For Black History Month, Sony Music U, Sony Music’s College Marketing Department, is highlighting music from John Legend, Lecrae and the soundtrack to the hit movie, “Hidden Figures,” produced by Pharrell Williams. These three recent key music projects shed light on African-American struggles, both past and present.
Adam Schulz, Sony Music U’s college press representative, said the songs were chosen from artists who had released music recently that “resonated with the historical context of the month” and paying homage to those who “have made significant contributions to civil rights and gaining equality.”
“We wanted to find acts that promoted these kind of ideals and ethics,” Schulz said.
Each project had different reasons for being chosen, while centrally revolving around the historical ethics theme.
The “Hidden Figures” soundtrack, featuring Pharrell Williams, was chosen primarily to “promote what this album and movie really mean, and the collaboration with one another makes for a story that has been forgotten for many years,” Schulz said.
John Legend’s ballad, “Marching Into the Dark,” was chosen off his album “Darkness and Light.”
It was picked because of its emphasis on “continuing to march on and remembering the people that either lost lives or have made significant contributions to civil rights,” Schulz said.
Finally, the upbeat and praising song “Blessings” by Lecrae ft. Ty Dolla $ign was “much more of a uplifting track, paying praise to God and being in touch to one’s spirituality.”
“We thought these three projects gave a picture of how Sony and Columbia has been focusing on promoting on songs and projects like these,” Schulz said.
Sony is not the only music company focusing on Black History Month. Other services like Spotify and Pandora are also featuring playlists highlighting black artists throughout the decades in celebration and remembrance.
However, Victor Coelho, a professor of musicology and ethnomusicology in Boston University’s College of Fine Arts, said he thinks using playlists as a spotlight is simply not enough.
“What you really need to do is to have artists that are able to speak about their work,” Coelho said.
Giving an example of Kendrick Lamar, Coelho said he’d like to see more frequent events where he would “talk about where his music comes from … and open up a dialogue.”
Expanding, Coelho said the next goal in the music industry is “more documentary style, more interactive style, mixing music and talking about ideas.”
Coelho also spoke on the importance of these strong African-American artists in today’s media, highlighting Beyoncé.
“You can see how she’s grown over the years and now has the power to speak candidly and frankly, which is astonishing,” Coelho said. “For any artist to have that command and confidence to say those things, people respect. It’s not dissing someone, it’s being true to one’s self and critical.”
Coelho explained the importance of every song, how there’s always the “dance and entertainment value, but in every song it is poetic and even protest.” He later said, “In many ways, our view of African-American culture and how it is viewed itself is narrated more effectively through music, lyrics and styles.”
Epitomizing, Coelho said “there are many things that you can say in music that you can’t say through speech and pure conversation.”
Anisa Abrams, a local R&B and jazz artist and sophomore at Berklee College of Music, emphasized the importance of controversial issues in music.
“Music really has inspired people, I mean things are hard now because there’s still a wealth of racism in America obviously, but back in the ‘60s and before, music and God is what really kept people going,” Abrams said.
She also added her feelings on the importance of African-American artists in the past and present.
“Most music comes out of the African diaspora,” Abrams said, echoing the words of scholars for decades about the importance of the African-American influence not only on history, but also the formation of all music.
Now, African-American artists are not only influencing the nuts and bolts of music, but the lasting impact of their ballads and words.
“These are people I look up to in their artistry and creativity, and it makes me feel like, ‘Okay, we’re getting somewhere,’” Abrams said.
Looking forward as an artist, Abrams said the movement is influencing her for the better.
“The next generation of artists are so much more conscious,” she said, “and these artists are taking a stand and are making me want to be better as an artist.”
CORRECTION: A previous version of this article misstated Lecrae and Sony Music U. We regret making the mistake.
