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"[The author] provides a definitive account of [Kendrick] Lamar's coming-of-age as an artist, his resurrection of jazz, his profound impact on a racially fraught America, and his emergence as the bona fide King of Rap. Through his confessional poetics, his politically charged anthems, and his radical performances, Lamar has become a beacon of light for countless people, an adversary of oppression and a force for change"--OCLC.
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"The Notorious B.I.G. was one of the most charismatic and talented artists of the 1990s. Born Christopher Wallace and raised in Clinton Hill/Bed Stuy, Brooklyn, Biggie lived an almost archetypal rap life: young trouble, drug dealing, guns, prison, a giant hit record, the wealth and international superstardom that came with it, then an early violent death. Biggie released his first record, Ready to Die, in 1994, when he was only 22. Less than three...
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Kem goes back to the very beginning to introduce his grandmother who worked as a sharecropper in the South and had thirteen children. As Kem's family rises from the sharecropping and ultimately lands in Detroit, there is an unspoken mantra of "hard things are better left unsaid," which has devastating consequences down the line. His mother is never without a beer in her hand, and his relationship with his father is oddly tense. Emotionally starved,...
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"Earth, Wind & Fire was one of the most popular and significant bands of the past century, celebrated alongside Chicago, the Commodores, Fleetwood Mac, the Eagles, and Sly and the Family Stone. They transcended genres and fused diverse influences, from R&B to pop to jazz and beyond, earning multiple Grammy Awards--and most recently a Lifetime Achievement Award, shortly after the passing of the band's founder, Maurice White. Although many of White's...
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Jazz is born in New Orleans at the turn of the century emerging from several forms of music including ragtime, marching bands, work songs, spirituals, creole music, funeral parade music and above all, the blues. Musicians profiled here who advanced early jazz are Buddy Bolden, Jelly Roll Morton, Sidney Bechet, Freddie Keppard, and musicians of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band.
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The story of the "Jubilee Singers, [who] traveled from Cincinnati to New York, following the path of the Underground Railroad. With every performance they endangered their lives and those of the people helping them, but they also broke down barriers between blacks and whites, lifted spirits, and even helped influence modern American music: the Jubilees were the first to introduce spirituals outside their black communities [and are still active and...
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See Michael Jackson, one of the most recognizable and popular entertainers of all time, like never before in this feature-length tribute. Known to millions of fans worldwide for his record-breaking albums, groundbreaking music videos, mesmerizing dance moves, and humanitarian efforts, his true story has never really been told, until now. Featuring never-before-seen family video footage and photos, get an unprecedented look into the King of Pop's fascinating...
19) Louie Bluie
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Documents the obscure country blues musician and idiosyncratic visual artist, Howard 'Louie Bluie' Armstrong, member of the last known black string band in America. Director Terry Zwigoff honors him with an unsentimental but endlessly affectionate tribute. Full of infectious music and comedy, this is a humane evocation of the kind of pop-cultural marginalia that Zwigoff would continue to make in the coming years.