Today is the 12th day of Black History Month. As we go through the month, I’m going to talk about a collection of Black artists. It’ll be fairly comprehensive and eclectic list — although it won’t be a complete list.
So far I’ve talked about:
- Rick James, who was born 76 years ago on February 1
- OutKast‘s Big Boi, who celebrated his 49th birthday on February 1
- Sister Rosetta Tharpe
- John Lee Hooker
- Patti LaBelle
- The Temptations‘ second and longest tenured lead vocalist Dennis Edwards, who was born 81 years ago on February 4
- Tina Turner
- Aretha Franklin
- Bobby Brown, who celebrated his 55th birthday on February 5
- Bob Marley, who was born 79 years ago on February 6
- The Supremes
- J. Dilla, who was born 50 years ago on February 7
- Queen Latifah
- Black Moon, DJ Evil Dee and Buckshot
- Dionne Warwick
- Big Mama Thornton
- Evelyn “Champagne” King
- Bad Brains
I’m going to stay on punk for a little bit longer. The Los Angeles-based punk outfit Fishbone have developed a unique take on punk that features elements of ska, funk, metal, reggae and soul paired with lyrics that can alternate between being goofy and fueled by incisive sociopolitical commentary. Their frenetic live shows are the stuff of legend. I’m not exaggerating. I’ve seen them and shot them a couple of times, and their sets were always the most memorable, most energetic live sets around.
They achieved their greatest commercial success between the late 1980s and early 1990s. But much like Bad Brains, the Afropunk movement owes a debt of gratitude to Fishbone.
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