To highlight the importance of Juneteenth, a holiday celebrated on June 19 to commemorate the end of slavery in the United States , a series of new playlists, guest-curated playlist takeovers, podcast playlists and more will be the order of the day, starting on Friday (June 19) all the way to June 26.
To kick off the new and improved Spotify’s flagship playlist, New Music Friday, which featured the hottest tracks picked from the latest new releases around the world, including South Africa, the playlist will feature and support sensational black artists from all around the world.
Chosen in honour of Youth Month in South Africa, the playlist include South Africa’s very own Sho Madjozi, and Nasty C, and in honour of Youth Month in South Africa.
Sho Madjozi’s playlist takeover kicked off this week, where she exquisitely captured Afrofuturism – in all its wild otherworldly musical dimensions. Nasty C’s takeover will go live next week.
Additionally, Spotify’s New Music Friday billboards in Time Square will be dedicated only to black artists that day and will feature Nigeria’s refreshingly raw stars Rema and Cruel Santino.
The curated Playlists, which will be featured in the Black History Is Now hub, will roll out through the month as follows:
· Black, Queer, & Proud: In celebration of Pride, Brittany Howard, American singer and songwriter, is this month’s playlist cover.
· Father’s Day: Spotify launched its ‘King’ playlist celebrating black men and their roles as fathers. Kirk Franklin will be taking over the playlist and is featured on the cover.
· Throwback Thursday: Each week this month, Spotify is highlighting black music across genres and throughout the decades from the 1950s to now.
· Black History Salute: Spotify is honouring the lives of black music legends lost this year including Bill Withers and Little Richard, who will be featured on the playlist cover.
· Playlist Takeovers: Black Music Month will include influential playlist takeovers featuring a deep well of notable black curators, celebrities, creatives and more:
· Tracee Ellis Ross kicked off the month curating ‘Black Girl Magic’ with Gabrielle Union-Wade taking over to round out the month.
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