On Tuesday (June 11th) multi-Grammy Award winners Usher and Babyface were honored at the Apollo Spring Benefit Gala at Harlem’s legendary Apollo Theater.
On Monday (April 8), Coca-Cola unveiled Coca-Cola x Marvel: The Heroes, the latest groundbreaking collaboration with Marvel, offering a never-before-seen consumer experience through exclusive, limited-edition Coca-Cola pack designs featuring 38 character illustrations, digital collectible characters, exciting prizes and an immersive AR extension on Coca-Cola’s website.
Laurence Fishburne shows off his mastery of the stage in his new one man show Like They Do In The Movies which is currently running a limited engagement at the Perelman Performing Arts Center in New York City.
[Photo credit: Heinz]
On Wednesday (December 6th), Heinz Open Kitchen joined with Marcus Samuelsson’s Red Rooster and Ginny’s Supper Club to host the first Black Kitchen Initiative dinner. Heinz Open Kitchen gives Black Kitchen Initiative grantees access to kitchens in high profile restaurants allowing them to showcase their culinary talents during dinner events. The initiative was started in 2020 with support from the LEE Initiative and Southern Restaurants for Racial Justice. This year’s grantees included Joy Crump and Beth Black, owners and chefs at the Fredericksburg, Virginia restaurant Foode + Mercantile.
Photo Credit: Heinz
Crump and Black’s journey together began when they worked at an Atlanta news station. Black suggested that Crump pursue her love of cooking at culinary school and then the two later opened Foode + Mercantile. The duo draw inspiration from chefs like Edna Lewis and Leah Chase.
As guest arrived to the dinner at Ginny’s Supper Club, a 1940’s style supper club located under Red Rooster, they were treated to sweet potato biscuits (inspired by Leah Chase who created Dooky Chase’s Restaurant) with orange-clove butter and blood orange marmalade which was at every table, as well as house party mix made with spicy caramel popcorn, sweet nuts, toasted seeds and dried herbs. For the first course roasted carrot soup flavored with ginger, coconut and curry and garnished with black and white benne seed brittle and cilantro oil was served. The main course which was served family style started with pickled jumbo shrimp seasoned with chilis, fennel, winter citrus, and topped with black strap molasses bread. Then the special collaboration dish between Chef Marcus Samuelsson and Chef Joy was served which was the mushroom farrotto which was farro made with portobello mushrooms, pumpkin, coconut, injera crumble, pecorino cheese and a special black cherry garnish. Injera is an Ethiopian inspired fermented flatbread made from teff flour. Samuelsson was born in Ethiopia. Next smoked VA Pork Tenderloin was served in which the smoked pork was accompanied by whipped sweet potato , Ms. Lewis’s creamed collards, sour apple and topped with savory granola and sage pan sauce. For dessert attendees got to taste butterscotch budino which included sticky plantain, dried banana, and whipped cream.
Besides food signature cocktails that were offered included Grown Folks Tea (Bowman’s bourbon based with a lemon zested sugar rim), and Rockin Rooster Tea (pumpkin puree, apple puree, pumpkin simple syrup, carrot puree and apple spiced tea blend).
As guest dined they were also treated to live musical performances. The dinner concluded with a musical tribute to late Queen of Rock N Roll Tina Turner with a performance rendition of Proud Mary. To learn more about the Heinz Black Kitchen Initiative and to listen to their podcast head over to their website.
Twenty years ago on December 2, 2003, Alicia Keys released her five-time platinum Grammy Award-winning sophomore album The Diary of Alicia Keys. Keys did a special intimate performance for AOL Broadband Rocks concert at New York’s Webster Hall in 2003 to promote the album’s release. Alicia returned to Webster Hall on Friday, 20 years after the AOL Broadband Rocks concert, to celebrate the album’s two decade mark and impact. A portion of ticket sales from the show were donated to Keys’ Keep a Child Alive foundation.
Prior to Keys walking on stage, DJ Saige spun records getting the crowd energized for Keys’ arrival. About forty five minutes after the posted 9pm start time, Keys entered the stage from the left side passing by background singers Raii and Whitney who are also her vocal coaches as she walked to the piano to perform Harlem’s Nocturne, the intro to The Diary of Alicia Keys album. The journey back to 2003 began while Keys performed “Harlem’s Nocturne”, the next song was “Karma” as Keys’ got up from the piano for the up-tempo song moving from side to side. Keys followed the album’s tracklist order for the entirety of the show.
Alicia was joined by Jermaine Paul for the performance of “Diary”. Paul shared his story about how he came to sing on the song. As Keys performed she received support from the audience which included her mother, mentor Clive Davis, and Grammy Award winning mixer/sound engineer Tony Black who all watched from the balcony. Before singing her rendition of Gladys Knight’s “If I Was Your Woman”, Keys mentioned Knight in homage.
The concert was memorable as being a concert of first for Keys. Keys performed songs “Dragon Days”, “Samsonite Man”, “Feeling U, Feeling Me” from The Diary of Alicia Keys for the first time since the album was released. Although Keys had never performed the songs live before, attendees knew the words and sang along. Keys also performed “Golden Child” live for the first time at the show, a song which wasn’t included on the original 2003 release of the album but was added to the 20th anniversary edition. During the encore, Keys took to the piano to perform “Lifeline”, her new song from the upcoming The Color Purple Musical film adaptation.
A little after 11pm Alicia wrapped up the show with a performance of “Empire State of Mind”. The concert showed that the songs from The Diary of Alicia Keys have stood the test of time, and even non-singles songs like “Dragon Days” should be added to the setlist of future Keys concerts.
Thirty-Five years ago, Cold Chillin Records hosted a series of concerts at New York’s famed Apollo Theater. While the concert was filmed, some of that footage was lost until recently. In celebration of both the 35th anniversary of the Cold Chillin Records Showcase concert at the Apollo Theater (November 20th), and the found footage, the founder of Cold Chillin Records Tyrone ‘Fly Ty” Williams, and some of the label’s artist gathered to reflect on the 1988 concert.
Cold Chillin Records, which included hip hop artist Roxanne Shante, MC Shan, Kool G Rap, the late Grand Daddy I.U., Marley Marl, Big Daddy Kane and the late Biz Markie, was created in 1986, and went defunct in 1998. Shante, MC Shan, Marley Marl, Big Daddy Kane were all in attendance at the Apollo for In Conversation with Cold Chillin Records. Lyricist Lounge’s Ant Marshall facilitated the conversation.
The label’s founder was joined by Video Music Box host Ralph McDaniels and the two discussed bringing the concert tonight. Williams who had a background in radio prior to launching Cold Chillin Records stated he put up about $125,000 for the concert to take place, and discussed how record label executives were initially hesitant about the concert taking place because of fears that there would be violence at the show. McDaniels, who was crucial in the filming, discussed how he had the onstage footage, but the Apollo called him months ago to say they had backstage footage which he didn’t have.
As Williams discussed what a dream it was for his artist to perform on the legendary Apollo Theater stage, one by one Shante, Big Daddy Kane, Marley Marl and others proceeded to the stage to talk about the 1988 show. Williams shared while seated with Shante about how much adversity she faced from peers and the industry as she was making a name for herself in the industry in the 1980s.
Throughout the conversation, clips from the 1988 concert were shown, and after clips of the late Biz Markie were shown, recollections of his humor were shared by guest such as Big Daddy Kane.
The night wrapped up featuring a performance by Shante, Kool G Rap, MC Shan and Big Daddy Kane. Afterward Williams’ was presented with a proclamation from Mayor Eric Adams honoring Cold Chillin Records.
November 1st is the fourth annual Black Entrepreneurs Day, and to celebrate, a special taped event curated by FUBU Founder and Shark Tank venture capitalist Daymond John was held at New York’s Apollo Theater. The event helped celebrate Black businesses and inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs while showcasing remarkable Black talent.
Black Entrepreneurs Day which was filmed over two days, featured guest appearances by influential figures such as Whoopi Goldberg, Anthony Anderson, Cedric the Entertainer, Shaquille O’Neal, Cari Champion, Sloane Stephens, Ice T and Flavor Flav. Rick Ross also performed in honor of celebrating the 50th anniversary of Hip-Hop.
One of the highlights of Black Entrepreneurs Day is the “NAACP Powershift Entrepreneur Grant.” This year, the grant will award over $200,000 in black business grants, providing crucial support to Black entrepreneurs seeking to take their businesses to new heights. Also a pitch competition was presented by Shopify in which three aspiring entrepreneurs pitched their products to guest celebrity investors. The winner received $25,000 to help develop and market their product, and all three finalist received business mentors. “We may be three years out from the George Floyd travesty and the height of support for Black Lives Matter, but the need for resources and community support for our Black businesses remains paramount. I salute our partners who year after year, support our mission to educate and inspire Black
entrepreneurs around the globe,” said John. Some of this year’s partners included Meta, SalesForce, The General Insurance, JP Morgan Chase and McDonalds.
Black Entrepreneurs Day has rapidly become one of the largest and most acclaimed Diversity and Inclusion events in the United States. In 2022 alone, it garnered over 7.6 million broadcast viewers and received two Webby Awards. Viewers who were unable to attend tapings in person can watch a stream of the event starting at 7pm on November 1st.
Jada Pinkett Smith wants to share her experience in finding self worth in her new memoir titled Worthy. After speaking with television and online journalist for the past few days in promoting the book, Smith sat with Arianna Huffington (October 16th) at the Perelman Performing Arts Center in New York City to for a chat as part of PAC’s ‘Conversations” series which is a partnership between CAA and Vanity Fair which presents cultural tastemakers, and Hollywood stars and authors sharing their stories. Prior to sitting with Huffington, Smith met with select fans who purchased her book during an intimate meet and greet. Vanity Fair reporter Chris Smith introduced Jada.
During the nearly hour long discussion Smith discussed a range of topics including controversial topics such as her marriage to Will Smith, the Oscar incident with Chris Rock, being introduced to ayahuasca and more. Huffington also asked Smith about specific quotes and questions that she wrote in the book.
“I had to go through everything and that’s one of the reasons for me [that] I’m so glad that I didn’t go on that angry impulse of just like ‘I’m divorcing you, I’m’ sick of you’. I knew I had to get myself together. I recognized that and I had to get through my stuff before I could see what was actually happening right, and then being willing to work with Will in a different way. So now that we’ve done work together now we’re getting through on the other side, And it’s like the ceremony which I talked about in the book [ayahuasca] having to sit there in your stuff, you can’t you can’t stop the process, right? It’s the same thing in relationships. We try to stop the process of working through it. We try to escape it and go well I’mma go find somebody else, well, I’mma leave you. Sometimes we have to do that. Sometimes it’s necessary in my case, I had to work through my stuff through my stuff with Will and now we’re coming out on another side”, Jada said about working on herself and her relationship with her husband Will whom she is currently separated from.
After an over 30 year career in Hollywood, and having received numerous awards, and accolades, Jada explained what ‘success’ currently means to her saying, ” For me, it’s loving connection it’s having a beautiful intimate relationship with myself, that allows me to have beautiful, intimate relationships with others. I love feeling connected it is my favorite thing, even people that I got to meet today, looking at you and your eyes, hugging you looking at the beauty, taking pictures, even if it’s just for a second. That to me is life. And so the disconnect was that I was disconnected with myself and that’s the part I didn’t know that I had to learn to do. But that’s success to me.”
Worthy is currently available for purchase.
Photo Credit: The Creative Collective/ CultureCon
For all creative content creators CultureCon was the place to be this past weekend. The Creative Collective in partnership with Max took over the Brooklyn Navy Yard for two day cultural convention which featured discussions with some of the top Black entertainers of today, entrepreneurs, and social media influencers, along with activations set up by companies including Adidas, Spotify and Kickstarter and food tastings from Black owned restaurants and chefs in New York City.
During the two day event, Adidas allowed attendees the opportunity to express their creativity by designing their own Adidas classic sneaker, and Spotify allowed attendees to record mini single person podcast in recording both that they set up, in which attendees were also encouraged to launch their own podcast on Spotify for Podcasters. Award winning photographer Greg Noire was also on hand taking photos of attendees who stopped by the Culture Rated activation presented by Amazon Prime Video.
Emmy Award winner Jharrel Jerome spoke at the CultureCon on Saturday (October 7). While Jerome is known for his acting in the Oscar winning film Moonlight and his Emmy winning performance in When They See Us, and his current role in I’m a Virgo, he is planning on releasing a four part musical project titled Someone I’m Not through Sony Music. Speaking on the timing of the musical project during a discussion during CultureCon Jerome told the audience, ” I think the Emmy was a blessing, but at the same time it comes with what’s next for me, can you top it can you keep doing it. There’s a big reason why I’ve been quiet and haven’t been rushing into the next project. I want to make sure that the project challenges me like the last one did and that’s not easy. Projects that I have been a part of don’t come around often. So as an artist I know people are looking at me like alright you wanna rap that’s cool but what’s it for what’s it about, and so those are the questions I got to answer in order to gain the respect and in order to garner a certain attention for it. So I’m willing to take those questions and roll with the punches”. When asked about mentally dealing with challenges of wanting to move into music while still dealing with his acting career, Jerome explained that he ‘blocks out the world’, and relies on his confidence.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 07: (L-R) Bimma Williams and Jharrel Jerome speak onstage at CultureCon NY 2023 on October 07, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Arturo Holmes/Getty Images)
The following day on October 8th, CultureCon hosted a panel discussion with Faith Jenkins, Real Housewives of Potomac star Candiace Dillard Bassett and Summer House: Martha’s Vineyard star Preston Mitchum, discussed navigating career after achieving an initial level of success, while finding ways to showcase other talents to prevent being boxed in, and helping to find ways to deal with and overcome imposter syndrome. “You will really find yourself creating a lot of mistakes if you don’t know who you are before you get your big break. There’s the purpose of saying no just as much as saying yes, so know what you have to say yes to and most importantly know what you need to say no to to define your purpose”, Mitchum stated during the panel discussion. “Not everyone feels they have to be accountable to our community when they are representing themselves on TV, and I think that’s a real shame, honestly. I think when we do take this mantle, we have an obligation to community right and it means also we’re gonna make mistakes. The reason why I love reality TV so much I was watching all of them before I also became one of them, and it’s such an opportunity to discuss real things”, Mitchum also mentioned.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 08: (L-R) Taryn Finley, Candiace Dillard Bassett, Faith Jenkins and Preston Mitchum speak on stage during CultureCon NY 2023 on October 08, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Arturo Holmes/Getty Images)
Singer/Actress Tinashe shared that “there’s absolutely no substitute for experience” when she hit the stage to discuss how she navigates her career in the music industry. Tinashe recently released her album BB/Ang3l and is planning to promote the album on tour.
CultureCon will return to New York this October for a week of non-stop programming, and will introduce a job fair and host a creative block party. CultureCon is presented by Max and major partners include Max, American Express, SheaMoisture, Prime Video and Freevee, Clinique, Google, CÎROC, Bulleit, Seedlip, Patreon, Paramount+, Kickstarter, NBCUniversal, Spotify, Walmart, Ben & Jerry’s, Coca-Cola, Smart Water, Like To Know It, Visible, Dotdash Meredith, Foot Locker, TikTok, Getty Images, Nielsen, #CultureTags, Tillary, and Brooklyn Navy Yard. CultureCon was created by the Creative Collective NYC (TheCCNYC)which is a community dedicated to curating brave spaces for diverse creatives and young professionals which started in Imani Ellis’ one-bedroom apartment, and has now parlayed into the largest collective dedicated to providing networking events and resources for diverse creatives and young professionals.
It was recently announced that DeAndre Brown AKA The Corporate Baddie and Hot 97’s Miabelle are confirmed to co-host a day filled with curated workshops and interactive activations at the highly-anticipated conference taking place on Saturday, October 7, and Sunday, October 8 in New York City. Also scheduled to make appearances this year at the festival are Teyana Taylor and Jharrel Jerome. Past CultureCon™ speakers include Tracee Ellis Ross, Will Smith, Spike Lee, John Legend, Regina King, Lena Waithe, Keke Palmer, Sanaa Lathan, and more. CultureCon will be preceded by Culture Con week October 2-6.
During the the first-ever Creative Career Job Fair, attendees can meet with recruiters and learn about career opportunities in real time. Max, Walmart, Shea Moisture, Prime Video, Clinique, NBCUniversal, Google, and Kickstarter are all confirmed to participate. On Sunday, October 8, CultureCon Day Two continues with even more panels and workshops and hosts its first Creative Block Party to close out the weekend.
Tickets for both days are now on-sale by visiting , www.theccnyc.com/culturecon