboard 200.
As a duo, Chloe x Halle have earned two entries on the Billboard 200: 2018’s The Kids Are Alright (No. 139) and 2020’s Ungodly Hour (No. 16). They have also earned one entry on the Billboard Hot 100: “Do It” (No. 63), the lead single from Ungodly Hour.
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The trailer for The Color Purple remake featuring Fantasia and Halle Bailey has been released by Warner Bros. to rave reviews online.
The new adaptation of the classic film from 1985 which was born from Alice Walker’s acclaimed 1982 novel and the recent Broadway musical released its first trailer on Monday (May 22nd). The film features Fantasia in her major motion picture debut, playing the role of Celie. The R&B star and former American Idol is reprising her role from the original Broadway run from April 2007 to January 2008. Halle Bailey is also prominent in the trailer as young Nettie.
Viewers also get to see Danielle Brooks as Sofia, who is returning to the role that earned her a Tony Award nomination in 2016. Taraji P. Henson stars as Thug Avery, Colman Domingo as Mister, H.E.R. as Squeak, Corey Hawkins as Harpo and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor as Mama. Rounding out the sterling cast is Oscar winner Louis Gossett Jr. as Ol Mister, David Alan Grier as Reverend Avery, Deon Cole as Alfonso, Ciara as Nettie, Phylicia Pearl Mpasi as Young Celie, Tamala J. Mann as First Lady, Jon Batiste as Grady and Stephen Hill as Buster.
The film reunites Oprah Winfrey, who originally played Sofia in the 1985 film, and Steven Spielberg who directed. Both are now executive producers for this new version along with Quincy Jones and Scott Sanders. Blitz Bazawule, who directed Black Is King, serves as the director for this film. Alice Walker and her daughter, Rebecca Walker, also serve as producers.
The Color Purple is set to premiere in theaters on Christmas Day, December 25th before opening internationally on January 18th, 2024. When asked about the movie opening on the holiday and what fueled that decision, Winfrey cited a conversation that she had with Fantasia, saying: “The movie changed her because it allowed her to forgive. She said, ‘People coming to this movie will be healed because I was healed.’”
Check out the full trailer for The Color Purple below.
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