Midori & Friends Celebrates Black History Month
February 26, 2024
Midori & Friends is thrilled to share a very special playlist in honor of Black History Month! The month of February has been a special time to celebrate and uplift black voices, businesses, artists and communities, but Midori & Friends urges everyone to continue this celebration year-round. The playlist below celebrates the work of black musicians that span time and genre, but every artist has made an impact on music history in their own way. Special thanks to Young Professionals Board member, Justin Bass, for leading the curation of this playlist! Enjoy, share and celebrate through this week and beyond.
I chose these songs to celebrate Black History Month but also to remind myself of how healing music can be. From Marvin Gaye to TLC, I see myself and discover new parts of myself every time I listen to these songs. I hope this playlist takes you on a journey, like it has for me and Happy Black History Month. – Justin Bass, Midori & Friends Young Professionals Board
Artists represented on the playlist:
Marvin Gaye
Luther Vandross
Andra Day
Ms. Lauryn Hill
I had to confront my fears and master my every demonic thought about inferiority, insecurity, or the fear of being black, young, and gifted in this Western culture. – Ms. Lauryn Hill
Rufus
Chaka Khan
Stevie Wonder
Music, at its essence, is what gives us memories. And the longer a song has existed in our lives, the more memories we have of it. – Stevie Wonder
Janet Jackson
Bill Withers
I write and sing about whatever I am able to understand and feel. I feel that it is healthier to look out at the world through a window than through a mirror. Otherwise, all you see is yourself and whatever is behind you. – Bill Withers
Aretha Franklin
Jill Scott
Soul music is about longevity and reaching and touching people on a human level – and that’s never going to get lost. – Jill Scott
Outkast
Smokey Robinson
One thing I can say about the Motown acts is that we were a family. That’s not a myth. – Smokey Robinson
Alicia Keys
Sade
George McCrea
DeJ Loaf
Leon Bridges
My music is more than me writing a flashy soul song. They’re heartfelt songs about my family and true stories. I have also songs that aren’t personal, but just painting a picture. I don’t like being put under labels, but my music is going to continue to stay classic and timeless forever. – Leon Bridges
Ella Fitzgerald
I know I’m no glamour girl, and it’s not easy for me to get up in front of a crowd of people. It used to bother me a lot, but now I’ve got it figured out that God gave me this talent to use, so I just stand there and sing. – Ella Fitzgerald
Louis Armstrong
Michael Jackson
Beyoncé
I don’t have to prove anything to anyone. I only have to follow my heart and concentrate on what I want to say to the world. I run my world. – Beyoncé
Jay Z
Blue Ivy
SAINt JHN
Wizkid
Queen Latifah
Fear can be good when you’re walking past an alley at night or when you need to check the locks on your doors before you go to bed, but it’s not good when you have a goal and you’re fearful of obstacles. We often get trapped by our fears, but anyone who has had success has failed before. – Queen Latifah
Jamila Woods
The Notorious B.I.G.
How real can your music be if you wake up in the morning hearing birds and crickets? I never hear birds when I wake up. Just a lot of construction work, the smell of Chinese takeout, children screaming, and everybody knocking a different track from Ready to Die as they pass down the street. – The Notorious B.I.G.
The Foundations
Burna Boy
Earth, Wind & Fire
2Pac
Everybody’s at war with different things…I’m at war with my own heart sometimes – Tupac Shakur
Celia Cruz
When people hear me sing, I want them to be happy, happy, happy. I don’t want them thinking about when there’s not any money, or when there’s fighting at home. My message is always felicidad – happiness. – Celia Cruz
The Temptations
Teyana Taylor
Harlem is a stage. It’s like its own planet, from the way we dress to the swag in the way we walk and talk. – Teyana Taylor
Janelle Monáe
Marvin Gaye
I hope to refine music, study it, try to find some area that I can unlock. I don’t quite know how to explain it but it’s there. These can’t be the only notes in the world, there’s got to be other notes some place, in some dimension, between the cracks on the piano keys. – Marvin Gaye
Louie Vega
Duke Ellington
Corinne Bailey Rae
Erykah Badu
Hopefully my music is medicine, some type of antidote for something or some kind of explanation or just to feel good. – Erikah Badu
Anderson .Paak
Talent
Twista
Faith Evans
I’m really an inner spirit that only makes itself known through the music. A lot of people think I’m an introvert, or quiet and moody. I’ve even heard some people say that there’s a certain mystery or darkness about me. I’m not that way. I’m just really into what I do. – Faith Evans
Al Green
H.E.R.
As a black woman, I’ve always had to work hard to earn my respect as a musician – and as a young woman, too. As a writer, in certain sessions or certain rooms people think, ‘Who’s kid is this? Who’s this little girl?’ I’ve had to prove myself. – H.E.R. (Gabriella Wilson)
Cordae
Anguesomo
The Emotions
Bob Marley & The Wailers
Life is one big road with lots of signs. So when you riding through the ruts, don’t complicate your mind. Flee from hate, mischief and jealousy. Don’t bury your thoughts, put your vision to reality. Wake Up and Live! – Bob Marley
Arlo Parks
Lizzo
India.Arie
RuPaul
When you become the image of your own imagination, it’s the most powerful thing you could ever do. – RuPaul
DJ Casper
The Live Platinum Band
Fugees
Tems
Tamia
Nina Simone
Life is short. People are not easy to know. They’re not easy to know, so if you don’t tell them how you feel, you’re not going to get anywhere, I feel. – Nina Simone
Klymaxx
Vanessa Williams
Liann La Havas
Gladys Knight & The Pips
We all have a responsibility, and since I’ve been so wonderfully blessed, I really want to share and to make life at least a little better. So every chance I get to share the gospel or uplift people, I will take full advantage of that opportunity. – Gladys Knight
Donna Summer
I don’t care if I’m beautiful; I don’t care what I am on the outside. It isn’t about the outside. – Donna Summer
Emeli Sandé
Mary J. Blige
As a child I always wanted to be a singer. The music my mother played in the house moved me—Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan, and Mahalia Jackson. It was truly spiritual. It made you understand what God was. We are all spirits. We get depressed. But music makes you want to live. I know my music has saved my life. – Mary J. Blige
En Vogue
Salt-N-Pepa
Whitney Houston
What’s black? I’ve been trying to figure this out since I’ve been in the business. I don’t know how to sing black-and I don’t know how to sing white, either. I know how to sing. Music is not a color to me. It’s an art. – Whitney Houston
Dianna Ross
I’m not really a songwriter – I’m an interpreter. So in a sense I am an actress first and foremost. I act out the songs, and I lead with my heart. – Dianna Ross
Mariah Carrey
Tweet
Missy Elliott
I believe that tracks speak to me. Some tracks make me write certain music or make me feel sad or inspire me to write a sad love song. Each track has its feeling to me. – Missy Elliott
TLC
Cheryl Lynn
Tevin Campbell
I didn’t have much of a relationship with the songs and my voice was changing. I didn’t have any control over it. I mean, one day it could be high and the next day it could be gone. And that’s why we had to keep going back in and doing songs over. – Tevin Campbell
Blu Cantrell
Carl Carlton
Aaliyah
I stay true to myself and my style, and I am always pushing myself to be aware of that and be original. – Aaliyah
William Grant Still
The Annex Quartet
Marisa Anderson
For every choice made, every path taken, there are multitudes of choices not made, paths not taken – Marisa Anderson