Portland observer., September 10, 2014, Page 5, Image 5

September IO, 20I4
^lortlanh (Hbscruer
Blending Maya Angelou’s
words to Hip Hop
New album was
one of poet’s
last projects
(A P ) - M ay a A n g elo u 's iconic
w ords and ly rics w ill blen d w ith
h ip -h o p b eats fo r a new alb u m
called "C aged B ird Songs."
S haw n R ivera, the lead singer o f
R & B group A z Y et, and R occStarr,
w ho co-w rote C hris B row n's "Fine
C hina," produced the 13-song set,
to be re le ase d th ro u g h S m o o ch
M usic on N ov. 4.
T h e a lb u m - the title tak en from
A n g elo u 's c lassic 1969 b o o k "I
K now W hy the C ag e d B ird Sings"
- is one o f the last p ro je c ts A n gelo u
c o m p le ted b efo re she d ied in M ay,
h er g ran d so n said.
"G randm a loved it from the b e­
ginning," C olin A. Johnson said o f
the album 's concept. "These guys
w ere inspired by grandm a's w ork,
w hich m any people are, and felt
like giving it a different m edium o f
delivery to m ake it m ore obtainable
to a larger group o f people."
R iv e ra an d R o c c S ta rr started
w o rk in g o n th e a lb u m b e fo re
A ngelou knew o f it. Johnson, w ho
is in ch arg e o f A ngelou's estate
w ith his father G u y B. Johnson,
said once she w as aw are, she c o m ­
pletely backed the project, w hich
w as recorded at h er N orth C aro­
lina hom e. Som e o f the songs use
previously recorded A ngelou vo­
cals, w hile others w ere recorded
specifically for the project.
Joh n so n said A ngelou's initial
reaction to the songs w as sim ilar to
w h e n s h e f ir s t s a w h e r o w n
F acebook page: "She ju s t laughed."
"She loved it and w as excited to
hear m ore about w hat they w anted
to do," he said o f the album . "She
had a lot o f energy around it."
A ngelou w on three G ram m y s
for her spoken-w ord album s. She
previously released a calypso al­
bum and collaborated w ith A shford
& S im p s o n f o r 1 9 9 6 's " B e e n
Found." She also w as featured on
C o m m o n 's 2 0 1 1 a lb u m , " T h e
D ream er/T he B eliever."
Jo h n so n said his g ran d m o th er
w as a fan o f hip-hop m usic.
" S h e s a w ( h ip - h o p ) a s th is
generation's w ay o f speaking and
c o n v e y in g a m e s s a g e ," s a id
Johnson, adding that A ngelou had
"great sto ries a b o u t in te ra ctio n s
w ith T upac (Shakur)."
Johnson said he hopes the al­
bum w ill connect A ngelou's w ork
w ith y o u n g er g enerations. It re ­
sounded w ith his ow n 13-year-old
and 16-year-old children, he said.
"I d o n 't kn o w th a t they e v e r
have picked up a book o f poetry
w ithout it being assigned by either
m e o r their school," he said o f his
children. "To hear som ebody that
is so fam ous for h er poetry and her
m e ssa g e, a n d th en set to so m e
m usic that you can enjoy definitely
feels like this is som ething that can
co n tin u e h er reach th ro u g h g e n ­
eratio n s."
President Barack
Obama kisses author
and poet Maya Angelou
after awarding her the
2010 Medal o f Free­
dom during a ceremony
in the East Room of
the White House in
Washington
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