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VCU Gets In Formation With Class on Beyoncé

Christopher Brown | December 9, 2019

Topics: bell hooks, beyhive, Beyonce, beyonce class, beyonce music race fame, billboard hot 100, black history, christina sharpe, feminism, grammys, Homecoming, in the wake, lemonade, madison alexander moore, music, Netflix, richmond va, RVA, vcu, Virginia commonwealth university

A class at Virginia Commonwealth University focusing on Beyoncé is exciting students to learn about the artist’s role in feminism, African American studies, and pop culture.

Following over 20 years of Beyoncé’s music prevailing in the nationwide music scene, VCU is hosting a new course focused on the artist in its African American studies department. 

Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has produced several number one songs on the Billboard Hot 100 in addition to critically-acclaimed albums, and has received multiple Grammys for her work. Her 2016 album Lemonade became a quick pop culture phenomenon not only musically, but visually — major publications lauded the album for its personal in-depth look into Beyoncé’s life that the artist had previously never shared with the masses. 

College instructors across the country now are intertwining the artist’s legacy into lectures and elective courses that students can take for credit toward their degrees. 

VCU got into formation, and currently hosts a course on the pop artist labeled “Beyoncé: Music, Race, Fame.” Taught by professor Madison Alexander Moore, the class focuses not just on Beyoncé’s history, but also the impact she has on her community. 

“It’s not necessarily a class about Beyoncé, but a class about stardom, virtuosity, and what it takes to be a pop star in the age of Instagram and internet connectivity,” Moore said.

PHOTO: Beyoncé on Instagram

Moore uses the work of a wide variety of black feminist scholars and critics in the class, ranging from Christina Sharpe’s exploration of blackness using the framework of a slave ship in her book In the Wake to bell hooks on black female sexuality. According to Moore, going into depth about Beyoncé’s influence in pop culture teaches students about black feminism and the history behind black female performances.

“I thought I would know everything because I’m a fan, but we learn a lot of stuff I didn’t even know we would touch on,” said VCU senior Kelsey Jones.

Jones — a self-proclaimed member of the “BeyHive,” described as Beyoncé’s devoted legion of fans — initially joined the class for an elective credit necessary to graduate. She didn’t realize how much she was going to enjoy the class or the professor until they started diving deeper.

“He got his degree from Yale; his personality is one of a kind, and he’s honestly so hip and kind,” Jones said. “Not to mention he is an African American male who researches and [is interested in] black queer studies.” 

Moore is no stranger to discussing artists and pop culture. He has written multiple articles for VICE, Out Magazine, and The Journal of Popular Music Studies. He also published his first book in 2018, titled Fabulous: The Rise of the Beautiful Eccentric, which goes in-depth about how the idea of fabulousness is used by marginalized groups as ways to cope with pain. Moore is currently writing two books, one being a cultural study on Beyoncé. 

PHOTO: Beyoncé on Facebook

The pop queen is known for her support of universities. In 2017, in honor of the one-year anniversary of her Peabody award-winning album Lemonade, Beyoncé announced the “Formation Scholars” scholarship. The scholarship  was awarded to four women “who are unafraid to think outside the box and are bold, creative, conscious and confident.” The four participating schools were Berklee College of Music, Howard University, Parsons School of Design, and Spelman College.

The following year, Beyoncé and her husband Shawn Carter (also known as Jay-Z) awarded 10 $100,000 scholarships to “exceptional senior high school students with financial needs.” 

Beyoncé also paid homage to historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) with her iconic Coachella performance in 2018. The performance, nicknamed “Beychella,” contained sorority and fraternity imagery, and featured bands and performers from selected HBCUs.

The film of this concert, Homecoming, was released April 17 on Netflix. In tandem, Beyoncé released behind-the-scenes footage from the event along with a surprise live album featuring two new recordings. When asked about Beyonce’s legacy, Moore matter-of-factly cited the uproar caused when that album was released.

“What other artist can drop an album at midnight and make the internet stop?”

Moore will teach “Beyoncé: Music, Race, Fame” again in the spring semester of 2020. Interested VCU students can find detailed info here.

Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond

RVA’s Spacebomb Records signs local gospel trio Resound, releases powerful new track, ‘Black History’

Charlotte Woods | March 23, 2017

Topics: black history, gospel, Matthew E. White, music, Resound, rva gospel, Spacebomb Records

Jessica Fox, Mariah Hargrove, and Joseph Clarke are no strangers to singing. The long-time friends have spent time in recording booths providing backing vocals to other artists until they were called to take center stage, so to speak. The local gospel trio, known as Resound, released their first single, “Black History,” in February and they already have plans for an upcoming album.

“We wanted a name that was spiritual as well as musical,” Fox said of the band. “‘Resound’ means to echo; fill a space with sound. It also means to shout or proclaim. I felt it was perfect.”

For a few years, Resound offered their talents as backing vocals on numerous productions at Spacebomb Records until the RVA record label decided to pull them forward.

“They represent what we do at Spacebomb so well in terms of spirit, improvisation and craft,” said Matthew E. White, local musician and founder of Spacebomb Records in a statement. “The only logical step was to move Resound from being background singers to being up front and the main artist.

After the label signed them, they went into the studio right away to record “Black History” as their first track, which was released Feb. 28.

“Black History” tells a story of struggle and hope, from slavery through the civil rights movement, to the present day. It also features a harmonized cover of the chorus from John Legend and Common’s “Glory”, which was originally featured in the film, Selma.

“When we were arranging “Black History”, we purposely went from despair to hope,” Hargrove said. “We wanted the world to know that we were aware of the state of our country, but that we believe in hope and the giver of that hope, Jesus!”

Fox and Clarke have known each other since childhood, and they met Hargrove about eight years ago.

“They met me while we were doing background vocals for a play,” Hargrove said. “As time went on, we began singing in a lot of community groups, where we were the common denominator.”

The musical journey began when the friends casually recorded themselves singing while setting a table for dinner one night.

Once it was posted online and had gone viral, the singers began to post more videos of themselves. After catching attention of other gospel singers, such as Fred Hammond and Donnie McClurkin, as well as pop stars like Ariana Grande and India.Arie, they’ve since performed on Good Morning America and The Potter House, a benchmark location for their genre.

“We have tours and more music that will be dropping soon,” Clarke said. “We are finally working on an album as well. Great things in store.”

The Cheats Movement & VMFA Present Finding Tomorrow: Experiences In Black Leadership

Marilyn Drew Necci | February 21, 2014

Topics: black history, Darrian P. Mack, Dwight Jones, Hamilton Glass, Marc Cheatham, richmond, RVA, The Cheats Movement, vmfa

The Cheats Movement and the Virginia Museum Of Fine Arts have joined forces to put together a documentary film series featuring interviews with leaders of today’s black community in Richmond.
[Read more…] about The Cheats Movement & VMFA Present Finding Tomorrow: Experiences In Black Leadership

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