Black Thought News

Producers Robert Fyvolent and David Dinerstein have announced the start of production on Black Woodstock, a feature documentary about the Harlem Cultural Festival directed by Ahmir a?oeQuestlovea?? Thompson. This film marks Thompson's feature directorial debut and focuses on the 1969 outdoor festival in Harlem's Mount Morris Park. The festival featured dozens of  extraordinary performances by artists including Stevie Wonder, Sly and the Family Stone, Nina Simone, B.B. King, the Staple Singers, the 5th Dimension, David Ruffin, Mahalia Jackson and Gladys Knight and the Pips. The Harlem Cultural Festival took place the same summer as the famed Woodstock festival, and boasted an attendance on par with that concert 100 miles away.  Over 300,000 people attended, yet it received virtually no coverage from the mainstream media. The 40 hours of never-seen-before footage was originally shot by the late television pioneer Hal Tulchin, but has remained in storage for the past 50 years, keeping this incredible event in America's history lost - until now. 

On loan from Brooklyn rock band The Slim Kings, singer/songwriter/guitarist Michael Sackler-Berner's new video does not rock. It doesn't folk-rock either, as fans of his solo work might expect - it swings. In MSB's dreams, it's Bennett, Sinatra, or Martin, but there's a punk side to the track because he's not a crooner by trade. It is tailor-made for people who think Bublé is cheese, but dig young gents singing and writing tunes for Big Band. Pop and jazz fans alike will latch onto this “Autumn in New York” release by the Big Apple native.

Ahmir 'Questlove' Thompson and Tariq 'Black Thoughta?? Trotter talk about how they first met, covering music history in Hip Hop: The Songs That Shook America and Questlove's obsession with horrible music.

New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) presents The Roots with A Christian McBride Situation on Saturday, November 16, 2019 at 8:00 p.m.

Questlove and Black Thought from Grammy-winning band The Roots join the 3rd hour of TODAY to talk about their new AMC documentary series, “Hip Hop: The Songs that Shook America.”

In honor of its 20th anniversary, The Roots' breakthrough fourth album Things Fall Apart is available once again via Geffen/Urban Legends. This melancholy gem of 2000s alternative hip-hop, originally released on MCA Records in 1999, has been freshly remastered and repressed in two lavish physical configurations, a standard black 3LP, a limited-edition crystal-clear 3LP as well as a digital collection, all to be released September 27.

Events have been announced for October at National Sawdust. See the full lineup below!

National Sawdust curator and Grammy-winning writer, actor, and artist Black Thought (Tariq Trotter) will broaden the scope of new music and hip hop curations by programming four multimedia events at the performing arts institution in Williamsburg, Brooklyn from October 7 a?" 10.

AMC released today the official trailer and new icon art from AMC's new documentary series Hip Hop: The Songs That Shook America, premiering Sunday, October 13 at 12am ET / 9pm PT on AMC.

To celebrate the continuing cultural impact of The Roots, Geffen and UMe/Urban Legends will re-issue the bands' iconic Things Fall Apart, Do You Want More ?!!??! and Illadelph Halflife to commemorate the anniversary of each album's release.

The Tribeca TV Festival will return September 12-15 for its third edition.The lineup is a showcase of new series debuts, new episodes from fan favorites, talks with creators and stars, and one-night-only events that can only be seen at Tribeca. The 2019 Tribeca TV Festival will take place at Regal Battery Park in New York City. Tickets go on sale today, Monday, August 12, at 11am ET at tribecafilm.com/TVFestival.

With more than 1,000 artists and more than 500 free events in three new sunlit pavilions and more than 130,000 square feet of new landscaped green space at the nation's cultural capital, the REACH opens its doors in exactly one month's time with 16 full days of creativity in action, providing artists and audiences with the opportunity to experience art as never before. Marking the first expansion at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in its 48-year history, the REACH welcomes the public with an inclusive, multi-genre, multidisciplinary Opening Festival on September 7a?"22. See the video trailer here.

Griselda's own Benny The Butcher released his Tana Talk 3 project in the winter of 2018, the album was produced entirely by Griselda mainstay Daringer and Alchemist and included appearances from his Griselda/Shady Records label-mates Westside Gunn and Conway and Royce 5'9” and Meyhem Lauren.

AMC Networks announced today from the Television Critics' Association (TCA) Press Tour premiere dates for several new and returning original series, including IFC's Baroness von Sketch Show, which has been picked up for a fifth season, and programming events, including AMC's FearFest and newly expanded Best Christmas Ever holiday celebration, which will air across all of AMC Networks. 

Ali Shaheed Muhammad (A Tribe Called Quest) and Adrian Younge--the pair behind the unforgettable score for the Netflix series Marvel's Luke Cage--have announced an extensive North American fall tour for their acclaimed 10-piece ensemble, The Midnight Hour, featuring very special collaborative opening sets from the group's incredibly talented vocalists Loren Oden and Angela Muñoz, and guitarist Jack Waterson. The Midnight Hour is Black Excellence: an ode to the cultural sophistication that the Harlem Renaissance established for its people. Performing with their jazz rhythm section and an orchestral section reminiscent of maestros such as David Axelrod and Quincy Jones, The Midnight Hour is sophisticated hip hop.

For its landmark fifth anniversary, National Sawdust a?" the performing arts institution in Williamsburg, Brooklyn a?" Takes Root by celebrating the artistic process, from incubation to dissemination, while honoring the local and global artistic community it serves. 

The Jonas Brothers join Jimmy and The Roots on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to perform their hit 'Sucker' with classroom instruments.

New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) presents The Roots with A Christian McBride Situation on Saturday, November 16, 2019 at 8:00 p.m.

New docu-series “1969” weaves together rarely told stories of the moon landing, Manson murders, Chappaquiddick scandal and Woodstock with that of Nixon's first year in office, John Lennon's Bed-Ins for Peace, FBI shootouts with black activists and the Stonewall Uprising. The six-part series features gripping first-hand accounts of how these events came together at the same dizzying, chaotic time. “1969” premieres Tuesday, April 23 (10:00–11:00 p.m. EDT), on The ABC Television Network. The six-part docu-series' original score by multiplatinum producer and GRAMMY®-nominated artist, producer and songwriter Salaam Remi pays tribute to the revolutionary sounds of a year that reshaped rock.

Today, British singer-songwriter Estelle released a new song “Home”, as part of the latest Amazon Original “Produced By” series on Amazon Music. Producer Adrian Younge is releasing a four-track collection throughout the month as part of the new installment, only available to stream and purchase on Amazon Music. ”Home” follows last Friday's release of Georgia Anne Muldrow and Terrace Martin's Adrian Younge-produced song “February.”