In honor of Black History Month, SoundCloud is now featuring exclusive month-long curated content and homepage playlists celebrating Black brilliance and creativity. Propelling off this year’s BHM theme, “Black Health and Wellness,” SoundCloud will feature engaging conversations surrounding the healing power of music through the lens of Black leaders and artists.
Throughout the month, SoundCloud is rolling out a Black History Month edition of “SELECTED BY,” a series of exclusive artist-curated playlists featuring songs that promote moments of self-care and healing, created by incredible rising artists like Jalen Santoy, India Shawn, and Smooky MarGielaa. A number of the “SELECTED BY” playlists will include audio commentary giving a deeper look into how certain tracks have affected these artists. Listeners can navigate to the “BLACK HISTORY MONTH: Celebrating Black Expression'' section plus a wide-range of new and popular playlists featuring Black artists which tie back to this year’’s BHM theme like “SOAK: Soul for Self Care,” ”ON HIGH: Gospel House,” and “UPLIFT: R&B Celebration.”
In addition, SoundCloud is leveraging the power of social media with a new tastemaker series to shine a light on some of the brightest leaders in the world of music on how Black art and creativity has been a vehicle for Black history. The series, which will live across SoundCloud’s socials, will share stories through content featuring interviews, animations, and quotes kicking off today with Executive Vice President/GM of LVRN Records and partner in LVRN Management, Amber Grimes, followed by spotlights on Tommy Brown (CEO of Champaign Music Group & Publishing, Grammy Winner, and Multi-Platinum selling producer), and Barry Hefner (Co-Founder, Since the 80s).
Follow along on Instagram and Twitter for the full series.
Below are standout quotes from SoundCloud’s conversation with Grimes below:
-
On how Black Music can be a guidepost for the times: “Black artists do an incredible job of telling our story and being a sign of the times. And those songs grow older for the next generation to understand what was going on or really helps us understand how things haven’t changed. I remember going into the street to be a part of a protest and everybody just started chanting Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Alright.’ We just have this air of hope especially when we’re together in packs, in 100s, that we’ll get through something. I remember that moment and I’ll never, ever forget that song.”
-
On what she wants her legacy to be: “What I would like my legacy to be is just one of hope. Any young Black girl, any young Black person in general, I want them to always know and believe that they can be whoever they want to be and they can do whatever they want to do. Nothing can stop them, and they shouldn't take ‘no’ from anybody because I never have.”
