NASHVILLE, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--To celebrate Black Music Month in June, the National Museum of African American Music is reflecting on the past year in music in the second annual State of Black Music.
The state of black music remains robust and continues to grow stronger. Its reach is larger than ever, spanning platforms, countries and genres.
Highlights include:
- After overtaking rock as the most-played music last year, hip hop’s dominance has only gotten larger. Eight of the 10 most-streamed artists last year were rappers.
- Black artists were leaders in mixing genres and defying category. Lil Nas X became the most-streamed artist in a single week after a collaboration with Billy Ray Cyrus, and Cardi B’s “I Like It” topped the charts and was nominated for Record of the Year.
- The past year has also been tough for those we’ve lost – Aretha Franklin, Nancy Wilson, James Ingram, Roy Hargrove and Nipsey Hussle, among others – artists whose legacies touch the last 60 years of popular music and will continue to reverberate.
It was a year for pushing boundaries, finding new audiences and innovation.
This year’s address comes in the form of a video posted on NMAAM’s YouTube channel.
About NMAAM
The National Museum of African American Music, set to open in early 2020, will be the only museum dedicated solely to preserving African American music traditions and celebrating the influence African Americans have had on music. Based in Nashville, Tenn., the museum will share the story of the American soundtrack by integrating history and interactive technology to bring musical heroes of the past into the present. For more information, please visit www.nmaam.org.
