Our friends at Centric have put together an incredible lineup of programming for this year’s Black History Month. Beginning this past weekend with a weekend takeover featuring Earth, Wind and Fire‘s Being episode along with the airing of the full length concert DVD of the band in Oakland Coliseum in December, 1981. Through this exciting lineup, Centric, which is owned by BET (a division of Viacom) continues its commitment to developing quality new programs along side documentaries, rare live performances and other select targeted syndicated content. Over the past several years, Centric has certainly increased its focus on music with exciting new offerings like As Written, Master of the Mix and Apollo Live. Kudos to the programming team over at Centric!
For our international soulheads, Black Music Month is a time in the U.S. to highlight the significant contributions made my black musicians to popular culture. Centric has gone above and beyond to present an incredible lineup that truly represents the diversity of the art form that we all love so much. They have included the aforementioned Earth, Wind & Fire as well as hip hop legend Heavy D, who recently passed, and even the Pied Piper of R&B, R. Kelly, all in the same month. We also can’t wait for more insight into the life of Don Cornelius, who also died earlier this year. Given our fascination with the intersection of entertainment and education, we are certainly happy to see another outlet GET IT.
Please stay tuned for the following programs in your local areas and also look for them on Centric’s site and here.
From Centric:
TAKEOVER WEEKENDS:
SATURDAY, JUNE 2ND BEGINNING AT 10:00 P.M.*
EARTH, WIND & FIRE TAKEOVER commemorates the 40th anniversary of Earth, Wind & Fire in never before seen interviews and superstars of today share memories of an old-school sound. EARTH, WIND & FIRE TAKEOVER also includes two concerts — EARTH WIND & FIRE: LIVE FROM OAKLAND 1981 and SHINING STAR which re-visit some of the highest points in the band’s career and an episode of BEING will debut a first-person narrative of the band’s span of work, as they look forward to what’s still to come.
SATURDAY, JUNE 9TH BEGINNING AT 10:00 P.M.*
HIP-HOP TAKEOVER kicks off the second TAKEOVER weekend with a one-hour special, HIP HOP CULTURAL ODYSSEY: KNOW YOUR HISTORY which will take a look at the history of the genre, through in-depth interviews, images and the music that defined a generation; a HOT 10 hosted by the iconic Chuck D celebrating original MCs with videos from Public Enemy, Eric B. & Rakim, Big Daddy Kane; CENTRIC HITS HIP HOP, a two-hour video block of the genre’s latest and greatest with videos from Q-Tip, Common, Jay-Z, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, and Busta Rhymes and an encore presentation of LIFE OF HEAVY-D, the late great Heavy-D is memorialized by colleagues, artists, friends and family.
SATURDAY, JUNE 16TH BEGINNING AT 10:00 P.M.*
R.KELLY TAKEOVER kick starts with BEING: R.KELLY, a one-hour special commemorating the longevity and talent of legendary artist R. Kelly; a two-hour video block spanning from hits 12 Play to Love Letter; R. KELLY HOT 10 which will showcase a playlist of the Grammy-award winning artist’s top hits, along with two live concert specials R. KELLY SINGS SAM COOKE and THE LOVE LETTER TOUR.
SATURDAY, JUNE 23RD BEGINNING AT 10:00 P.M.*
SOUL TRAIN TAKEOVER begins with the DON CORNELIUS: VISIONARY, TRAILBLAZER, & CULTURAL ICON, which tells the story of iconic Soul Train creator whose voice and soulful presence redefined television. And in the legend’s own words, he will tell his own story, with the history, the music, the images, and the social change that was heralded in by the monumental series. And the party train continues with the HIPPEST TRIP IN AMERICA, which follows the story of Soul Train, a movement that brought an entire culture into homes across America; encores of the 2011 SOUL TRAIN AWARDS and some of the most classic Soul Train episodes of the past four decades featuring some of the most influential artists to grace the stage.
BEING:
To round out the month, Centric will premiere all-new episodes of its original series, BEING, which highlights the entire span of work from prolific artists whose contributions to Black music have stood the test of time including:
EARTH, WIND & FIRE – Saturday, June 2nd at 10:00 P.M.*
MARY J. BLIGE – Saturday, June 9th at 10:00 P.M.*
R. KELLY – Saturday, June 16th at 10:00 P.M.*
GLADYS KNIGHT – Saturday, June 23rd at 10:00 P.M.*
TEENA MARIE – Saturday, June 30th at 10:00 P.M.*
For additional information on Centric’s Black Music Month, go to http://www.centrictv.com/.
