Young Black Women in Music edit

Ari Lennox: Courtney Shanade Salter (born March 26, 1991), known for her R&B songs and being the first-female to be signed to J. Cole's record label Dreamville Records.[1] Her debut album, Shea Butter Baby(2019) peaked at #67 on the Billboard 200

Nomani: Normani Kordei Hamilton (born May 31, 1996) After finishing in third place on the show X-Factor and being put into one of the biggest american pop girl groups, Fifth Harmony, selling over 15million album units[2]. Kordei competed in ABC's Dancing with the Stars and ended up coming in third place[3]. She went on to release singles such as Love Lies (2018) which peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 at #9 (certified RIAA 5x Platinum), Dancing with a Stranger (2019) that peaked at #7 (certified 3x platinum) and her solo single Motivation (2019) which peaked at #33 (certified platinum).

 
Normani performing at the Osheaga Music Festival.

Chloe x Halle: The R&B Duo , Chloe Elizabeth (born July 1, 1998) and Halle Lynn Bailey (born March 27, 2000), After posting singing covers to youtube they caught the attention of Beyonce who took them under her mentorship and later signed them to Parkwood Entertainment. The fivetime[4] [5]Grammy nominees' debut album The Kids are Alright (2018) peaked at #139 on the Billboard 200 but their sophmore album Ungodly Hour (2020) leaped and peaked at #16. Along with opening up for Beyonce's Formation World Tour and On the Run II Tour , they also started in the Freeform TV show Grown-ish alongside rising star Yara Shahidi and Trevor Jackson.

Kiana Lede: Kiana Ledé Brown (born April 3, 1997) After signing with Republic Records[6] she went on to release her EP titled Selfless where her single "Ex" peaked at #9, becoming her first Billboard entry[7]. Her debut album Kiki debuted at #30 on the Billboard 200. Lede starred in the second season of MTV's Scream [8]as Zoe Vaughn , and Netflix's original series All About the Washingtons as Veronica Washington.

Summer Walker: Her single "Girls Need Love" became her first top 40 entry on Billboard Hot 100 which was followed by the remix featuring Drake. Her debut album Over It debuted and peaked at #2 on the Billboard 200 and is certified platinum by the RIAA [9]. She set history as a female R&B artist when her debut album had the biggest streaming debut-week ever.[10]

Black Women in TV & Film edit

Viola Davis : (born August 11, 1965), she is the first ever African-American to recieve the "Triple Crown of Acting"[11], she has won an Academy Award , a Primetime Emmy Award and two Tony Awards .In 2017 she recieved her very own hollywood walk of fame star[12]. Davis was ranked #9 by Time Magazine's "The 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st century"[13].

 
Viola Davis speaking at the 2016 San Diego Comic Con International, for "Suicide Squad", at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, California.

Zendaya : Zendaya Maree Stoermer Coleman (born September 1, 1996) began her career on the Disney Channel sitcom Shake it Up as Rocky Blue. She competed on Dancing with the Stars (2013) where Coleman came in second place.[14] As she continued her partnership with Disney she starred in and produced the tv show KC Undercover. For her performance in HBO's Euphoria , as Rue a teenage drug addict she was awarded with a Primetime Emmy, making her the youngest winner of the award. She continued to star in films such as The Greatest Showman (2017), Spider-man: Homecoming (2017) , Spider-man: Far from Home (2019) and her most recent (2021) Malcolm & Marie.

China Anne McClain : (born August 25, 1998) , she began her acting career at the young age of seven, playing the role of Alexis in The Gospel (2005) and one of her more notable roles as China James in Daddy's Little Girls (2007). She became well known off of her role in Tyler Perry's House of Payne, as Jazmine Payne. Internationally she gained recognition through her Disney Chanel role Chyna Parks on ANT Farm, and Uma in Descendants 2 and Descendants 3. Her most recent role is Jennifer Pierce in the CW's Black Lightning.

Marsai Martin : Caila Marsai Martin[15] (born August 14, 2004) is well known for her role as Diane Johnson in the sitcom black-ish. She officially broke the Guinness Book of World records with her film Little , being the youngest executive producer at the age of 14.[16]Also making her the youngest African-American producer. She is the youngest person to get a first-look deal with Universal Pictures She is a nine-time NAACP Image Awards winner. Creating her own production company called Genius Productions, which she is the CEO at and also working as the main actress [17].

  1. ^ "Ari Lennox on Her Love for D.C., Being Signed to J. Cole & Protecting Her Mental Health". Billboard. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  2. ^ "Gold & Platinum". RIAA. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  3. ^ "'Dancing With the Stars' Finale: And the Winner Is..." Billboard. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  4. ^ "61st GRAMMY Awards: Full Nominees & Winners List". GRAMMY.com. 2018-12-07. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  5. ^ "2021 GRAMMYs Awards Show: Complete Winners List". GRAMMY.com. 2020-11-24. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  6. ^ "R&B Singers Nicole Bus, The Bonfyre & Kiana Ledé Debut on Emerging Artists Chart". Billboard. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  7. ^ "Emerging Hip-Hop/R&B: NLE Choppa, Kiana Lede & Luh Kel Make Noise With Latest Chart Moves". Billboard. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  8. ^ "MTV's 'Scream' Sets New Cast, Season 2 Premiere Date". The Hollywood Reporter. 2016-03-10. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  9. ^ White, Roman (2020-05-09). "Summer Walker's 'Over It' Officially Goes Platinum". The Source. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  10. ^ "Summer Walker's Over It sets history with biggest streaming week ever for a R&B album by a woman - Music News - ABC News Radio". abcnewsradioonline.com. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  11. ^ "Viola Davis: The World's 100 Most Influential People". Time. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  12. ^ Avila, Theresa. "Viola Davis Was Honored With the First Hollywood Walk of Fame Star of 2017". The Cut. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  13. ^ Dargis, Manohla; Scott, A. O. (2020-11-25). "The 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century (So Far)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  14. ^ Eng, Joyce; Eng, Joyce (2021-01-28). "Remember when Zendaya almost won 'Dancing with the Stars' and Val Chmerkovskiy told her she'd win an Oscar one day?". GoldDerby. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  15. ^ Kovan, Brianna (2019-03-21). "Marsai Martin Is Making Big-Time, Big-Screen Moves". ELLE. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  16. ^ CNN, Giulia Heyward and Saeed Ahmed. "'Black-ish' star Marsai Martin, who's 16, has set a record for the youngest Hollywood executive producer". CNN. Retrieved 2021-04-14. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  17. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony; D'Alessandro, Anthony (2019-02-07). "Universal Pacts With 'Black-ish' Actress Marsai Martin & Her Genius Productions". Deadline. Retrieved 2021-04-14.