“From the beginning, the camera and I were great friends. I know the eye of the camera is on me—eye to eye. It loves me, and I love it (Whitney Houston).” Whitney Houston was destined to be a star from the day she was born. With Aretha Franklin as her godmother, she had nothing but RESPECT for the music industry. With many hit singles, and a voice to match, Whitney Houston was truly an icon. Famously known as a singer and actress, Whitney Houston has successes that most can only dream of. Born in Newark, New Jersey in 1963 to mother, and singer, Cissy Houston, Houston was already on the path to fame. Her whole family was full of musicians. Not only was her mother a choir director, but her godmother was Aretha Franklin. Because of her mother’s involvement in the church, that’s where Whitney Houston got her singing roots. She would perform with her mother in the church, hoping to get discovered by a record deal, but while trying to do this, she was picked up as a model. She picked up some great accomplishments. She was such a longed for model by companies, and she ended up being one of the first African American women on the cover of Seventeen magazine. Even through all of these accomplishments, music was her true passion. All the hard work had payed off. She ended up …show more content…
“Whitney Houston” (the name of her first album) was a huge success. Two of her most famous singles, How Will I Know and Saving All My Love For You were at the top of the charts for 14 non-consecutive weeks, a huge success for her debut. She even won a Grammy for one of those songs. After the success of her first album, she released her second album, “Whitney.” The album went platinum and she won another Grammy for her hit song, I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me). Around the same time of her second release, she started her charity fund, the Whitney Houston Foundation for Children. As a new artist, Whitney’s success was breaking
You know she's a Jackson. And you know she's a singer. Of course, you know the girl can dance. You know she's a leading lady in Hollywood. And maybe you still think of her as a cute little girl with a famous last name and big , bright eyes. Do you think she's what she was yesterday? Better think again. As many of her other fans and followers already know, the only label that fits her is… Janet.
The text is a poem called “Remembering Nat Turner”, written by Sterling Allen Brown. The poem is about an African American who walks the route of the slave rebellion of 1831, where he is given impressions about the rebellion from black and white people. The poem is a part of his first collection called Southern Road, which was first published in 1932. The original reader of Sterling Brown’s Southern Road.
With nearly 60 years in the music industry, Tina Turner is one of the most prolific RnB singers of all time. For two decades, she released hit after hit with ex-husband Ike, then transitioned into an extremely successful solo career. On her own, she released nine studio albums, five of which went multi-platinum. To date, she has sold more than 200 million albums worldwide and remains the Guinness World Record holder for most concert tickets ever sold.
You can see her influence in most of today’s art. I grew up on Janet’s music and I simply love each era of her work. To me, Janet is more than a singer, she is a true artist.
Sister Souljah was born in Bronx New York, raised in the projects. She is a graduate of Rutgers University where she earned a degree in American History and African Studies. She also attended the Cornell University Advanced Placement Studies, and studied abroad in Europe at the University of Salamanca. As a student activist, Souljah created, and financed an African youth survival camp for homeless families. As a community activist she promoted outdoor rallies and concerts in Harlem New York. She has been on many different radio stations and television channels. Sister Souljah is also known as a hip hop artist. She has a CD produced called 360 Degrees of Power, and she is currently working on another one. Any one who purchase her album will have a full understanding of what she think and believe. Many people are waiting on the release of her first film The Coldest Winter Ever...
...ng to this day, she is one of few who could compete with the men of hip-hop, but she never pretended to be anything but a woman. She not only sang about female empowerment, but she wrote about being a woman from the insecurities that we as women sometimes feel to the nirvana of being in love. Sensuality and femininity were always as important to her which was her strength, and message to get out to women especially those of color.
Nina Simone used music to challenge, provoke, incite, and inform the masses during the period that we know as the Civil Rights Era. In the songs” Four Women”, “Young Gifted and Black”, and Mississippi God Damn”, Nina Simone musically maps a personal "intersectionality" as it relates to being a black American female artist. Kimberly Crenshaw defines "intersectionality" as an inability for black women to separate race, class and gender. Nina Simone’s music directly addresses this paradigm. While she is celebrated as a prolific artist her political and social activism is understated despite her front- line presence in the movement. According to Ruth Feldstein “Nina Simone recast black activism in the 1960’s.” Feldstein goes on to say that “Simone was known to have supported the struggle for black freedom in the United States much earlier, and in a more outspoken manner around the world than had many other African American entertainers.”
Entitled "The First Lady of Song," Ella Fitzgerald was the most famous female jazz singer in the United States for about more than half a century. In her life time, she won more than 10 Grammy Awards, and also earned the title “The First Lady of Song.”Her voice was flexible, wide-ranging, prefect and ageless. She could sing sultry ballads, jazz, blue, and imitate every several instruments. She worked with all the jazz musicians, like Duke Ellington,Frank Sinatra, Dizzy Gillespie and even Benny Goodman. She performed at top places all over the world. Her audiences were as diverse as her vocal rangeand they all loved her.
In 1983, Houston was signed to Arista Records and music executive, Clive Davis, became her mentor and helped launch her successful career. Whitney Houston was known as the innocent, girl-next-door, who promoted positivity and love within her professional career. Houston's good-girl image was shattered, when she married R&B bad boy, Bobby Brown, in 1992. Towards the late 90's, it was rumored that she was using drugs and she looked very thin. In 2006, Houston divorced Bobby Brown and entered into rehab, to end her addiction to cocaine and other drugs.
Aretha Louise Franklin also known as the Queen of Soul was born on March 25, 1942 in Memphis Tennessee. She is known for being a solo singer, and also a very talented pianist. Soul, R&B, Jazz, and Gospel are genres that she sings. Throughout her career she signed with Colombia Records, along with some others, and has released many popular singles that would now be considered classical. Aretha was the first female artist to be introduced into the Rock and Roll Hall of fame. She also had to grow up sooner than many other girls because she had her first child at a very young age. Up until this day Aretha is still alive living at age seventy-two and has won many Grammy awards and is considered one of the most honored artist.
Josephine Baker Josephine Baker was an African American woman who had to overcome discrimination and abuse in achieving her dream of becoming a singer and dancer. She did this during the 1920s, when African Americans faced great discrimination. She had a hard childhood. Her personal life was not easy to handle. Furthermore, she overcame poverty and racism to achieve her career dream.
Without a doubt there is one major performer that certainly stands out within our pop culture world. The name of this very famous American icon is, Dolly Parton. Dolly has surpassed any rags to riches story that ever lived. She has touched the lives of so many individuals over many decades through her many talents. Dolly started her career at a very young age and continued fulfilling her life endeavors through country music, pop music, and even acting. This American icon didn’t stop with just her talents, she also gave back to our society through charity, fundraising, and establishing her own theme park. Dolly Parton was brought up in a very poor family, however through much dedication she became the famous icon everyone idolized today.
Beyoncé born in September 4th 1981 is known for her fierce look and electrifying sound that has been present in the entertainment industry since she was 15 years of age. Beyoncé’s ability to perform with unparalleled confidence and exuberant passion has won her twenty Grammy awards, three world music awards, six American music awards, and eight billboard awards.
I need someone to let me be just who I am.” – Rihanna. Rihanna, from her very first music videos, has compelled public eyes as an effigy, an icon and a statement of music lifestyle. Her independent outlook, badass attitude mixed with a Caribbean accent has undoubtedly confined not only music but the whole popular culture of our time. Diamonds, We Found Love, Bitch Better, Have My Money and S&M are some of the top songs by this epic singer.
Dr. Maya Angelou was born on April 4, 1928 in St. Louis Missouri. Angelou was raised in St. Louis and Stamps, Arkansas. In Stamps she was faced with the brutality of racial discrimination, and a very traumatic incident where she, she was raped by her mother's boyfriend when she was eight, but because of this she also developed an unshakable faith and values of traditional African-American family. (Angelou)This shaped her poetry and her involvement in the arts. Where she began to sing and dance and planned to audition in professional theater but that didn’t work out well because she began working as a nightclub waitress, tangled with drugs and prostitution and danced in a strip club. In 1959, she moved to New York, became friends with prominent Harlem writers, and got involved with the civil rights movement. In 1961, she moved to Egypt with a boyfriend and edited for the Arab Observer. When she returned to the U.S., she began publishing her multivolume autobiography, starting with I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings as well as several books of poetry and the third being Still I Rise in published in 1978. (Maya Angelou is born) Because of this life of hardship shaped her to who she is and was the inspiration for a lot of her poetry.