Today is the 22nd day of Black History Month. Because the current administration is racist, fascist and wants to deny the existence and histories of anyone that isn’t cis-het and white, there are some important things everyone should remember during this month — and every single month:
- You can’t love Black artists and their work, and not see them as people
- Black lives — and Black art matters
- Black culture is American culture
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. Of course, there are some important Black artists, who were also born during Black History Month.
So far, I’ve talked about the following, extraordinary artists:
- Big Boi, who also celebrated his 50th birthday on February 1
- Rick James, who was born 77 years ago on February 1
- James Brown, the legendary Soul Brother #1
- The Temptations‘ Dennis Edward, who also was born 82 years ago on February 3
- Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the godmother of rock ‘n’roll
- Bobby Brown, who also celebrated his 56th birthday on February 5
- The legendary Bob Marley, who was was born 80 years ago on February 6
- James Dewit Yancey, best known to the entire world as J. Dilla, one of the most influential and important hip-hop producers and beatmakers who was born 51 years ago on February 7
- Aretha Franklin, the queen of soul
- Billie Holiday, whose influence on jazz and pop has been towering
- The legendary Roberta Flack, who also celebrated her 88th birthday on February 10
- Janelle Monáe, who’s guably one of the most dynamic and exciting artists out there today
- The legendary The Isley Brothers, who over the course of their eight decade career have written and recorded some of the most beloved, covered and sampled songs ever
- Ella Fitzgerald, arguably one of the greatest and most influential voices ever
- The legendary Maceo Parker, who also celebrated his 82nd birthday on February 14
- Janet Jackson, one of the most commercially successful female artists in recorded history
- Ice T, who also celebrated his 67th birthday on February 16
- The trailblazing Chuck Berry
- Dr. Dre, who also celebrated his 60th birthday on February 18
- Acclaimed British singer/songwriter, musician and producer Seal, who also celebrates his 62nd birthday on February 19
- The great Smokey Robinson, who celebrated his 85th birthday on February 19
- The legendary John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie, one of the pioneers of bebop jazz
- The uncompromising and defiantly Black Nina Simone, who was born 92 years ago on February 21
Led by their equally legendary frontman George Clinton, Parliament Funkadelic is a collective of rotating musicians that created a distinctive take on funk that drew on psychedelic culture, sci-fi, surrealist humor and outlandish fashion. The outfit’s 1970s output would have a towering influence on the funk, post-punk, hip-hop and techno artists of the ’80s and ’90s. (Parliament Funkadelic’s influence on early hip-hop is massive — especially on West Coast hip-hop.)
1971’s Maggot Brain, 1975’s Mothership Connection, 1978’s One Nation Under a Groovewere among a list of their critically applauded and commercially successful material: Between 1967-1983, the outfit had 13 Top 10 hits on the American R&B music charts, including six #1 hits. The band’s collective mythology — along with that of Sun Ra — would help pioneer the Afrofuturisim movement.
And I can’t possibly forget that the world famous Mothership is in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History & Culture.
Yes, they’re that important. And we can’t talk about Black History and Black art without mentioning them.